2 Kings 4 – NIV & ASCB

New International Version

2 Kings 4:1-44

The Widow’s Olive Oil

1The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

2Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

3Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

5She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life

8One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

11One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. 12He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. 13Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’ ”

She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”

14“What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”

15Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16“About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”

“No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”

17But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

18The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19He said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. 21She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

22She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”

23“Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”

“That’s all right,” she said.

24She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” 25So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! 26Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ”

“Everything is all right,” she said.

27When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”

28“Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

29Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”

30But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

31Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”

32When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. 33He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. 35Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” 37She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Death in the Pot

38Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

39One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. 40The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

41Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Feeding of a Hundred

42A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

43“How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ” 44Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Asante Twi Contemporary Bible

2 Ahemfo 4:1-44

Elisa Boa Ɔbaa Kunafoɔ No

1Ɛda bi, Elisa mfɛfoɔ adiyifoɔ no mu baako kunafoɔ baa ne nkyɛn, bɛsu kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Me kunu a na ɔsom wo no awu. Na wonim sɛdeɛ na ɔsuro Awurade. Nanso, seesei obi a mede no ka aba, rehunahuna sɛ, ɔbɛfa me mmammarima baanu sɛ nkoa.”

2Elisa bisaa no sɛ, “Ɛdeɛn na mɛtumi ayɛ de aboa wo? Kyerɛ me nneɛma a wowɔ wɔ efie.” Ɔbuaa sɛ, “Menni hwee sɛ ngo ahina baako.”

3Elisa ka kyerɛɛ no sɛ “Kɔfɛm nhina dodoɔ biara a wobɛnya firi wo nnamfonom ne wo mfɛfoɔ nkyɛn. 4Afei, fa wo mmammarima no kɔ wo fie, na to ɛpono mu. Hwie ngo no firi wʼahina no mu, gugu nhina no mu. Deɛ ɛbɛyɛ ma biara, yi si nkyɛn.”

5Enti, ɔyɛɛ saa. Ne mmammarima no de nhina bebree brɛɛ no, ma ɔhyehyɛɛ no ma ma. 6Ankyɛre na emu biara yɛɛ ma tɛnn. Ɔka kyerɛɛ ne mmammarima no mu baako sɛ, “Brɛ me ahina foforɔ.”

Ɔka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Ebi nni hɔ bio.” Na afei ngo no a ɔrehwie no saeɛ.

7Ɛberɛ a ɔkaa asɛm a asi no kyerɛɛ Onyankopɔn onipa no, ɔka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Afei, tɔn ngo no, na fa tua wʼaka, na sika no bi bɛka ama wode ahwɛ wo ho ne wo mmammarima no.”

Elisa Ne Ɔbaa A Ɔfiri Sunem No

8Ɛda koro bi, Elisa kɔɔ Sunem kurom. Na ɔbaa ɔdefoɔ bi te kuro no mu. Ɔtoo nsa frɛɛ Elisa sɛ ɔmmɛdidi. Ɛfiri saa ɛberɛ no, ɛberɛ biara a ɔbɛtwam hɔ no, ɔfa hɔ kɔdidi. 9Ɔka kyerɛɛ ne kunu sɛ, “Megye di sɛ saa ɔbarima yi a ɔtaa ba ha yi yɛ Onyankopɔn onipa kronkron. 10Ma yɛnsiesie ɛdan bi mma no wɔ ɛsoro hɔ na yɛmfa mpa, ɛpono, akonnwa ne kanea nsi mu mma no. Na ɛberɛ biara a ɔbɛba ha no, wanya baabi asoeɛ.”

11Ɛda bi, Elisa sane baa Sunem. Ɔkɔɔ ne soro dan no mu kɔsoɛe. 12Ɔka kyerɛɛ ne ɔsomfoɔ Gehasi sɛ, “Ka kyerɛ ɔbaa no sɛ, mepɛ sɛ meka asɛm bi kyerɛ no.” Ɔbaa no baeɛ no, 13Elisa ka kyerɛɛ Gehasi sɛ, “Ka kyerɛ no sɛ, yɛn ani asɔ ne som pa a wasom yɛn no. Na bisa no deɛ yɛn so yɛbɛtumi ayɛ ama no. Ɔpɛ sɛ medi ne ho adanseɛ kyerɛ ɔhene anaa asraafoɔ sahene no?”

Ɔbuaa sɛ, “Dabi, ɛfiri sɛ, mʼabusuafoɔ hwɛ me yie.”

14Akyire yi, Elisa bisaa Gehasi sɛ, “Ɛdeɛn na wogye di sɛ yɛbɛtumi ayɛ ama no?”

Ɔto maa no sɛ, “Ɔnni babarima na ne kunu nso abɔ akɔkoraa.”

15Elisa ka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Frɛ no bra bio.” Ɔbaa no baeɛ no, Elisa ka kyerɛɛ no wɔ ɛpono no ano sɛ, 16“Afe sɛsɛɛ saa ɛberɛ yi ara mu, na ɔbabarima da wo srɛ so.”

Ɔteaa mu sɛ, “Dabi, me wura, mesrɛ wo, ntwa me nkontompo saa. Ao, Onyankopɔn onipa.”

17Na ampa ara, ɛberɛ tiawa bi akyi, ɔbaa no nyinsɛneeɛ. Na afe saa ɛberɛ no ara, ɔwoo ɔbabarima sɛdeɛ Elisa kaeɛ no pɛpɛɛpɛ.

18Ne ba no nyiniiɛ no, da bi, ɔkɔsraa nʼagya a na ɔne nʼapaafoɔ reyɛ adwuma. 19Prɛko pɛ, ɔkaa sɛ, “Me ti pae me! Me ti pae me!”

Nʼagya ka kyerɛɛ nʼapaafoɔ no mu baako sɛ, “Fa no kɔ efie kɔma ne maame.”

20Ɔpaani no de no kɔɔ efie. Ne maame gyee no too ne srɛ so. Nanso, ɛduruu owigyinaeɛ mu no, ɔwuiɛ. 21Ɔpagyaa no de no kɔtoo Onyankopɔn onipa no mpa so. Ɔtoo ɛpono no mu gyaa no hɔ kɔeɛ.

22Ɔsomaa ɔbɔfoɔ kɔbɔɔ ne kunu amaneɛ sɛ, “Soma apaafoɔ no baako na ɔmfa afunumu mmra, sɛdeɛ mɛtumi akɔduru Onyankopɔn onipa no hɔ ntɛm, asane aba.”

23Ɔbisaa sɛ, “Adɛn enti na wopɛ sɛ wokɔ ɛnnɛ yi ara? Ɛnyɛ Ɔbosome Foforɔ Afahyɛ, na ɛnyɛ homeda nso.”

Nanso, ɔkaa sɛ, “Ɛwom saa.”

24Enti, ɔhyehyɛɛ afunumu no, ka kyerɛɛ ɔpaani no sɛ, “Ka wo ho. Ɛnyɛ me enti na wobɛto wo bo ase, na mmom, kɔ ara, gye sɛ maka sɛ to wo bo ase.” 25Ɔrebɛduru Onyankopɔn onipa no nkyɛn wɔ bepɔ Karmel so no, Elisa hunuu no wɔ akyirikyiri.

Ɔka kyerɛɛ Gehasi sɛ, “Hwɛ, ɔbaa a ɔfiri Sunam no reba. 26Tu mmirika kɔhyia no, na bisa no sɛ, ‘Wo ne wo kunu ne wo ba ho yɛ anaa?’ ”

Ɔbaa no buaa Gehasi sɛ, “Yɛn nyinaa ho yɛ.”

27Nanso, ɔbaa Onyankopɔn onipa no nkyɛn wɔ bepɔ no so no, ɔhwee ne nan ase, sɔɔ nʼanammɔn mu. Gehasi sum no, nanso Onyankopɔn onipa no kaa sɛ, “Gyaa no. Biribi reteetee no, na Awurade nso nkyerɛɛ me dekodeɛ no.”

28Na ɔbaa no kaa sɛ, “Wo ara me wura, wo na wokaa sɛ, mɛnya ɔbabarima. Na manka ankyerɛ wo sɛ mma memfa mʼani nto so?”

29Na Elisa ka kyerɛɛ Gehasi sɛ, “Boa wo ho, na mensoma wo, fa me poma no, na kɔ. Nkasa obiara ho wɔ ɛkwan so. Kɔ na fa poma no kɔto abɔfra no anim.”

30Na abarimaa no maame kaa sɛ, “Mmerɛ dodoɔ a Awurade te ase, na wo nso wote ase yi, merenkɔ efie gye sɛ woka me ho.” Enti, Elisa sane ne no kɔeɛ.

31Gehasi yɛɛ ntɛm dii ɛkan, de poma no kɔtoo abɔfra no anim, nanso biribiara ansi. Nkwa ho nsɛnkyerɛnneɛ biara amma. Ɔsane nʼakyi kɔhyiaa Elisa, bɔɔ no amaneɛ sɛ, “Abɔfra no nnyaneeɛ.”

32Ɛberɛ a Elisa duruu hɔ no, ampa na abɔfra no awu da odiyifoɔ no mpa so. 33Ɔno nko kɔɔ hɔ, too ne ho ɛpono mu, bɔɔ Awurade mpaeɛ. 34Afei, ɔbutuu abɔfra no so, de nʼano tuaa abɔfra no ano, de nʼani fam abɔfra no ani, de ne nsa sosɔɔ abɔfra no nsa. Afei, abɔfra no ho hyɛɛ aseɛ yɛɛ hye bio. 35Elisa sɔre, dii akɔneaba wɔ ɛdan no mu kakra. Afei, ɔdaa abɔfra no so bio. Saa ɛberɛ yi, abɔfra no nwansii mprɛnson, na ɔtee nʼani.

36Afei, Elisa somaa Gehasi sɛ, “Frɛ abɔfra no na bra.” Ne maame no baeɛ no, Elisa ka kyerɛɛ no sɛ, “Wo ba no nie, fa no kɔ.” 37Ɔfiri ahodwirie mu hwee ne nan ase daa no ase. Afei, ɔfaa ne ba no, de no siane kɔɔ fam.

Ɛkɔm Kɛseɛ Bi Mu Nsɛnkyerɛnneɛ

38Elisa sane kɔɔ Gilgal, nanso na ɛkɔm asi asase no so. Ɛda bi a adiyifokuo tete nʼanim no, ɔka kyerɛɛ ne ɔsomfoɔ sɛ, “Fa ɛsɛn kɛseɛ si ogya so, na yɛ abɔmu ma saa mmarima yi.”

39Wɔn mu baako kɔɔ wiram sɛ ɔrekɔpɛ atosodeɛ, na ɔnyaa ɛferɛ bɔtɔ ma de baeɛ. Ɔtwitwa de guu ɛsɛn no mu a na ɔnnim sɛ awuduro wɔ mu. 40Na wɔdii kakra bi pɛ, wɔteateaam sɛ, “Onyankopɔn onipa, awuduro wɔ abɔmu no mu!” Ɛno enti, wɔanni bio.

41Elisa kaa sɛ, “Mommrɛ me asikyiresiam kakra.” Ɔde guu ɛsɛn no mu, kaa sɛ, “Afei, ayɛ yie enti monkɔdi.” Na anha wɔn bio.

42Ɛda bi, ɔbarima bi a ɔyɛ Baal-Salisani brɛɛ Onyankopɔn onipa no atokoɔ foforɔ bɔtɔ ma, ne burodo mua aduonu. Elisa kaa sɛ, “Fa ma adiyifokuo no, na wɔnni.”

43Ɔsomfoɔ no teaam sɛ, “Wose sɛn? Kakra yi na yɛmfa mma nnipa ɔha yi anaa?”

Nanso, Elisa tii mu sɛ, “Fa ma adiyifokuo no, na wɔnni, na Awurade ka sɛ, ‘Obiara bɛdi amee, na ebi mpo bɛka akyire.’ ” 44Na ampa ara, obiara didi meeɛ ma ebi mpo kaaeɛ, sɛdeɛ Awurade hyɛɛ ho bɔ no.