II Kings 07 Elisha foretells abundance of food

 II Kings 07

Elisha foretells abundance of food

1 Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria."

2 But a certain captain, on whose hand the king was leaning, answered the man of God and said, "If the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this be done?" And he said, "Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat of it."

3 And four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the gate, and they said to each other, "Why should we stay here until we die?"

4 If we say, "Let us go into the city," there is a famine in the city, and we will die there; and if we stay here, we will die also. So let us go now and find ourselves in the camp of the Syrians; and if they kill us, we will only die.

5 And they rose up at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they came to the entrance of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.

 6 For the Lord had caused the camp of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses, as of a great army; and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 

7 So they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, and the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.

 8 And when these lepers came to the entrance of the camp, they went into a tent, and ate and drank, and took from there silver, and gold, and garments, and went and hid them. Then they returned, and went into another tent, and took from there also some things, and hid them.

 9 Then they said to one another, “We have done no good; this day is a day of good news. And we have kept quiet. If we wait until the morning light, some evil will come upon us. So now let us go and tell the king’s house.” 

10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one there, nor any voice of man, but horses tied and donkeys tied, and the tents as before.” 

11 So they called to the gatekeepers, and they told the king’s house. 

12 Then the king rose up in the night and said to his servants, “Now I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry.” So they went out of the camp and hid themselves in the field, saying, “When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and enter the city.”

 13 Then one of his servants answered and said, Let us take five of the horses of the remnant that are left here (see, they are like the whole multitude of the Israelites who are left here, and see, they are like the whole multitude of the Israelites who have perished), and let us send them away and see.

14 So they took two chariot horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and, behold, all the way was full of garments and supplies, which the Syrians had thrown away in haste. And the messengers returned and reported it to the king.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians: and a measure of flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 

17 And the king had set the captain on whose hand he leaned at the gate: and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, which he spake when the king came down to him. 

18 For it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, To-morrow about this time shall two measures of barley be sold for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria. 

19 And the captain answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could it be done according to this word? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

 20 And so it came to pass unto him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.