2 Kings 4:38-7:2

New King James Version

Elisha Purifies the Pot of Stew

³⁸ And Elisha returned to ^(A)Gilgal, and there was a ^(B)famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were ^(C)sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹ So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰ Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is ^(D)death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹ So he said, “Then bring some flour.” And ^(E)he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men^(F)

⁴² Then a man came from ^(G)Baal Shalisha, ^(H)and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat.”

⁴³ But his servant said, ^(I)“What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?”

He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ^(J)‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ ” ⁴⁴ So he set it before them; and they ate ^(K)and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Naaman’s Leprosy Healed

5 Now ^(L)Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was ^(M)a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. ² And the Syrians had gone out ^(N)on^[a] raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She ^[b]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” ⁴ And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”

⁵ Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he departed and ^(O)took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. ⁶ Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,

⁷ And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I ^(P)God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”

⁸ So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

⁹ Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and ^(Q)wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ ¹² Are not the ^[c]Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ And his ^(R)servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his ^(S)flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and ^(T)he was clean.

¹⁵ And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is ^(U)no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take ^(V)a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶ But he said, ^(W)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(X)I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

¹⁷ So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸ Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(Y)he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”

¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.

Gehazi’s Greed

²⁰ But ^(Z)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”

²² And he said, “All is ^(AA)well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’ ”

²³ So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. ²⁴ When he came to ^[d]the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵ Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”

And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”

²⁶ Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it ^(AB)time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore the leprosy of Naaman ^(AC)shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence ^(AD)leprous, as white as snow.

The Floating Ax Head

6 And ^(AE)the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us. ² Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.”

So he answered, “Go.”

³ Then one said, ^(AF)“Please consent to go with your servants.”

And he answered, “I will go.” ⁴ So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵ But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was ^(AG)borrowed.”

⁶ So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So ^(AH)he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. ⁷ Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

The Blinded Syrians Captured

⁸ Now the ^(AI)king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” ⁹ And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

¹¹ Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹² And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

¹³ So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.”

And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in ^(AJ)Dothan.”

¹⁴ Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

¹⁶ So he answered, ^(AK)“Do not fear, for ^(AL)those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord ^(AM)opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of ^(AN)horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And ^(AO)He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹ Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria.

²⁰ So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

²¹ Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My ^(AP)father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²² But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? ^(AQ)Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” ²³ Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So ^(AR)the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel.

Syria Besieges Samaria in Famine

²⁴ And it happened after this that ^(AS)Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ And there was a great ^(AT)famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a ^[e]kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.

²⁶ Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

²⁷ And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” ²⁸ Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?”

And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ ²⁹ So ^(AU)we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

³⁰ Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he ^(AV)tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body. ³¹ Then he said, ^(AW)“God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!”

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and ^(AX)the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, ^(AY)“Do you see how this son of ^(AZ)a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” ³³ And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the Lord; ^(BA)why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

The Syrians Flee

7 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ^(BB)‘Tomorrow about this time a ^[f]seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

^2 (BC)So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, ^(BD)if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”