2 Kings 4

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 A certain woman, the widow of one of the guild prophets, complained to Elisha: "My husband, your servant, is dead. You know that he was a God-fearing man, yet now his creditor has come to take my two children as his slaves."	1 Now a certain woman, from the wives of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying: “My husband, your servant, is dead. And you know that your servant was one who fears the Lord. And behold, a creditor has arrived, so that he may take away my two sons to serve him.”
2 "How can I help you?" Elisha answered her. "Tell me what you have in the house." "This servant of yours has nothing in the house but a jug of oil," she replied.	2 And Elisha said to her: “What do you want me to do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” And she responded, “I, your handmaid, do not have anything in my house, except a little oil, with which I may be anointed.”
3 "Go out," he said, "borrow vessels from all your neighbors--as many empty vessels as you can.	3 And he said to her: “Go, ask to borrow from all your neighbors empty vessels, more than a few.
4 Then come back and close the door on yourself and your children; pour the oil into all the vessels, and as each is filled, set it aside."	4 And enter and close your door. And when you are inside with your sons, pour from the oil into all those vessels. And when they are full, take them away.”
5 She went and did so, closing the door on herself and her children. As they handed her the vessels, she would pour in oil.	5 And so, the woman went and closed the door upon herself and her sons. They were bringing her the vessels, and she was pouring into them.
6 When all the vessels were filled, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." "There is none left," he answered her. And then the oil stopped.	6 And when the vessels had been filled, she said to her son, “Bring me another a vessel.” And he responded, “I have none.” And there was oil remaining.
7 She went and told the man of God, who said, "Go and sell the oil to pay off your creditor; with what remains, you and your children can live."	7 Then she went and told the man of God. And he said: “Go, sell the oil, and repay your creditor. Then you and your sons may live on what remains.”
8 One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine.	8 Now it happened that, on a certain day, Elisha passed by Shunem. And there was a great woman there, who took him to eat bread. And since he frequently passed by there, he turned aside to her house, so that he might eat bread.
9 So she said to her husband, "I know that he is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often,	9 And she said to her husband: “I have noticed that he is a holy man of God, who passes by us frequently.
10 let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there."	10 Therefore, let us prepare a small upper room for him, and place a bed in it for him, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand, so that when he comes to us, he may stay there.”
11 Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.	11 Then it happened that, on a certain day, arriving, he turned aside into the upper room, and he rested there.
12 Then he said to his servant Gehazi, "Call this Shunammite woman." He did so, and when she stood before Elisha,	12 And he said to his servant Gehazi, “Call this Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, and she stood before him,
13 he told Gehazi, "Say to her, 'You have lavished all this care on us; what can we do for you? Can we say a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?'" She replied, "I am living among my own people."	13 he said to his servant: “Say to her: Behold, you have ministered to us attentively in all things. What do you want, that I might do for you? Do you have any business, or do you want me to speak to the king, or to the leader of the military?” And she responded, “I live in the midst of my own people.”
14 Later Elisha asked, "Can something be done for her?" "Yes!" Gehazi answered. "She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years."	14 And he said, “Then what does she want, that I might do for her?” And Gehazi said: “You need not ask. For she has no son, and her husband is elderly.”
15 "Call her," said Elisha. When she had been called, and stood at the door,	15 And so, he instructed him to call her. And when she had been called, and was standing before the door,
16 Elisha promised, "This time next year you will be fondling a baby son." "Please, my lord," she protested, "you are a man of God; do not deceive your servant."	16 he said to her, “At this time, and at this same hour, with life as a companion, you will have a son in your womb.” But she responded, “Do not, I ask you, my lord, a man of God, do not be willing to lie to your handmaid.”
17 Yet the woman conceived, and by the same time the following year she had given birth to a son, as Elisha had promised.	17 And the woman conceived. And she bore a son, in the time and at the same hour as Elisha had said.
18 The day came when the child was old enough to go out to his father among the reapers.	18 And the boy grew. And on a certain day, when he had gone out to his father, to the harvesters,
19 "My head hurts!" he complained to his father. "Carry him to his mother," the father said to a servant.	19 he said to his father: “I have a pain in my head. I have a pain in my head.” But he said to his servant, “Take him, and lead him to his mother.”
20 The servant picked him up and carried him to his mother; he stayed with her until noon, when he died in her lap.	20 But when he had taken him, and he had led him to his mother, she placed him upon her knees, until midday, and then he died.
21 The mother took him upstairs and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Closing the door on him, she went out	21 Then she went up and laid him out on the bed of the man of God, and she closed the door. And departing,
22 and called to her husband, "Let me have a servant and a donkey. I must go quickly to the man of God, and I will be back."	22 she called her husband, and she said: “Send with me, I beg you, one of your servants, and a donkey, so that I may hurry to the man of God, and then return.”
23 "Why are you going to him today?" he asked. "It is neither the new moon nor the sabbath." But she bade him good-bye,	23 And he said to her: “What is the reason that you would go to him? Today is not the new moon, and it is not the Sabbath.” She responded, “I will go.”
24 and when the donkey was saddled, said to her servant: "Lead on! Do not stop my donkey unless I tell you to."	24 And she saddled a donkey, and she instructed her servant: “Drive, and hurry on. You shall cause no delay for me in departing. And do whatever I instruct you to do.”
25 She kept going till she reached the man of God on Mount Carmel. When he spied her at a distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi: "There is the Shunammite!	25 And so she set out. And she came to the man of God, on mount Carmel. And when the man of God had seen her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi: “Behold, it is that Shunammite woman.
26 Hurry to meet her, and ask if all is well with her, with her husband, and with the boy." "Greetings," she replied.	26 So then, go to meet her, and say to her, ‘Does all go well concerning you, and your husband, and your son?’ ” And she answered, “It is well.”
27 But when she reached the man of God on the mountain, she clasped his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the man of God said: "Let her alone, she is in bitter anguish; the LORD hid it from me and did not let me know."	27 And when she had arrived at the man of God, on the mount, she took hold of his feet. And Gehazi drew near, so that he might remove her. But the man of God said: “Permit her. For her soul is in bitterness. And the Lord has concealed it from me, and has not revealed it to me.”
28 "Did I ask my lord for a son?" she cried out. "Did I not beg you not to deceive me?"	28 And she said to him: “Did I ask a son from my lord? Did I not say to you, ‘You should not deceive me?’ ”
29 "Gird your loins," Elisha said to Gehazi, "take my staff with you and be off; if you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff upon the boy."	29 And so he said to Gehazi: “Gird your waist, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If any man will meet you, you shall not greet him. And if anyone greets you, you shall not respond to him. And place my staff upon the face of the boy.”
30 But the boy's mother cried out: "As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not release you." So he started to go back with her.	30 But the mother of the boy said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not release you.” Therefore, he rose up, and he followed her.
31 Meanwhile, Gehazi had gone on ahead and had laid the staff upon the boy, but there was no sound or sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and informed him that the boy had not awakened.	31 But Gehazi had gone before them, and he had placed the staff upon the face of the boy. And there was no voice, nor any response. And so he returned to meet him. And he reported to him, saying, “The boy did not rise up.”
32 When Elisha reached the house, he found the boy lying dead.	32 Therefore, Elisha entered the house. And behold, the boy was lying dead upon his bed.
33 He went in, closed the door on them both, and prayed to the LORD.	33 And entering, he closed the door upon himself and the boy. And he prayed to the Lord.
34 Then he lay upon the child on the bed, placing his mouth upon the child's mouth, his eyes upon the eyes, and his hands upon the hands. As Elisha stretched himself over the child, the body became warm.	34 And he climbed up, and lay across the boy. And he put his mouth over his mouth, and his eyes over his eyes, and his hands over his hands. And he leaned himself over him, and the body of the boy grew warm.
35 He arose, paced up and down the room, and then once more lay down upon the boy, who now sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.	35 And returning, he walked around the house, first here and then there. And he went up, and lay across him. And the boy gasped seven times, and he opened his eyes.
36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite." She came at his call, and Elisha said to her, "Take your son."	36 And he called Gehazi, and said to him, “Call this Shunammite woman.” And having been called, she entered to him. And he said, “Take up your son.”
37 She came in and fell at his feet in gratitude; then she took her son and left the room.	37 She went and fell at his feet, and she reverenced upon the ground. And she took up her son, and departed.
38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. Once, when the guild prophets were seated before him, he said to his servant, "Put the large pot on, and make some vegetable stew for the guild prophets."	38 And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now there was a famine in the land, and the sons of the prophets were living in his sight. And he said to one of his servants, “Set out a large cooking pot, and boil a soup for the sons of the prophets.”
39 Someone went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine, from which he picked a clothful of wild gourds. On his return he cut them up into the pot of vegetable stew without anybody's knowing it.	39 And one went out into the field, so that he might collect wild herbs. And he found something like a wild vine, and he gathered from it bitter fruits of the field, and he filled his cloak. And returning, he cut these up for the pot of soup. But he did not know what it was.
40 The stew was poured out for the men to eat, but when they began to eat it, they exclaimed, "Man of God, there is poison in the pot!" And they could not eat it.	40 Then they poured it out for their companions to eat. And when they had tasted the mixture, they cried out, saying, “Death is in the cooking pot, O man of God!” And they were unable to eat.
41 "Bring some meal," Elisha said. He threw it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there was no longer anything harmful in the pot.	41 But he said, “Bring some flour.” And when they had brought it, he cast it into the cooking pot, and he said, “Pour it out for the group, so that they may eat.” And there was no longer any bitterness in the cooking pot.
42 A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing the man of God twenty barley loaves made from the first fruits, and fresh grain in the ear. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said.	42 Now a certain man arrived from Baal-Shalishah, carrying, for the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new grain in his satchel. But he said, “Give it to the people, so that they may eat.”
43 But his servant objected, "How can I set this before a hundred men?" "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha insisted. "For thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"	43 And his servant responded to him, “What amount is this, that I should set it before a hundred men?” But he said again: “Give it to the people, so that they may eat. For thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat, and there shall be still more.’ ”
44 And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.	44 And so, he set it before them. And they ate, and there was still more, in accord with the word of the Lord.