2 Kings 4-6

Voiced by Amazon Polly

2 Kings 4

Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared Yahweh: and the creditor has come to take to himself my two children to be bond-men. 2 And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me; what do you have in the house? And she said, Your handmaid has nothing in the house, save a pot of oil. 3 Then he said, Go borrow you vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4 And you shall go in, and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and you shall set aside that which is full. 5 So she went from him, and shut the door on her and on her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. 6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7 Then she came and told the man of Elohim. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live you and your sons of the rest.

8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. 9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of Elohim, that passes by us continually. 10 Let us make, I pray you, a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there. 11 And it fell on a day, that he came there, and he turned into the chamber and lay there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for you? Would you be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army? And she answered, I dwell among my own people. 14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Truly she has no son, and her husband is old. 15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16 And he said, At this season, when the time comes around, you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, kind sir, you man of Elohim, do not lie to your handmaid.

17 And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her. 18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. 20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of Elohim, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 22 And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray you, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of Elohim, and come again. 23 And he said, Why do you want to go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. 24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not hold back riding for me, unless I speak to you. 25 So she went, and came to the man of Elohim to mount Carmel.

And it came to pass, when the man of Elohim saw her far off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, there is the Shunammite: 26 Run, I pray you, now to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. 27 And when she came to the man of Elohim to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of Elohim said, Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her; and Yahweh has hid it from me, and has not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my superior? Did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way: if you meet any man, do not salute him; and if any salute you, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. 30 And the mother of the child said, As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And he arose, and followed her. 31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child had not awakened.

32 And when Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Yahweh. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon him; and the flesh of the child grew warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she had come in to him, he said, Take up your son. 37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they did not know them 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O man of Elohim, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat of it. 41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

42 And a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of Elohim bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give to the people, that they may eat. 43 And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says Yahweh, They shall eat, and shall leave of it. 44 So he set it before them, and they ate and left of it, according to the word of Yahweh.

 

2 Kings 5

Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahweh had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 And she said to her mistress, If only my master were with the prophet that is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy. 4 And one went in, and told his master, saying, In this manner and thus said the maiden that is of the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy. 7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I Elohim, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.

8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of Elohim heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you rent your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean. 11 But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his Elohim, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then he went down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of Elohim; and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 And he returned to the man of Elohim, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, Behold now, I know that there is no Elohim in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray you, take a present of your servant. 16 But he said, As Yahweh lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17 And Naaman said, If not, yet, I pray you, let there be given to your servant two mules’ burden of earth; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice to other elohim, but to Yahweh. 18 In this thing may Yahweh pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing. 19 And he said to him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of Elohim, said, Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: as Yahweh lives, I will run after him, and get something from him. 21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22 And he said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there have come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray you, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment. 23 And Naaman said, Be pleased to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they carried them before him. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed. 25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him From where do you come, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went nowhere. 26 And he said to him, Didn’t my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants and maidservants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

 

2 Kings 6

And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before you is too narrow for us. 2 Let us go, we pray you, to the Jordan, and each one of us will take a beam from there, and let us make ourselves a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go. 3 And one said, Be pleased, I pray you, to go with your servants. And he answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. 6 And the man of Elohim said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron to swim. 7 And he said, Take it up to you. So he put out his hand, and took it.

8 Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9 And the man of Elohim sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you do not pass such a place; for there the Syrians are coming down. 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of Elohim told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice. 11 And the heart of the king of Syria was very troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12 And one of his servants said, No, my Sovereign, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. 13 And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and bring him. And it was told to him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

14 Therefore he sent horses there, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and surrounded the city. 15 And when the servant of the man of Elohim had risen early, and gone forth, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? 16 And he answered, Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Yahweh, I pray you, open his eyes, that he may see. And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, Strike this people, I pray you, with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria.

20 And it came to pass, when they had come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And Yahweh opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the middle of Samaria. 21 And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them? 22 And he answered, You shall not strike them: would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23 And he prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

24 And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, Help, my Sovereign, O king. 27 And he said, If Yahweh does not help you, from where shall I help you? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? 28 And the king said to her, What ails you? And she answered, This woman said to me, Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son to-morrow. 29 So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him; and she has hid her son. 30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; (now he was passing by upon the wall;) and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth inside upon his flesh. 31 Then he said, Elohim do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

32 But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 33 And while he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of Yahweh; why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?

Bitnami