2 Kings 3 - 4 — Legacy Standard Bible

Moab Rebels Against Israel

3Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria ^ain the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. ²And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, though not like his father and his mother; and ^ahe took away the sacred pillar of Baal ^bwhich his father had made. ³Nevertheless, ^ahe clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^bwhich he made Israel sin; he did not turn away from them.

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and ^aused to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. ⁵But it happened that ^awhen Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶And King Jehoram went out of Samaria ¹at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up; ^aI am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸And he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he ¹answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹So ^athe king of Israel went with ^bthe king of Judah and ^cthe king of Edom; and they went around on a seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the camp or for the cattle that ¹followed them. ¹⁰Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, “^aIs there not a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “^bElisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^cwho used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” ¹²And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have to do with you? ^aGo to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.” ¹⁴And Elisha said, “^aAs Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. ¹⁵“So now ^abring me a musician.” And it came about, when the musician played, that ^bthe hand of Yahweh came upon him. ¹⁶And he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ ¹⁷“For thus says Yahweh, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley ^ashall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your livestock and your cattle. ¹⁸‘And this is but a ^alight thing in the sight of Yahweh; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹‘^aThen you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’” ²⁰Then it happened in the morning ^aabout the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And they summoned all who were able to ¹put on armor and older, and they stood on the border. ²²Then they rose early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³Then they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and they have struck down one another. So now, Moab, to the spoil!” ²⁴So they came to the camp of Israel. And the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites. So they fled before them; and they went forward ¹into the land, striking down the Moabites. ²⁵^aThus they ¹tore down the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. And they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in ^bKir-hareseth they let its stones remain; however, the slingers went about it and struck it. ²⁶Then the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, so he took with him 700 men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷So he took his oldest son, who was to reign in his place, and ^aoffered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel, and they set out from him and returned to their own land.

The Widow’s Oil

4Now a certain woman of the wives of ^athe sons of the prophets cried out to ¹Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared Yahweh; and ^bthe creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” ²And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your servant-woman has nothing in the house except ^aa jar of oil.” ³Then he said, “Go, ask for vessels for yourself, from those outside, from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. ⁴“And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” ⁵So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. ⁶Now it happened that when ^athe vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. ⁷Then she came and told ^athe man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

The Shunammite Woman Will Bear a Son

⁸Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to ^aShunem, where there was a ¹prominent woman, and she prevailed upon him to eat ²food. Now it happened, as often as he passed by, that he turned in there to eat ³food. ⁹And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy ^aman of God passing by us continually. ¹⁰“Please, let us ^amake a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it will be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.”

¹¹Now it happened that one day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber, and there he ¹lay down. ¹²Then he said to ^aGehazi his young man, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have been ¹careful for us with all this ²care; what can I do for you? Would you be spoken for to the king or to the commander of the army?’” And she ³answered, “I live among my own people.” ¹⁴So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi ¹answered, “Truly she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵And he said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶Then he said, “^aAt this season ¹next year you will embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God, ^bdo not lie to your servant-woman.”

¹⁷Then the woman conceived and bore a son at that season ¹the next year, as Elisha had said to her.

A Dead Boy Opens His Eyes

¹⁸Then the child was grown. And the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹And he said to his father, “My head, my head.” And he said to ¹his young man, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰Then he carried him and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. ²¹Then she went up and ^alaid him on the bed of ^bthe man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. ²²And she called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and return.” ²³And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither ^anew moon nor sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.” ²⁴Then she saddled a donkey and said to her young man, “Drive and go; do not hold back the pace of the ride for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵So she went and came to the man of God to ^aMount Carmel. Now it happened that when the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his young man, “Behold, ¹there is the Shunammite. ²⁶“Please run now to meet her and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she ¹answered, “It is well.” ²⁷Then she came to the man of God ^ato the hill and took hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is bitter within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘^aDo not deceive me’?”

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, “^aGird up your loins and ^btake my staff in your hand, and go; if you meet anyone, do not ¹^,^cgreet him, and if anyone ²greets you, do not answer him; and ^dlay my staff on the boy’s face.” ³⁰But the mother of the boy said, “^aAs Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And he arose and followed her. ³¹Now Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or ¹response. So he returned to meet him and told him, saying, “The boy ^ahas not awakened.”

³²Then Elisha came into the house, and behold, the boy was dead and laid on his bed. ³³So he entered and ^ashut the door behind them both and prayed to Yahweh. ³⁴And ^ahe went up and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up and ^astretched himself on him; and the boy sneezed seven times and the boy opened his eyes. ³⁶Then he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. Then she came in to him, and he said, “Take up your son.” ³⁷Then she came in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and ^ashe took up her son and went out.

The Death in the Stew

³⁸Now Elisha returned to ^aGilgal, and there was ^ba famine in the land. ¹As ^cthe sons of the prophets ^dwere sitting before him, he said to his young man, “^ePut on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹Then one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered from it wild gourds filling his cloak and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰So they poured it out for the men to eat. And it happened that as they were eating of the stew, they cried out and said, “O man of God, there is ^adeath in the pot.” And they were unable to eat. ⁴¹But he said, “Now bring flour.” ^aHe threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people that they may eat.” Then there was no harm in the pot.

⁴²Now a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, “^aGive them to the people that they may eat.” ⁴³And his attendant said, “What, ^awill I give this before one hundred men?” But he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says Yahweh, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴So he gave it before them, and they ate and ^ahad some left over, according to the word of Yahweh.