2 Kings 4; 2 Kings 5; 2 Kings 6; Luke 24:36-53

1 Now there was a woman who had been married to a member of a group of prophets. She appealed to Elisha, saying, "My husband, your servant, is dead. You know how he feared the LORD. But now someone he owed money to has come to take my two children away as slaves."

2 Elisha said to her, "What can I do for you? Tell me what you still have left in the house." She said, "Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a small jar of oil."

3 He said, "Go out and borrow containers from all your neighbors. Get as many empty containers as possible.

4 Then go in and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all those containers. Set each one aside when it's full."

5 She left Elisha and closed the door behind her and her sons. They brought her containers as she kept on pouring.

6 When she had filled the containers, she said to her son, "Bring me another container." He said to her, "There aren't any more." Then the oil stopped flowing,

7 and she reported this to the man of God. He said, "Go! Sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what remains."

8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. A rich woman lived there. She urged him to eat something, so whenever he passed by, he would stop in to eat some food.

9 She said to her husband, "Look, I know that he is a holy man of God and he passes by regularly.

10 Let's make a small room on the roof. We'll set up a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him there. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there."

11 So one day Elisha came there, headed to the room on the roof, and lay down.

12 He said to his servant Gehazi, "Call this Shunammite woman." Gehazi called her, and she stood before him.

13 Elisha then said to Gehazi, "Say to her, ‘Look, you've gone to all this trouble for us. What can I do for you? Is there anything I can say on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?'" She said, "I'm content to live at home with my own people."

14 Elisha asked, "So what can be done for her?" Gehazi said, "Well, she doesn't have a son, and her husband is old."

15 Elisha said, "Call her." So Gehazi called her, and she stood at the door.

16 Elisha said, "About this time next year, you will be holding a son in your arms." But she said, "No, man of God, sir; don't lie to your servant."

17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son at about the same time the next year. This was what Elisha had promised her.

18 The child grew up. One day he ran to his father, who was with the harvest workers.

19 He said to his father, "Oh, my head! My head!" The father said to a young man, "Carry him to his mother."

20 So he picked up the boy and brought him to his mother. The boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died.

21 She went up and laid him down on the bed for the man of God. Then she went out and closed the door.

22 She called her husband and said, "Send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys so that I can hurry to the man of God and come back."

23 Her husband said, "Why are you going to him today? It's not a new moon or sabbath." She said, "Don't worry about it."

24 She saddled the donkey, then said to her young servant, "Drive the donkey hard. Don't let me slow down unless I tell you."

25 So she went off and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. As soon as the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, "Look, it's the Shunammite woman!

26 Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Are things okay with you, your husband, and your child?'" She said, "Things are okay."

27 When she got to the man of God at the mountain, she grabbed his feet. Gehazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone! She is distraught, but the LORD has hidden the reason from me and hasn't told me why."

28 She said, "Did I ask you for a son, sir? Didn't I say, ‘Don't raise my hopes'?"

29 Elisha said to Gehazi, "Get ready, take my staff, and go! If you encounter anyone, don't stop to greet them. If anyone greets you, don't reply. Put my staff on the boy's face."

30 But the boy's mother said, "I swear by your life and by the LORD's life, I won't leave you!" So Elisha got up and followed her.

31 Gehazi went on ahead of them. He set the staff on the young boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, "The boy didn't wake up."

32 Elisha came into the house and saw the boy lying dead on his bed.

33 He went in and closed the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the LORD.

34 He got up on the bed and lay down on top of the child, putting his mouth on the boy's mouth, his eyes on the boy's eyes, his hands on the boy's hands. And as he bent over him, the child's skin grew warm.

35 Then Elisha got down and paced back and forth in the house. Once again he got up on the bed and bent over the boy, at which point the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36 Elisha called for Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite woman." Gehazi called her, and she came to Elisha. He told her, "Pick up your son."

37 She came and fell at his feet, facedown on the ground. Then she picked up her son and left.

38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. A group of prophets was sitting before him. He said to his servant, "Put on the big pot and cook some stew for the prophets."

39 So one of them went out to the field to gather plants; he found a wild vine and gathered wild gourds from it, filling his garment. He came and cut them up into the pot of stew, but no one knew what they were.

40 The stew was served to the men, but as they started to eat it, they cried out and said, "There is death in that pot, man of God!" They couldn't eat it.

41 Elisha said, "Get some flour." He threw it into the pot and said, "Serve the people so they can eat." At that point, there was nothing bad left in the pot.

42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread from the early produce—twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh grain from his bag. Elisha said, "Give it to the people so they can eat."

43 His servant said, "How can I feed one hundred men with this?" Elisha said, "Give it to the people so they can eat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Eat and there will be leftovers.'"

44 So the servant gave the food to them. They ate and had leftovers, in agreement with the LORD's word.

1 Naaman, a general for the king of Aram, was a great man and highly regarded by his master, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. This man was a mighty warrior, but he had a skin disease.

2 Now Aramean raiding parties had gone out and captured a young girl from the land of Israel. She served Naaman's wife.

3 She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master could come before the prophet who lives in Samaria. He would cure him of his skin disease."

4 So Naaman went and told his master what the young girl from the land of Israel had said.

5 Then Aram's king said, "Go ahead. I will send a letter to Israel's king." So Naaman left. He took along ten kikkars of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

6 He brought the letter to Israel's king. It read, "Along with this letter I'm sending you my servant Naaman so you can cure him of his skin disease."

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he ripped his clothes. He said, "What? Am I God to hand out death and life? But this king writes me, asking me to cure someone of his skin disease! You must realize that he wants to start a fight with me."

8 When Elisha the man of God heard that Israel's king had ripped his clothes, he sent word to the king: "Why did you rip your clothes? Let the man come to me. Then he'll know that there's a prophet in Israel."

9 Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots. He stopped at the door of Elisha's house.

10 Elisha sent out a messenger who said, "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored and become clean."

11 But Naaman went away in anger. He said, "I thought for sure that he'd come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease.

12 Aren't the rivers in Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all Israel's waters? Couldn't I wash in them and get clean?" So he turned away and proceeded to leave in anger.

13 Naaman's servants came up to him and spoke to him: "Our father, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, wouldn't you have done it? All he said to you was, ‘Wash and become clean.'"

14 So Naaman went down and bathed in the Jordan seven times, just as the man of God had said. His skin was restored like that of a young boy, and he became clean.

15 He returned to the man of God with all his attendants. He came and stood before Elisha, saying, "Now I know for certain that there's no God anywhere on earth except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant."

16 But Elisha said, "I swear by the life of the LORD I serve that I won't accept anything." Naaman urged Elisha to accept something, but he still refused.

17 Then Naaman said, "If not, then let me, your servant, have two mule loads of earth. Your servant will never again offer entirely burned offerings or sacrifices to any other gods except the LORD.

18 But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master comes into Rimmon's temple to bow down there and is leaning on my arm, I must also bow down in Rimmon's temple. When I bow down in Rimmon's temple, may the LORD forgive your servant for doing that."

19 Elisha said to him, "Go in peace." But when Naaman had gone some distance from Elisha,

20 Gehazi (who was the servant of Elisha the man of God) thought, My master let this Aramean Naaman off the hook by not accepting the gift he brought! As surely as the LORD lives, I'll go after him and accept something from him.

21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. Naaman saw him running after him, so he got down off his chariot to meet him. He said, "Is everything okay?"

22 Gehazi answered, "Yes, but my master sent me to say, ‘Two young men who are members of a group of prophets have just now come to me from the hills of Ephraim. Give them a kikkar of silver and two changes of clothing.'"

23 Naaman said, "By all means, take two kikkars!" He encouraged Gehazi to accept them. He tied two kikkars of silver up in two bags, along with two changes of clothes. Naaman gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them in front of Gehazi.

24 When Gehazi arrived at the elevated fortress, he took the items from them and stored them in his house. Then he sent the servants away, and they left.

25 Gehazi then went and stood before his master. Elisha said to Gehazi, "Where did you come from, Gehazi?" "Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi replied.

26 Elisha said to him, "Wasn't my heart going along with you when the man got off his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept silver, clothes, olive trees, vineyards, sheep, cattle, or male and female servants?

27 Naaman's skin disease will now cling to you and to your descendants forever!" And Gehazi left Elisha's presence, flaky like snow with skin disease.

1 The members of the group of prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we now live under your authority is too small for us.

2 Let's go to the Jordan River and each get a log from there. Then we can make a place to live there." Elisha said, "Do it!"

3 One of them said, "Please come with us, your servants." Elisha said, "Okay, I'll go."

4 So he went with them. They came to the Jordan River and began cutting down trees.

5 One of them was cutting down a tree when his ax head fell into the water. He cried out, "Oh, no! Master, it was a borrowed ax!"

6 The man of God said, "Where did it fall?" He showed Elisha the place. Elisha then cut a piece of wood, threw it into the river there, and the ax head floated up.

7 "Lift it out," Elisha said. So the man then reached out and grabbed it.

8 Aram's king was fighting against Israel. He took counsel with his officers, saying, "I'll camp at such-and-such a place."

9 The man of God sent word to Israel's king: "Beware of passing by this place because the Arameans are going down there."

10 Then Israel's king sent word to the place the man of God had mentioned to him. Time after time, Elisha warned the king, and the king stayed on the alert.

11 Aram's king was extremely upset about this. He called his officers and said to them, "Tell me! Who among us is siding with Israel's king?"

12 One of his officers said, "No one, Your Majesty! It's Elisha the Israelite prophet who tells Israel's king the words that you speak in the privacy of your bedroom."

13 He said, "Go and find out where he is. Then I will send men to capture him." They told him, "He is in Dothan."

14 So the king sent horses and chariots there with a strong army. They came at night and surrounded the city.

15 Elisha's servant got up early and went out. He saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to Elisha, "Oh, no! Master, what will we do?"

16 "Don't be afraid," Elisha said, "because there are more of us than there are of them."

17 Then Elisha prayed, "LORD, please open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha.

18 The Arameans came toward him, so Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike this nation with blindness." And the LORD struck them blind, just as Elisha asked.

19 Elisha said to them, "This isn't the right road or the right city. Follow me, and I'll lead you to the man you are looking for." But he took them to Samaria!

20 When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see." The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that they were right in the middle of Samaria!

21 When he saw them, Israel's king said to Elisha, "Should I kill them, my father? Should I?"

22 He said, "No, don't kill them. Did you capture them with your own sword or bow? Do you have the right to kill them? Put food and water in front of them so they can eat and drink and return to their master."

23 So the king gave them a great feast, and they ate and drank. Then the king let them go, and they returned to their master. After that, Aramean raiding parties didn't come into Israel anymore.

24 Now it happened later that Aram's King Ben-hadad gathered all his forces and went up to attack Samaria.

25 The siege lasted so long that there was a great famine in Samaria. A donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter kab of doves' dung for five shekels.

26 Israel's king was passing by on the city wall when a woman appealed to him, "Help me, Your Majesty!"

27 The king said, "No! May the LORD help you! Where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?"

28 But then the king asked her, "What's troubling you?" She answered, "A woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we can eat him today; we'll eat my son tomorrow.'

29 So we cooked and ate my son. The next day I said to her, ‘Hand over your son so we can eat him.' But she had hidden her son."

30 When the king heard the woman's story, he ripped his clothes. And as he passed by along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing mourning clothes underneath.

31 He said, "So may God do to me, and more, if the head of Elisha, Shaphat's son, remains on his shoulders today!"

32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before the man arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Do you see that this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Watch for when the messenger comes, then close the door and hold it shut against him. The sound of his master's feet is right behind him, isn't it?"

33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger arrived and said, "Look, this disaster is the LORD's doing. Why should I trust the LORD any longer?"

36 While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

37 They were terrified and afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost.

38 He said to them, "Why are you startled? Why are doubts arising in your hearts?

39 Look at my hands and my feet. It's really me! Touch me and see, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones like you see I have."

40 As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.

41 Because they were wondering and questioning in the midst of their happiness, he said to them, "Do you have anything to eat?"

42 They gave him a piece of baked fish.

43 Taking it, he ate it in front of them.

44 Jesus said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

46 He said to them, "This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

49 Look, I'm sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power."

50 He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them.

51 As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven.

52 They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy.

53 And they were continuously in the temple praising God.