2 Kings 7

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1. 1Elisha said, "Listen to the word of the LORD! The LORD says, 'By this time tomorrow, a seah of fine flour will sell for just a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, right at the gate of Samaria.'"
2. 2Then the officer the king leaned on answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this happen?" The man of God said, "Look, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."
3. 3Now there were 4 men with leprosy sitting at the entrance to the city gate. They said to each other, "Why are we just sitting here waiting to die?"
4. 4"If we go into the city, the famine will kill us there. If we stay here, we'll die too. So let's go surrender to the Syrian army. If they spare us, we live. If they kill us — well, we were going to die anyway."
5. 5So at twilight they got up and headed for the Syrian camp. But when they reached the edge of it, not a single person was there.
6. 6The LORD had caused the Syrian army to hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, and the sound of a large army. They said to each other, 'Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite kings and the Egyptian kings to attack us!'
7. 7So they got up and fled at twilight, leaving their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the entire camp as it was, and ran for their lives.
8. 8When the men with leprosy reached the edge of the camp, they went into one tent, ate and drank, then grabbed silver, gold, and clothing and went off to hide it. They came back, entered another tent, took more, and hid that too.
9. 9Then they said to each other, "We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. If we wait until the morning light, some harm will come upon us. Now come, let us go and tell the king's household."
10. 10So they went back and called out to the city gatekeepers. They reported, "We went to the Syrian camp, and there's nobody there — not a single voice. The horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents are standing just as they were."
11. 11The gatekeepers shouted the news, and word was carried inside to the king's household.
12. 12The king got up in the middle of the night and told his officials, "Let me tell you what the Syrians are up to. They know we're starving, so they've left the camp and hidden in the fields. They're thinking, 'When the Israelites come out of the city, we'll capture them alive and then take the city.'"
13. 13One of his servants answered, "Please, let some take 5 of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Look, they are like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it. Look, I say, they are like all the multitude of Israel that are consumed. Let us send and see."
14. 14So they selected two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Syrian army with orders: "Go and see what happened."
15. 15They followed them to the Jordan River, and the entire road was covered with clothing and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. The scouts returned and reported everything to the king.
16. 16Then the people rushed out and plundered the Syrian camp. Just as the LORD had promised, a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel.
17. 17The king had put the officer he relied on in charge of the city gate. But the crowd trampled him in the gateway, and he died — exactly as the man of God had predicted when the king first came to see him.
18. 18It all happened just as the man of God had told the king: "By this time tomorrow, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria."
19. 19That officer had responded to the man of God, "Even if the LORD opened windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?" And Elisha had told him, "You'll see it with your own eyes, but you won't get to eat any of it."
20. 20And that's exactly what happened to him — the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.