¹Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead . You know that your servant feared the LORD . Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves .”

²Elisha said to her , “What should I do for you ? Tell me , what do you have in the house ?”

She said, “Your servant has nothing in the house , except a pot of oil .”

³Then he said, “Go , borrow empty containers from all your neighbours . Don’t borrow just a few containers .

⁴Go in and shut the door on you and on your sons , and pour oil into all those containers ; and set aside those which are full .”

⁵So she went from him , and shut the door on herself and on her sons . They brought the containers to her , and she poured oil.

⁶When the containers were full , she said to her son , “Bring me another container .”

He said to her , “There isn’t another container .” Then the oil stopped flowing .

⁷Then she came and told the man of God . He said, “Go , sell the oil , and pay your debt ; and you and your sons live on the rest .”

⁸One day Elisha went to Shunem , where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread . So it was , that as often as he passed by , he turned in there to eat bread .

⁹She said to her husband, “See now , I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually .

¹⁰Please , let ’s make a little room on the roof . Let ’s set a bed , a table , a chair , and a lamp stand for him there . When he comes to us , he can stay there .”

¹¹One day he came there , and he went to the room and lay there .

¹²He said to Gehazi his servant , “Call this Shunammite .” When he had called her , she stood before him .

¹³He said to him , “Say now to her , ‘Behold , you have cared for us with all this care . What is to be done for you ? Would you like to be spoken for to the king , or to the captain of the army ?’”

She answered , “I dwell amongst my own people .”

¹⁴He said, “What then is to be done for her ?”

Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son , and her husband is old .”

¹⁵He said , “Call her .” When he had called her , she stood in the door .

¹⁶He said, “At this season next year , you will embrace a son .”

She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your servant .”

¹⁷The woman conceived , and bore a son at that season when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her .

¹⁸When the child was grown , one day he went out to his father to the reapers .

¹⁹He said to his father, “My head ! My head !”

He said to his servant , “Carry him to his mother.”

²⁰When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon , and then died .

²¹She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed , and shut the door on him , and went out .

²²She called to her husband and said , “Please send me one of the servants , and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come again .”

²³He said, “Why would you want to go to him today ? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath .”

She said, “It ’s all right.”

²⁴Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant , “Drive , and go forward ! Don’t slow down for me , unless I ask you to .”

²⁵So she went , and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel . When the man of God saw her afar off , he said to Gehazi his servant , “Behold , there is the Shunammite .

²⁶Please run now to meet her , and ask her , ‘Is it well with you ? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child ?’”

She answered, “It is well .”

²⁷When she came to the man of God to the hill , she caught hold of his feet . Gehazi came near to thrust her away ; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone , for her soul is troubled within her ; and the LORD has hidden it from me , and has not told me .”

²⁸Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son , my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me ’?”

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi , “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand , and go your way . If you meet any man , don’t greet him ; and if anyone greets you , don’t answer him again . Then lay my staff on the child ’s face .”

³⁰The child ’s mother said, “As the LORD lives , and as your soul lives , I will not leave you .”

So he arose , and followed her .

³¹Gehazi went ahead of them , and laid the staff on the child ’s face ; but there was no voice and no hearing . Therefore he returned to meet him , and told him , “The child has not awakened.”

³²When Elisha had come into the house , behold , the child was dead , and lying on his bed .

³³He went in therefore , and shut the door on them both , and prayed to the LORD .

³⁴He went up and lay on the child , and put his mouth on his mouth , and his eyes on his eyes , and his hands on his hands . He stretched himself on him ; and the child ’s flesh grew warm .

³⁵Then he returned , and walked in the house once back and forth , then went up and stretched himself out on him . Then the child sneezed seven times , and the child opened his eyes .

³⁶He called Gehazi , and said , “Call this Shunammite !” So he called her .

When she had come in to him , he said , “Take up your son .”

³⁷Then she went in , fell at his feet , and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son , and went out .

³⁸Elisha came again to Gilgal . There was a famine in the land ; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him ; and he said to his servant , “Get the large pot , and boil stew for the sons of the prophets .”

³⁹One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine , and gathered a lap full of wild gourds from it , and came and cut them up into the pot of stew ; for they didn’t recognise them .

⁴⁰So they poured out for the men to eat. As they were eating some of the stew , they cried out and said, “Man of God , there is death in the pot !” And they could not eat it .

⁴¹But he said , “Then bring meal .” He threw it into the pot ; and he said , “Serve it to the people , that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot .

⁴²A man from Baal Shalishah came , and brought the man of God some bread of the first fruits : twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack . Elisha said, “Give to the people , that they may eat .”

⁴³His servant said, “What , should I set this before a hundred men ?”

But he said, “Give it to the people , that they may eat; for the LORD says , ‘They will eat, and will have some left over .’”

⁴⁴So he set it before them and they ate and had some left over , according to the LORD ’s word .