The Divided Kingdom

Then she saddled the donkey and ordered her servant, "Drive as fast as you can; don't slow down for me unless I say so."

She set out and came to the man of God on Mount Karmel. When the man of God saw her in the distance, he said to Geichazi his servant, "Look, here comes that Shunamit.

Run now to meet her, and ask her, "Is everything all right with you? with your husband? with the child?" She answered, "Everything is all right."

But when she reached the man of God on the hill, she grabbed his feet. Geichazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone. She is in great distress, but ADONAI has hidden from me what it is, he hasn't told me."

Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn't I say not to deceive me?"

Then Elisha said to Geichazi, "Get dressed for action, take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, don't greet him; if anyone greets you, don't answer; and lay my staff on the child's face."

The mother of the child said, "As ADONAI lives, and as you live, I will not leave you. He got up and followed her.

Geichazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So he went back to Elisha and told him, "The child didn't wake up."

When Elisha reached the house, there the child was, dead and laid on the bed.

He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to ADONAI.

Then he got up on the bed and lay on top of the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands. As he stretched himself out on the child, its flesh began to grow warm.

Then he went down, walked around in the house awhile, went back up and stretched himself out on the child again. The child sneezed seven times, then opened his eyes.

Elisha called Geichazi and said, "Call this Shunamit." So he called her; and when she came in to him, he said, "Pick up your son."

She entered, fell at his feet and prostrated herself on the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha went back to Gilgal. At the time, there was a famine in the land. The guild prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, "Put the big pot on the fire, and boil some soup for the prophets."

One of them went out to the field to gather vegetables and came upon a wild vine, from which he filled the front of his cloak with wild squash. On returning he cut them up and put them into the stew; they didn't know what they were.

Then they poured it out for the men to eat; but on tasting it, they cried, "Man of God! There's death in that pot!" And they couldn't eat it.

But he said, "Bring some flour." He threw it in the pot, then said, "Pour it out for the people to eat." This time there was nothing harmful in the pot.

A man came from Ba'al-Shalishah bringing the man of God twenty loaves of bread made from the barley firstfruits and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give this to the people to eat."

His servant said, "How am I to serve this to a hundred men?" But he said, "Give it to the people to eat; for ADONAI says that they will eat and have some left over."

So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, as ADONAI had said.

Na'aman, commander of the king of Aram's army, was highly respected and esteemed by his master; because through him ADONAI had brought victory to Aram. But although he was a brave warrior, he also suffered from tzara'at.

Now on one of their raids into Isra'el's territory, Aram carried away captive a little girl, who became a servant for Na'aman's wife.

She said to her mistress, "I wish my lord could go to the prophet in Shomron! He could heal his tzara'at."

Na'aman went in and told his lord, "The girl from the land of Isra'el said such-and-such."