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Today's Bible Reading :: 2 Kings 4 - 5 (ESV)

2 Kings 4Listen to the passage

2 Kings 5Listen to the passage

2 Kings 4

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

(cf. 1Ki 17:14–16 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:1 - Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:2 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:3 - Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:4 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:5 - So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:6 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:7 - She came and told the man 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

(cf. 1Ki 17:17–24 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:8 - One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:9 - And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:10 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:11 - One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:12 - And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:13 - 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 the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:14 - And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:15 - He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:16 - And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:17 - But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:18 - When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:19 - And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:20 - And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:21 - And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:22 - 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 the man of God and come back again.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:23

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:23 - And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:24 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:25

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:25 - So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:26

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:26 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:27

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:27 - And when she came to 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:28

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:28 - Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:29

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:29 - He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:30

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:30 - Then the mother of the child said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:31

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:31 - 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 has not awakened.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:32

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:32 - When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:33

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:33 - So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:34

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:34 - 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 he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:35

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:35 - Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:36

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:36 - 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:37

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:37 - She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:38

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:38 - And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:39

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:39 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:40

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:40 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:41

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:41 - He said, “Then bring flour.” And 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.
(cf. Mat 14:13–21; 15:32–39 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:42

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:42 - A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:43

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:43 - 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.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 4:44

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 4:44 - So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

2 Kings 5

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:1 - Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:2 - Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:3 - She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:4 - So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:5 - And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels[fn] of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:6 - And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:7 - And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:8 - But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:9 - So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:10 - And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:11 - But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:12 - Are not Abana[fn] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:13 - But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:14 - So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed and Punishment

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:15 - Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:16 - But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:17 - Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:18 - In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:19 - He said to him, “Go in peace.” But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance,

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:20 - Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:21 - So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:22 - And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:23

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:23 - And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:24 - And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:25

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:25 - He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:26

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:26 - But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 5:27

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 5:27 - Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.
See the ESV Preface
ESV Footnotes
Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Or Amana
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2025 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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