2 Kings 4:1-17 ▼

1 Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, |Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the LORD. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.|

2 Elisha said to her, |What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?| She answered, |Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of olive oil.|

3 He said, |Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. Get as many as you can.

4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; set aside each one when you have filled it.|

5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil.

6 When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, |Bring me another container.| But he answered her, |There are no more.| Then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 She went and told the prophet. He said, |Go, sell the olive oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.|

8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a prominent woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal.

9 She said to her husband, |Look, I'm sure that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet.

10 Let's make a small private upper room and furnish it with a bed, table, chair, and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.|

11 One day Elisha came for a visit; he went into the upper room and rested.

12 He told his servant Gehazi, |Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.| So he did so and she came to him.

13 Elisha said to Gehazi, |Tell her, 'Look, you have treated us with such great respect. What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?'| She replied, |I'm quite secure.|

14 So he asked Gehazi, |What can I do for her?| Gehazi replied, |She has no son, and her husband is old.|

15 Elisha told him, |Ask her to come here.| So he did so and she came and stood in the doorway.

16 He said, |About this time next year you will be holding a son.| She said, |No, my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!|

17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.