7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith
the LORD, To-morrow about this time [shall] a measure of fine
flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a
shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
7:2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man
of God, and said, Behold, [if] the LORD would make windows in
heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt
see [it] with thy eyes, but shalt not eat of it.
7:3 And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate:
and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
7:4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine [is]
in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here,
we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall to the army of
the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they
kill us, we shall but die.
7:5 And they rose in the twilight to go to the camp of the
Syrians: and when they had come to the uttermost part of the
camp of Syria, behold, [there was] no man there.
7:6 For the LORD had made the army of the Syrians to hear a
noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a
great army: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of
Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the
kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
7:7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left
their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp
as it [was], and fled for their life.
7:8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the
camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried
thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid [it];
and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried
thence [also], and went and hid [it].
7:9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day [is]
a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till
the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now
therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.
7:10 So they came and called to the porter of the city: and they
told him, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and
behold, [there was] no man there, neither voice of man, but
horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they [were].
7:11 And he called the porters; and they told [it] to the king's
house within.
7:12 And 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 take them alive, and get into the city.
7:13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let [some] 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, [I say], they [are] even as all
the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us
send and see.
7:14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent
after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
7:15 And they went after them to Jordan: and lo, all the way
[was] full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the
king.
7:16 And the people went out, and plundered the tents of the
Syrians. 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.
7:17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to
have the charge of the gate: and the people trod upon him in
the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke
when the king came down to him.
7:18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the
king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a
measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about
this time in the gate of Samaria:
7:19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now,
behold, [if] the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such
a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy
eyes, but shalt not eat of it.
7:20 And so it happened to him: for the people trod upon him in
the gate, and he died.
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