2 Kings 4; Mark 5

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2 Kings 4

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

Now the wife of one of the esons of the prophets cried to Elisha, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, fbut the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves. And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house? And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil. Then he said, Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside. So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. And he said to her, There is not another. Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the gman of God, and he said, Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.

Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

One day Elisha went on to hShunem, where a iwealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, Behold now, I know that this is a holy gman of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.

11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. 12 And he said to jGehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. When he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, Say now to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to kthe commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among my own people. 14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, Well, she has no son, and her husband is old. 15 He said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, At this season, labout this time next year, you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, gO man of God; mdo not lie to your servant. 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time lthe following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, Oh, nmy head, my head! The father said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. 20 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 21 And she went up oand laid him on the bed of the gman of God and shut the door behind him and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband and said, Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to gthe man of God and come back again. 23 And he said, Why will you go to him today? It is neither pnew moon nor Sabbath. She said, All is well. 24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you. 25 So she set out and came to the man of God qat Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child? And she answered, All is well. 27 And when she came rto the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I ask my lord for a son? sDid I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 He said to Gehazi, tTie up your garment and utake my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, vdo not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And ulay my staff on the face of the child. 30 Then the mother of the child said, wAs the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, The child xhas not awakened.

32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in and yshut the door behind the two of them zand prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as ahe stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up aand stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Then he summoned Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, Pick up your son. 37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. bThen she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew

38 And Elisha came again to cGilgal when dthere was a famine in the land. And as ethe sons of the prophets fwere sitting before him, he said to his servant, gSet on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. 39 One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. 40 And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, O man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat it. 41 He said, Then bring flour. hAnd he threw it into the pot and said, Pour some out for the men, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

42 A man came from iBaal-shalishah, jbringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, kGive to the men, that they may eat. 43 But his servant said, How can I set this before a hundred men? So he repeated, Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, They shall eat and have some left. 44 So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.


Mark 5

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

uThey came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.1 And when Jesus2 had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. vHe lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and wfell down before him. And xcrying out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, ySon of zthe Most High God? aI adjure you by God, do not torment me. For he was saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! And Jesus asked him, What is your name? He replied, My name is bLegion, for we are many. 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs; let us enter them. 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed3 man, the one who had had cthe legion, sitting there, dclothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And ethey began to beg Jesus4 to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, Go home to your friends and ftell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in gthe Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 hThen came one of ithe rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and jlay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live. 24 And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and kthronged about him. 25 And there was a woman lwho had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. 29 mAnd immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ndisease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that opower had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments? 31 And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, Who touched me? 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, Daughter, pyour faith has made you well; pgo in peace, and be healed of your ndisease.

35 While he was still speaking, there came from qthe ruler’s house some who said, Your daughter is dead. Why rtrouble sthe Teacher any further? 36 But overhearing5 what they said, Jesus said to qthe ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe. 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except tPeter and James and uJohn the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus6 saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, vWhy are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but wsleeping. 40 And they laughed at him. But he xput them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 yTaking her by the hand he said to her, Talitha cumi, which means, Little girl, I say to you, zarise. 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And ahe strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.