Elisha Provides Olive Oil for a Widow

4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha. She said, “My husband is dead. You know how much respect he had for the Lord. But he owed money to someone. And now that person is coming to take my two boys away. They will become his slaves.”

2Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me. What do you have in your house?”

“I don’t have anything there at all,” she said. “All I have is a little olive oil.”

3Elisha said, “Go around to all of your neighbors. Ask them for empty jars. Get as many as you can. 4Then go inside your house. Shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all of the jars. As each jar is filled, put it over to one side.”

5The woman left him. After that, she shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her. And she kept pouring. 6When all of the jars were full, she spoke to one of her sons. She said, “Bring me another jar.”

But he replied, “There aren’t any more left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7She went and told the man of God about it. He said, “Go and sell the oil. Pay what you owe. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

The Son of a Woman From Shunem Is Brought Back to Life

8One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A rich woman lived there. She begged him to stay and have a meal. So every time he came by, he stopped there to eat.

9The woman said to her husband, “That man often comes by here. I know that he is a holy man of God. 10Let’s make a small room for him on the roof. We’ll put a bed and a table in it. We’ll also put a chair and a lamp in it. Then he can stay there when he comes to visit us.”

11One day Elisha came. He went up to his room. He lay down there. 12He said to his servant Gehazi, “Go and get the Shunammite woman.” So he did. She stood in front of Elisha.

13He said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to a lot of trouble for us. Now what can we do for you? Can we speak to the king for you? Or can we speak to the commander of the army for you?’ ”

She replied, “I live among my own people. I have everything I need here.”

14After she left, Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”

Gehazi said, “Well, she doesn’t have a son. And her husband is old.”

15Then Elisha said, “Bring her here again.” So he did. She stood in the doorway. 16“You will hold a son in your arms,” Elisha said. “It will be about this time next year.”

“No, my master!” she objected. “You are a man of God. So don’t lie to me!”

17But the woman became pregnant. She had a baby boy. It happened the next year about that same time. That’s exactly what Elisha had told her would happen.

18The child grew. One day he went out to get his father. His father was with those who were gathering the crops.

19The boy said to his father, “My head hurts! It really hurts!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20The servant lifted the boy up. He carried him to his mother.

The boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died. 21She went up to the room on the roof. There she laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.

22She sent for her husband. She said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey. Then I can go quickly to the man of God and return.”

23“Why do you want to go to him today?” he asked. “It isn’t the time for the New Moon Feast. It isn’t the Sabbath day.”

“Don’t let that bother you,” she said.

24She put a saddle on her donkey. She said to her servant, “Let’s go. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you to.” 25So she started out. She came to Mount Carmel. That’s where the man of God was.

When she was still a long way off, he saw her coming. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the woman from Shunem! 26Run out there to meet her. Ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

27She came to the man of God at the mountain. Then she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is suffering terribly. But the Lord hasn’t told me the reason for it. He has hidden it from me.”

28“My master, did I ask you for a son?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t get my hopes up’?”

29Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your coat into your belt. Take my wooden staff and run to Shunem. Don’t say hello to anyone you see. If anyone says hello to you, don’t answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

30But the child’s mother said, “I won’t leave you. And that’s just as sure as the Lord and you are alive.” So Elisha got up and followed her.

31Gehazi went on ahead. He laid Elisha’s wooden staff on the boy’s face. But there wasn’t any sound. The boy didn’t move at all.

So Gehazi went back to Elisha. He told him, “The boy hasn’t awakened.”

32Elisha arrived at the house. The boy was dead. He was lying on Elisha’s bed.

33Elisha went into the room. He shut the door. He was alone with the boy. He prayed to the Lord.

34Then he got on the bed. He lay down on the boy. His mouth touched the boy’s mouth. His eyes touched the boy’s eyes. And his hands touched the boy’s hands. As Elisha lay on the boy, the boy’s body grew warm.

35Elisha turned away. He walked back and forth in the room. Then he got on the bed again. He lay down on the boy once more. The boy sneezed seven times. After that, he opened his eyes.

36Elisha sent for Gehazi. He said to him, “Go and get the Shunammite woman.” So he did. When she came, Elisha said, “Take your son.”

37She came in. She fell at Elisha’s feet. She bowed down with her face toward the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Deadly Food in a Pot

38Elisha returned to Gilgal. There wasn’t enough food to eat in that area. The company of the prophets was meeting with Elisha. So he said to his servant, “Put the large pot over the fire. Cook some stew for these men.”

39One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs. He found a wild vine. He gathered up some of its gourds. He brought them back with him in his coat. Then he cut them up into the pot of stew. But no one knew what they were.

40The stew was poured out for the men. They began to eat it. But then they cried out, “Man of God, the food in that pot will kill us!” They couldn’t eat it.

41Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it in the pot. He said, “Serve it to the men to eat.” Then there wasn’t anything in the pot that could harm them.

Elisha Feeds 100 People

42A man came from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God 20 loaves of barley bread. They had been baked from the first grain that had ripened. He also brought some heads of new grain. “Give this food to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

43“How can I put this in front of 100 men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. Do it because the Lord says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ”

44Then the servant put the food in front of them. They ate it and had some left over. It happened just as the Lord had said it would.