2 KingsChapter 7

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¹Then Elisha said, "Listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: 'About this time tomorrow, at the gate of Samaria, seven quarts of fine flour will sell for a shekel. And fourteen quarts of barley will sell for a shekel.'"a ²The king leaned on the arm of one of his officers. That officer answered the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD made windows in the sky, could this really happen?" "You will see it with your own eyes," Elisha answered. "But you won't eat any of it." ³Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, "Why should we sit here until we die? ⁴If we say, 'Let's go into the city,' we'll die there, because there's a famine in the city. But if we stay here, we'll die too. So come on, let's go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we'll live. If they kill us, we'll die." ⁵So at dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there. ⁶The Lord had made the Arameans hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army. So they said to each other, "Look! The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the Egyptians to attack us." ⁷So the Arameans had gotten up and run away at dusk. They left behind their tents, their horses, and their donkeys. The camp was left just as it was. They had run for their lives. ⁸The men with leprosy reached the edge of the camp. They went into a tent and ate and drank. Then they carried off silver, gold, and clothes. They went and hid them. Then they came back and went into another tent. They carried off things from there too and hid them. ⁹Finally they said to each other, "What we're doing isn't right. Today is a day of good news. If we keep quiet and wait until morning, our sin will catch up with us. So come on, let's go tell the king's household." ¹⁰So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers. They said, "We went to the Aramean camp, and no one was there. There wasn't a sign of anyone. There were only horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents were left just as they were." ¹¹The gatekeepers shouted the news. It was reported inside the king's palace. ¹²So the king got up in the night. He said to his officers, "Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we're starving. So they've left the camp to hide in the fields. They're thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we'll capture them alive. Then we'll go into the city.'" ¹³But one of his officers answered, "Please let some men take five of the horses left in the city. They will be no worse off than all the Israelites left here. You can see that all the Israelites here are going to die anyway. So let's send them and find out." ¹⁴So the men took two chariots with horses. The king sent them after the Aramean army. He told them, "Go and see." ¹⁵They followed the Arameans all the way to the Jordan. The whole road was covered with clothes and gear. The Arameans had thrown them away as they ran in a hurry. So the scouts came back and told the king. ¹⁶Then the people went out and took everything from the camp of the Arameans. So seven quarts of fine flour sold for a shekel. And fourteen quarts of barley sold for a shekel, just as the LORD had said. ¹⁷The king had put the officer he leaned on in charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died. It happened just as the man of God had said when the king came to see him. ¹⁸It happened just as the man of God had told the king. He had said, "About this time tomorrow, at the gate of Samaria, fourteen quarts of barley will sell for a shekel. And seven quarts of fine flour will sell for a shekel." ¹⁹And the officer had answered the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD made windows in the sky, could this really happen?" Elisha had answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat any of it!" ²⁰And that is just what happened to him. The people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.