2 Kings 7
1ELISHA replied, Hear a word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord, About this time to-morrow, a measure of fine flour for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gates of Samaria.
2Upon this a nobleman on whose hand the king leaned, in reply to Elisha said, Behold should the Lord make flood gates in heaven, can such a thing be? And Elisha replied, Behold thou shalt see it with thy eyes but shalt not eat thereof.
3Now there were four lepers before the gate of the city, and one said to another, Why sit we here till we die?
4If we say, let us go into the city; there is a famine in the city and we must die there. And if we stay here we must die. Now therefore come, let us desert to the camp of Syria; if they take us alive we may live; and if they put us to death, we can but die.
5So they arose when it was dark to go to the Syrian camp. But when they came to a part of the camp of Syria; behold there was not a man there.
6For the Lord had caused the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, and the sound of a great army to be heard in the Syrian camp: whereupon they said one to another, Now hath the king of Israel hired against us the kings of the Chettites and the kings of Egypt to come upon us.
7Therefore they arose and fled while it was dark. They left their tents and their horses and their asses in the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.
8So when the lepers came to a part of the camp they went into a tent and ate and drank, and carried thence silver and gold and raiment, and went away. And returning again they went into another tent and took things out of it and hid them.
9Then one said to another, We should not do so. This is a day of good news. Should we be silent and wait till the morning light, we shall incur guilt. Now therefore, come, let us go and inform the king’s household.
10Accordingly they came and cried with a loud voice at the gate of the city and told them the news, saying, We have been to the camp of Syria and behold there is not a man there, nor the sound of a man. For there is nothing there but the horses and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11And when the watchmen at the gates cried and told the king’s household within,
12the king arose and said to his servants, Let me tell you what Syria hath done to us. They know that we are famishing, therefore they have left their camp and hid themselves in the fields, saying, They will come out of the city and we shall take them alive and enter the city.
13To this one of his servants said in reply, Pray let them take five of the remaining horses which are left here, behold they are nearly all the multitude belonging to Israel which are left: and let us send thither and see.
14So they took two horsemen, and the king of Israel sent them after the king of Syria, saying, Go and see.
15And they went on after them as far as the Jordan. And behold all the way was full of clothes and vessels, which the Syrians had thrown away in their panicy fright. And when the messengers returned and told the king,
16the people went out and plundered the camp of Syria. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
17Now the king had stationed at the gate the nobleman on whose hand he had leaned, but the people trod him down so that he died, according to the saying of the man of God, who spoke to him when the messenger came down to him.
18For when Elisha spoke to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, and this shall be about this time to-morrow in the gate of Samaria;
19this nobleman answered and said to Elisha, Behold should the Lord make flood gates in heaven, could this be? Thereupon Elisha said, Behold thou shalt see with thy eyes but shalt not eat thereof. And so it fell out: For the people trampled him down at the gate, so that he died.