2 Kings 7

1 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”

Then said Elisha', Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus hath said the Lord, About this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

2 But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”

Then answered the lord of the king, on whose hand he used to lean, the man of God, and said, Behold, will the Lord make windows in the heavens, that this thing shall be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but thereof shalt thou not eat.

3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why just sit here until we die?

And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why do we remain here until we die?

4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”

If we say, We will enter into the city, then is the famine in the city, and we shall die there; and if we remain here, we die [also]: now therefore come, and let us go over unto the camp of the Syrians; if they will let us live, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

5 So they arose at twilight and went to the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the outskirts of the camp, there was not a man to be found.

And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.

6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”

For the Lord had caused the camp of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, the noise of a large army: and they said one to the other, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

7 Thus the Arameans had arisen and fled at twilight, abandoning their tents and horses and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had run for their lives.

And they were arisen and fled in the twilight, and had left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

8 When the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. On returning, they entered another tent, carried off some items from there, and hid them.

And so came these lepers to the uttermost part of the camp, and they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried away thence silver, and gold, and garments, and went and hid them; and they returned, and entered into another tent, and carried away [something] thence, and went and hid it.

9 Finally, they said to one another, “We are not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will overtake us. Now, therefore, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

And then they said one to the other, We do not act correctly; this day is a day of good tidings; and if we remain silent, and tarry till the morning-light, we shall incur guilt: now then come, and let us go and tell it at the king's house.

10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city, saying, “We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a trace—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.”

So they went and called unto one of the gate-keepers of the city, and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, nor the voice of man; but the horses were tied, and the asses were tied, and the tents as they had been.

11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported to the king’s household.

And he called the gate-keepers; and they told it at the king's house within.

12 So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and enter the city.’”

And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I can easily tell you what the Syrians have done to us: they know that we are hungry; and they are therefore gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, If they should come out of the city, we will catch them alive, and enter into the city.

13 But one of his servants replied, “Please, have scouts take five of the horses that remain in the city. Their plight will be no worse than all the Israelites who are left here. You can see that all the Israelites here are doomed. So let us send them and find out.”

And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, let it fare with them as with all the multitude of Israel that are left in it, [or] let it fare with them as with all the multitude of Israel that have perished: and let us send out and see.

14 Then the scouts took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”

And they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the camp of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

15 And they tracked them as far as the Jordan, and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in haste. So the scouts returned and told the king.

And they went after them as far as the Jordan; and, lo, the whole way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste: and the messengers returned, and told it to the king.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. It was then that a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.

And the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians: and a seah of fine flour was to be had for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

17 Now the king had appointed the officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king had come to him.

And the king had appointed the lord on whose hand he used to lean to have the charge of the gate; and the people trod him down in the gate, and he died; as the man of God had spoken, which he spoke when the king came down to him.

18 It happened just as the man of God had told the king: “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel.”

And it came to pass as the man of God was speaking to the king, saying, Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria:

19 And the officer had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” So Elisha had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”

That the Lord had answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if even the Lord were to make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he had said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but thereof shalt thou not eat.

20 And that is just what happened to him. The people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

And it happened unto him so; for the people trod him down in the gate, and he died.