Elisha Prophesies of Plenty in Samaria
1 Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says, ‘Tomorrow about this time six quarts of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and twelve quarts of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.’ ”
2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “If the Lord made windows in heaven, could this thing be?”
He said, “Hear this! You will see it with your eyes but will not eat of it.”
The Syrians Flee
3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why are we sitting here waiting to die? 4 If we say, ‘We enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let’s surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they let us live, we will live, and if they kill us, we will only die.”
5 They rose up in the twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, no man was there. 6 For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, and the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Listen, the king of Israel has hired against us, the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.” 7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, and the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
8 When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, ate and drank, carried away silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, entered into another tent, and carried things from there also, and went and hid them. 9 Then they said to one another, “We aren’t doing what is right. Today is a day of good news, and we are remaining silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let’s go and tell the king’s household.”
10 So they came and called to the city gatekeepers, and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and there was no man there, not even a man’s voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”
11 He called the gatekeepers, and they told it to the king’s household within. 12 The king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry, therefore, they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall capture them alive and get into the city.’ ”
13 One of his servants answered, “Please let’s send some people to take five remaining horses that are left in the city. Those who remain here will end up like the rest of Israel anyway, who have already died. We’ll send them to see.”
14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them out to the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”
15 They went after them to the Jordan, and the entire path was full of garments and equipment which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king. 16 The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So six quarts of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and twelve quarts of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. 17 The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate, and the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
18 It happened as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Twelve quarts of barley for a shekel, and six quarts of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria,” 19 and that captain answered the man of God and said, “Now, if the Lord made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Hear this! You will see it with your eyes but will not eat of it.” 20 It happened like that to him, for the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died.