2 Kings Chapter 4
Other Translations
lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM
1
And one of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisaie, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant feared the Lord: and the creditor is come to take my two sons to be his servants.
2
And Elisaie said, What shall I do for thee? tell me what thou hast in the house. And she said, Thy servant has nothing in the house, except oil wherewith I anoint myself.
3
And he said to her, Go, borrow for thyself vessels without of all thy neighbours, [even] empty vessels; borrow not a few.
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And thou shalt go in and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and thou shalt pour forth into these vessels, and remove that which is filled.
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And she departed from him, and shut the door upon herself and upon her sons: they brought the vessels near to her, and she poured in until the vessels were filled.
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And she said to her sons, Bring me yet a vessel. And they said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
7
And she came and told the man of God: and Elisaie said, Go, and sell the oil, and thou shalt pay thy debts, and thou and thy sons shall live of the remaining oil.
8
And a day came, when Elisaie passed over to Soman, and [there was] a great lady there, and she constrained him to eat bread: and it came to pass as often as he went into [the city, that] he turned aside to eat there.
9
And the woman said to her husband, See now, I know that this [is] a holy man of God who comes over continually to us.
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Let us now make for him an upper chamber, a small place; and let us put there for him a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall come to pass that when he comes in to us, he shall turn in thither.
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And a day came, and he went in thither, and turned aside into the upper chamber, and lay there.
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And he said to Giezi his servant, Call me this Somanite. And he called her, and she stood before him.
13
And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast taken all this trouble for us; what should I do for thee? Hast thou any request [to make] to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she said, I dwell in the midst of my people.
14
And he said to Giezi, What must we do for her? and Giezi his servant said, Indeed she has no son, and her husband [is] old.
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And he called her, and she stood by the door.
16
And Elisaie said to her, At this time [next year], as the season [is], thou [shalt be] alive, and embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, do not lie to thy servant.
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And the woman conceived, and bore a son at the very time, as the season was, being alive, as Elisaie said to her.
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And the child grew: and it came to pass when he went out to his father to the reapers,
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that he said to his father, My head, my head. And [his father] said to a servant, Carry him to his mother.
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And he carried him to his mother, and he lay upon her knees till noon, and died.
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And she carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God; and she shut the door upon him, and went out.
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And she called her husband, and said, Send now for me one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I will ride quickly to the man of God, and return.
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And he said, Why art thou going to him to-day? It is neither new moon, nor the sabbath. And she said, [It is] well.
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And she saddled the ass, and said to her servant, Be quick, proceed: spare not on my account to ride, unless I shall tell thee. Go, and thou shalt proceed, and come to the man of God to mount Carmel.
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And she rode and came to the man of God to the mountain: and it came to pass when Elisaie saw her coming, that he said to Giezi his servant, See now, that Somanite comes.
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Now run to meet her, and thou shalt say, [Is it] well with thee? [is it] well with thy husband? [is it] well with the child? and she said, [It is] well.
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And she came to Elisaie to the mountain, and laid hold of his feet; and Giezi drew near to thrust her away. And Elisaie said, Let her alone, for her soul [is] much grieved in her, and the Lord has hidden [it] from me, and has not told [it] me.
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And she said, Did I ask a son of my lord? For did I not say, Do not deal deceitfully with me?
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And Elisaie said to Giezi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go: if thou meet any man, thou shalt not salute him, and if a man salute thee thou shalt not answer him: and thou shalt lay my staff on the child's face.
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And the mother of the child said, [As] the Lord lives and [as] thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And Elisaie arose, and went after her.
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And Giezi went on before her, and laid his staff on the child's face: but there was neither voice nor any hearing. So he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
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And Elisaie went into the house, and, behold, the dead child was laid upon his bed.
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And Elisaie went into the house, and shut the door upon themselves, the two, and prayed to the Lord.
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And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and bowed himself upon him, and the flesh of the child grew warm.
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And he returned, and walked up and down in the house: and he went up, and bowed himself on the child seven times; and the child opened his eyes.
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And Elisaie cried out to Giezi, and said, Call this Somanite. So he called her, and she came in to him: and Elisaie said, Take thy son.
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And the woman went in, and fell at his feet, and did obeisance [bowing] to the ground; and she took her son, and went out.
38
And Elisaie returned to Galgala: and a famine [was] in the land; and the sons of the prophets sat before him: and Elisaie said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.
39
And he went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a vine in the field, and gathered of it wild gourds, his garment full; and he cast it into the caldron of pottage, for they knew [them] not.
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And he poured it out for the men to eat: and it came to pass, when they were eating of the pottage, that lo! they cried out, and said, [There is] death in the pot, O man of God. And they could not eat.
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And he said, Take meal, and cast it into the pot. And Elisaie said to his servant Giezi, Pour out for the people, and let them eat. And there was no longer there any hurtful thing in the pot.
42
And there came a man over from Bætharisa, and brought to the man of God twenty barley loaves and cakes of figs, of the first-fruits. And he said, Give to the people, and let them eat.
43
And his servant said, Why should I set this before a hundred men? and he said, Give to the people, and let them eat; for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat and leave.
44
And they ate and left, according to the word of the Lord.
web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV
1
Now 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.”
2
Elisha 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.”
3
Then he said, “Go, borrow empty containers from all your neighbors. Don’t borrow just a few containers.
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Go 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.”
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So she went from him, and shut the door on herself and on her sons. They brought the containers to her, and she poured oil.
6
When 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.
7
Then 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.”
8
One 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.
9
She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually.
10
Please, 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.”
11
One day he came there, and he went to the room and lay there.
12
He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him.
13
He 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 among my own people.”
14
He said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”
15
He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the door.
16
He 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.”
17
The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her.
18
When the child was grown, one day he went out to his father to the reapers.
19
He said to his father, “My head! My head!” He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
20
When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died.
21
She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed, and shut the door on him, and went out.
22
She 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.”
23
He 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.”
24
Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”
25
So 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.
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Please 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.”
27
When 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.”
28
Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”
29
Then 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.”
30
The child’s mother said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose, and followed her.
31
Gehazi 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.”
32
When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed.
33
He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the LORD.
34
He 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.
35
Then 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.
36
He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”
37
Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.
38
Elisha 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.”
39
One 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 recognize them.
40
So 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.
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But 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.
42
A 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.”
43
His 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.’”
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So he set it before them and they ate and had some left over, according to the LORD’s word.
Explanations by Age Level
Explain Like I'm 5
A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!
Explain Like I'm 10
Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.
Explain Like I'm 15
Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).