2 Kings 7

1 And Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: about this hour tomorrow, two gallons of fine flour will sell for two fifths of an ounce of silver, and four gallons of barley for two fifths of an ounce of silver, in the gates of Samaria.” [a] 2 And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered Elisha and said, “Look, if the Lord makes floodgates in heaven, could such a thing be?” And Elisha said, “Look, you will see it with your own eyes, and you will not eat any of it.” [b]

3 And there were four men who had leprosy at the entrance of the city, and one said to his neighbor, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city’ — the famine is in the city, and we will die there. And if we sit here, we will die as well. So come now, let us go over to the camp of Aram. If they keep us alive, we live; and if they put us to death, we die.” [c]

5 And they got up in the dark to go into the camp of Aram, and they came to the edge of the camp of Aram, and there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the camp of Aram hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses and the sound of a great army, and each man said to his brother, “Now the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt against us, to come against us.” 7 And they got up and ran off in the dark, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys in the camp just as they were, and fled for their lives.

8 And these men who had leprosy came as far as the edge of the camp, and they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried off silver and gold and clothing from it, and went off. And they came back and went into another tent and took from it, and went and hid it.

9 And one said to his neighbor, “This is not the way for us to be acting. This day is a day of good news, and we are keeping quiet and waiting for the light of morning, and we will find lawlessness. So come now, let us go in and report it at the house of the king.” [d] 10 So they came and called out at the gate of the city and reported to them, saying, “We went into the camp of Aram, and there is no one there, and no sound of a man — only a horse tied up, and a donkey, and their tents just as they are.” 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and it was reported inside the house of the king.

12 And the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what Aram has done to us. They know that we are hungry, so they have gone out of the camp and hidden themselves in the field, saying, ‘They will come out of the city, and we will take them alive and go into the city.’” 13 And one of his servants answered and said, “Let them take five of the horses that are left over, the ones that were left behind here — look, they are like the whole crowd of Israel that is wasting away; and we will send there and see.” [e]

14 And they took two horsemen, and the king of Israel sent them after the king of Aram, saying, “Go and see.” [f] 15 And they went after them as far as the Jordan, and the whole road was full of clothing and gear that Aram had thrown away in their terror. And the messengers came back and reported to the king. [g]

16 And the people went out and plundered the camp of Aram, and two gallons of fine flour sold for two fifths of an ounce of silver, and four gallons of barley for two fifths of an ounce of silver, according to the word of the Lord. 17 And the king put the captain on whose hand the king leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said — who spoke when the messenger came down to him. [h]

18 And it happened just as Elisha had spoken to the king, saying, “Four gallons of barley for two fifths of an ounce of silver, and two gallons of fine flour for two fifths of an ounce of silver, and it will be about this hour tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria.” 19 And the captain answered Elisha and said, “Look, the Lord is making floodgates in heaven — could such a thing be?” And Elisha said, “Look, you will see it with your own eyes, and you will not eat any of it.” 20 And so it happened: the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.