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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>2 Kings 4 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_kings/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_kings/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > 2 Kings 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_kings/3.htm" title="2 Kings 3">◄</a> 2 Kings 4 <a href="../2_kings/5.htm" title="2 Kings 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Elisha Helps a Poor Widow</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_1"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.1" class="v12_4_1">1</span>The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, “Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_2"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.2" class="v12_4_2">2</span>“What shall I do for you?” he asked. “Tell me, what do you have at home?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_2">“Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil,” she answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_3"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.3" class="v12_4_3">3</span>“Go to your neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as you can,” Elisha told her. </span><span class="v12_4_4"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.4" class="v12_4_4">4</span>“Then you and your sons go into the house, close the door, and start pouring oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_5"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.5" class="v12_4_5">5</span>So the woman went into her house with her sons, closed the door, took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. </span><span class="v12_4_6"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.6" class="v12_4_6">6</span>When they had filled all the jars, she asked if there were any more. “That was the last one,” one of her sons answered. And the olive oil stopped flowing. </span><span class="v12_4_7"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.7" class="v12_4_7">7</span>She went back to Elisha, the prophet, who said to her, “Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts, and there will be enough money left over for you and your sons to live on.”</span></p><h3 class="s">Elisha and the Rich Woman from Shunem</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_8"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.8" class="v12_4_8">8</span>One day Elisha went to Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She invited him to a meal, and from then on every time he went to Shunem he would have his meals at her house. </span><span class="v12_4_9"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.9" class="v12_4_9">9</span>She said to her husband, “I am sure that this man who comes here so often is a holy man. </span><span class="v12_4_10"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.10" class="v12_4_10">10</span>Let's build a small room on the roof, put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it, and he can stay there whenever he visits us.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_11"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.11" class="v12_4_11">11</span>One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went up to his room to rest. </span><span class="v12_4_12"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.12" class="v12_4_12">12</span>He told his servant Gehazi to go and call the woman. When she came, </span><span class="v12_4_13"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.13" class="v12_4_13">13</span>he said to Gehazi, “Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_13">“I have all I need here among my own people,” she answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_14"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.14" class="v12_4_14">14</span>Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can I do for her then?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_14">He answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_15"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.15" class="v12_4_15">15</span>“Tell her to come here,” Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway, </span><span class="v12_4_16"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.16" class="v12_4_16">16</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.4.16!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and Elisha said to her, “By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_16">“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_17"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.17" class="v12_4_17">17</span>But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_18"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.18" class="v12_4_18">18</span>Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. </span><span class="v12_4_19"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.19" class="v12_4_19">19</span>Suddenly he cried out to his father, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_19">“Carry the boy to his mother,” the father said to a servant. </span><span class="v12_4_20"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.20" class="v12_4_20">20</span>The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died. </span><span class="v12_4_21"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.21" class="v12_4_21">21</span>She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her. </span><span class="v12_4_22"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.22" class="v12_4_22">22</span>Then she called her husband and said to him, “Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I'll be back as soon as I can.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_23"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.23" class="v12_4_23">23</span>“Why do you have to go today?” her husband asked. “It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival.”<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.4.23!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_23">“Never mind,” she answered. </span><span class="v12_4_24"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.24" class="v12_4_24">24</span>Then she had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant, “Make the donkey go as fast as it can, and don't slow down unless I tell you to.” </span><span class="v12_4_25"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.25" class="v12_4_25">25</span>So she set out and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_25">Elisha saw her coming while she was still some distance away, and he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there comes the woman from Shunem! </span><span class="v12_4_26"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.26" class="v12_4_26">26</span>Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_26">She told Gehazi that everything was all right, </span><span class="v12_4_27"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.27" class="v12_4_27">27</span>but when she came to Elisha, she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away, but Elisha said, “Leave her alone. Can't you see she's deeply distressed? And the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has not told me a thing about it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_28"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.28" class="v12_4_28">28</span>The woman said to him, “Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_29"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.29" class="v12_4_29">29</span>Elisha turned to Gehazi and said, “Hurry! Take my walking stick and go. Don't stop to greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, don't take time to answer. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_30"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.30" class="v12_4_30">30</span>The woman said to Elisha, “I swear by my loyalty to the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> and to you that I will not leave you!” So the two of them started back together. </span><span class="v12_4_31"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.31" class="v12_4_31">31</span>Gehazi went on ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child, but there was no sound or any other sign of life. So he went back to meet Elisha and said, “The boy didn't wake up.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_32"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.32" class="v12_4_32">32</span>When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed. </span><span class="v12_4_33"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.33" class="v12_4_33">33</span>He closed the door and prayed to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. </span><span class="v12_4_34"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.34" class="v12_4_34">34</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.4.34!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy's mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy's body started to get warm. </span><span class="v12_4_35"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.35" class="v12_4_35">35</span>Elisha got up, walked around the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. </span><span class="v12_4_36"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.36" class="v12_4_36">36</span>Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her, “Here's your son.” </span><span class="v12_4_37"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.37" class="v12_4_37">37</span>She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.</span></p><h3 class="s">Two More Miracles</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_38"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.38" class="v12_4_38">38</span>Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them. </span><span class="v12_4_39"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.39" class="v12_4_39">39</span>One of them went out in the fields to get some herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them up into the stew, not knowing what they were. </span><span class="v12_4_40"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.40" class="v12_4_40">40</span>The stew was poured out for the men to eat, but as soon as they tasted it they exclaimed to Elisha, “It's poisoned!”—and wouldn't eat it. </span><span class="v12_4_41"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.41" class="v12_4_41">41</span>Elisha asked for some meal, threw it into the pot, and said, “Pour out some more stew for them.” And then there was nothing wrong with it.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_42"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.42" class="v12_4_42">42</span>Another time, a man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing Elisha twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley harvested that year, and some freshly-cut heads of grain. Elisha told his servant to feed the group of prophets with this, </span><span class="v12_4_43"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.43" class="v12_4_43">43</span>but he answered, “Do you think this is enough for a hundred men?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_4_43">Elisha replied, “Give it to them to eat, because the <span class="nd">Lord</span> says that they will eat and still have some left over.” </span><span class="v12_4_44"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.4.44" class="v12_4_44">44</span>So the servant set the food before them, and as the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had said, they all ate, and there was still some left over.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.23: </char><char style="fk" closed="false">Sabbath … New Moon Festival: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Such holy days were thought to be the best time to consult a prophet.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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