2 Kings 4:38-5:8

GOD’S WORD Translation

Elisha and the Poisoned Food

³⁸ When Elisha went back to Gilgal, there was a famine in the country. ⌞One day,⌟ while the disciples of the prophets were meeting with him, he told his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and cook some stew for the disciples of the prophets.”

³⁹ One of them went into the field to gather vegetables and found a wild vine. He filled his clothes with wild gourds. Then he cut them into the pot of stew without knowing what they were. ⁴⁰ They dished out the food for the men to eat. As they were eating the stew, they cried out, “There’s death in the pot, man of God!” So they couldn’t eat it.

⁴¹ Elisha said, “Bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Dish it out for the people to eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Elisha Feeds a Hundred People

⁴² A man from Baal Shalisha brought bread made from the first harvested grain, 20 barley loaves, and fresh grain to the man of God. The man of God said, “Give it to the people to eat.”

⁴³ But his servant asked, “How can I set this in front of a hundred people?”

“Give it to the people to eat,” the man of God said. “This is what the Lord says: They will eat and even have some left over.”

⁴⁴ The servant set it in front of them. They ate and had some left over, as the Lord had predicted.

Elisha Heals Naaman

5 Naaman, the commander of the Aramean king’s army, was respected and highly honored by his master. The Lord had given Aram a victory through Naaman. This man was a good soldier, but he had a skin disease.

² Once, when the Arameans went on raids, they had brought back a little girl from Israel. She became the servant of Naaman’s wife. ³ The girl told her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet in Samaria. Then the prophet could cure him of his skin disease.”

⁴ Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.

⁵ The king of Aram said, “You may go. I will also send a letter to the king of Israel.” When Naaman left, he took 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and 10 sets of clothing with him. ⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel. It read, “I’m sending my officer Naaman with this letter. Cure him of his skin disease.”

⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟. He asked, “Am I God? Can I kill someone and then bring him back to life? This man sends someone to me so that I can cure his skin disease! All of you should realize and understand that he’s trying to pick a fight with me.”

⁸ But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a messenger to the king. He asked, “Why did you tear your clothes? Please let Naaman come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.”