< 2 Kings 7 >
1 And Elisha said, Hear the word of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah: To-morrow about this time shall the measure of fine flour be at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord: Tomorrow about this time a bushel of fine hour shall be sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria.
2 And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
3 And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said one to another, Why do we abide here until we die?
Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?
4 If we say, Let us enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we abide here, we shall die. And now come, let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall but die.
If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if we will remain here, we must also die: come, therefore, and let us run over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if they kill us, we shall but die.
5 And they rose up in the dusk to go to the camp of the Syrians; and they came to the extremity of the camp of the Syrians; and behold, there was no man there.
So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp, And when they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found no man there.
6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, a noise of a great host; and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army, and they said one to another: Behold the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians, and they are come upon us.
7 And they rose up and fled in the dusk, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to save their lives.
8 And those lepers came to the extremity of the camp; and they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried thence silver and gold, and garments, and went and hid it; and they came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence, and went and hid [it].
So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid it.
9 And they said one to another, We are not doing right; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, the iniquity will find us out; and now come, let us go and tell the king's household.
Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning, we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go and tell it in the king’s court.
10 And they came and called to the porters of the city, and told them saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one there, no sound of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.
So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing.
11 And the porters cried [it] and told [it] to the king's house within.
Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within the king’s palace.
12 And the king rose up in the night and said to his servants, Let me tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry, and they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
And he arose in the night and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city.
13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some one take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that have perished), and let us send and see.
And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed, ) and let us send and see.
14 And they took two chariots with their horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.
15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and materials, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
And they went after them as far as the Jordan: and behold all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their fright, and the messengers returned and told the king.
16 And the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians; and the measure of fine flour was at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the word of Jehovah.
And the people going out pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.
17 And the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died, according to what the man of God had said, — what he had said when the king came down to him.
And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him.
18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king saying, Two measures of barley shall be at a shekel, and the measure of fine flour at a shekel, to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.
And it came to pass according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.
19 And the captain answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.
20 And so it happened to him; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.
And so it fell out to him as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.