4The 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."H6817H259H802H802H1121H5030H477H559H5650H376H4191H3045H5650H3373H3068H5383H935H3947H8147H3206H5650 2"What shall I do for you?" he asked. "Tell me, what do you have at home?" "Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil," she answered.H477H559H6213H5046H3426H1004H559H8198H1004H610H8081 3"Go to your neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as you can," Elisha told her.H559H3212H7592H3627H2351H7934H7386H3627H4591 4"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."H935H5462H1817H1121H3332H3627H5265H4392 5So 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.H3212H5462H1817H1157H1121H1992H5066H3332 6When 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.H3627H4390H559H1121H5066H3627H559H3627H8081H5975 7She 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."H935H5046H376H430H559H3212H4376H8081H7999H5386H2421H1121H3498 8One 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.H3117H477H5674H7766H1419H802H2388H398H3899H1767H5674H5493H398H3899 9She said to her husband, "I am sure that this man who comes here so often is a holy man.H559H376H3045H6918H376H430H5674H8548 10Let'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."H6213H6996H5944H7023H7760H4296H7979H3678H4501H935H5493 11One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went up to his room to rest.H3117H935H5493H5944H7901 12He told his servant Gehazi to go and call the woman. When she came,H559H1522H5288H7121H7767H7121H5975H6440 13he 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." "I have all I need here among my own people," she answered.H559H559H2729H2731H6213H3426H1696H4428H8269H6635H559H3427H8432H5971 14Elisha asked Gehazi, "What can I do for her then?" He answered, "Well, she has no son, and her husband is an old man."H559H6213H1522H559H61H1121H376H2204 15"Tell her to come here," Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway,H559H7121H7121H5975H6607 16and Elisha said to her, "By this time next year you will be holding a son in your arms." "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Please, sir, don't lie to me. You are a man of God!"H559H4150H6256H2416H2263H1121H559H113H376H430H3576H8198 17But, as Elisha had said, at about that time the following year she gave birth to a son.H802H2029H3205H1121H4150H477H1696H6256H2416 18Some years later, at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers.H3206H1431H3117H3318H1H7114 19Suddenly he cried out to his father, "My head hurts! My head hurts!" "Carry the boy to his mother," the father said to a servant.H559H1H7218H7218H559H5288H5375H517 20The servant carried the boy back to his mother, who held him in her lap until noon, at which time he died.H5375H935H517H3427H1290H6672H4191 21She carried him up to Elisha's room, put him on the bed and left, closing the door behind her.H5927H7901H4296H376H430H5462H3318 22Then 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."H7121H376H559H7971H259H5288H259H860H7323H376H430H7725 23"Why do you have to go today?" her husband asked. "It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival." "Never mind," she answered.H559H1980H3117H2320H7676H559H7965 24Then 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."H2280H860H559H5288H5090H3212H6113H7392H559 25So she set out and went to Mount Carmel, where Elisha was. 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!H3212H935H376H430H2022H3760H376H430H7200H559H1522H5288H1975H7767 26Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her, her husband, and her son." She told Gehazi that everything was all right,H7323H7125H559H7965H7965H376H7965H3206H559H7965 27but 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 LORD has not told me a thing about it."H935H376H430H2022H2388H7272H1522H5066H1920H376H430H559H7503H5315H4843H3068H5956H5046 28The woman said to him, "Sir, did I ask you for a son? Didn't I tell you not to get my hopes up?"H559H7592H1121H113H559H7952 29Elisha 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."H559H1522H2296H4975H3947H4938H3027H3212H4672H376H1288H376H1288H6030H7760H4938H6440H5288 30The woman said to Elisha, "I swear by my loyalty to the living LORD and to you that I will not leave you!" So the two of them started back together.H517H5288H559H3068H2416H5315H2416H5800H6965H3212H310 31Gehazi 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."H1522H5674H6440H7760H4938H6440H5288H6963H7182H7725H7125H5046H559H5288H6974 32When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed.H477H935H1004H5288H4191H7901H4296 33He closed the door and prayed to the LORD.H935H5462H1817H8147H6419H3068 34Then 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.H5927H7901H3206H7760H6310H6310H5869H5869H3709H3709H1457H1320H3206H2552 35Elisha 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.H7725H3212H1004H259H2008H259H2008H5927H1457H5288H2237H7651H6471H5288H6491H5869 36Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her, "Here's your son."H7121H1522H559H7121H7767H7121H935H559H5375H1121 37She fell at Elisha's feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.H935H5307H7272H7812H776H5375H1121H3318 38Once, 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.H477H7725H1537H7458H776H1121H5030H3427H6440H559H5288H8239H1419H5518H1310H5138H1121H5030 39One 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.H259H3318H7704H3950H219H4672H7704H1612H3950H7704H6498H899H4393H935H6398H5518H5138H3045 40The 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.H3332H582H398H398H5138H6817H559H376H430H4194H5518H3201H398 41Elisha 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.H559H3947H7058H7993H5518H559H3332H5971H398H1697H7451H5518 42Another 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,H935H376H1190H935H376H430H3899H1061H6242H3899H8184H3759H6861H559H5414H5971H398 43but he answered, "Do you think this is enough for a hundred men?" Elisha replied, "Give it to them to eat, because the LORD says that they will eat and still have some left over."H8334H559H5414H6440H3967H376H559H5414H5971H398H559H3068H398H3498 44So the servant set the food before them, and as the LORD had said, they all ate, and there was still some left over.H5414H6440H398H3498H1697H3068
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