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

2 So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah would make windows in the heavens, could this thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.

3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, Why are we sitting here until we will have died?

4 If we say, We will enter the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we are also dead. Now therefore, come, let us fall to the camp of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall have died.

5 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the edge of the Syrian camp, behold, no one was there.

6 For Jehovah had caused the camp of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, the sound of a great army; so they said to one another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us!

7 Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp; their tents, their horses, and their donkeys; and they fled for their lives.

8 And when the lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

9 Then they said to one another, We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we are remaining silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.

10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and reported to them, saying, We went to the Syrian camp, and behold, no one was there, no voice of man; only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.

11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they reported it to the king’s household inside.

12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, Let me now tell 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 catch them alive, and get into the city.

13 And one of his servants answered and said, Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Behold, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or behold, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.

14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them after the Syrian camp, saying, Go and see.

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

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. And a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the Word of Jehovah.

17 Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had spoken, who had spoken when the king came down to him.

18 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.

19 And that officer had answered the man of God, and said, Now behold, if Jehovah would make windows in the heavens, could such a thing be? And he had said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.

20 Thus it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.