Kings IV 7

1 And Elisaie said, Hear you the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord, As at this time, to-morrow a measure of fine flour [shall be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gates 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 officer on whose hand the king rested, answered Elisaie, and said, Behold, [if] the Lord shall make flood-gates in heaven, might this thing be? and Elisaie said, Behold, you shall see with your eyes, but shall 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 by the gate of the city: and one said to his neighbor, Why sit we 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 should say, Let us go into the city, then [there is] famine in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit here, then we shall die. Now then come, and let us fall upon the camp of the Syrians: if they should take us alive, then we shall live; and if they should put us to death, then we shall [only] 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 while it was yet night, to go into the camp of Syria; and they came into a part of the camp of Syria, 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 Syria to hear a sound of chariots, and a sound of horses, [even] the sound of a great host: and [each] man said to his fellow, Now has the king of Israel hired against us the kings of the Chettites, and the kings of Egypt, to come against 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 arose and fled while it was yet dark, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses in the camp, as they were, and fled for their lives.

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 these lepers entered a little way into the camp, and went into one tent, and ate and drank, and took thence silver, and gold, and raiment; and they went and returned thence, and entered into another tent, and took thence, and went and hid [the spoil].

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 [one] man said to his neighbor, We are not doing [well] thus: this day is a day of glad tidings, and we hold our peace, and are waiting till the morning light, and shall find mischief: now them come, and let us go into [the city], and report to the house of the king.

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 So they went and cried toward the gate of the city, and reported to them, saying, We went into the camp of Syria, and, behold, there is not there a man, nor voice of man, only horses tied and asses, and their 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 aloud, and reported to the house of the king within.

Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within the king’s palace.

12 And the king rose up by night, and said to his servants, I will now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They knew that we are hungry; and they have gone forth from the camp and hidden themselves in the field, saying, They will come out of the city, and we shall catch them alive, and go 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 them now take five of the horses that were left, which were left here; behold, they are the number left to all the multitude of Israel; and we will send there 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 So they took two horsemen; and the king of Israel sent after the king of Syria, 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 even to Jordan: and, behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their panic. and the messengers returned, and brought word to 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 Syria: and a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord, and two measures of barley for a shekel.

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 appointed the officer on whose hand the king leaned [to have charge] over the gate: and the people trampled on him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God [had] said, who spoke when the messenger 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 So it came to pass as Elisaie had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley [shall be sold] for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel; and it shall be as at this time to-morrow 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 officer answered Elisaie, and said, Behold, [if] the Lord makes flood-gates in heaven, shall this thing be? and Elisaie said, Behold, you shall see [it] with your eyes, but you shall 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 it was so: for the people trampled on 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.