1 Elisha said, "Listen to the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel at the gate of Samaria."

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.

2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning replied to the man of God, "Even if the Lord were to open the floodgates of heaven, could this happen?" Elisha answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."

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 thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the gate. They said to each other, "Why should we sit here until we die?"

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

4 If we say, 'We’ll go into the city,' the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die."

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 unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

5 At twilight, they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, they found no one there.

And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!"

For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: 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 So they got up and fled in the twilight, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

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.

8 The men with leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents, and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold, and clothes and went off and hid them. They returned, entered another tent, took some things from it, and hid them also.

And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, 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.

9 Then they said to each other, "What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go and report this at the royal palace."

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.

10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city, telling them, "We went to the Aramean camp and found no one there—not a single man—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were."

So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, 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.

11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported inside the palace.

And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.

12 The king got up in the night and said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are hungry, so they have gone out of the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and take the city.'"

And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they 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 One of his servants replied, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses that are left here. Their fate will be like that of all the Israelites who are left—yes, they will be like all the Israelites who have perished. Let us send them out to find out what has happened."

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.

14 So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean camp, saying, "Go and see."

They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole way littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and reported to the king.

And they went after them unto 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.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley were sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said.

And the people went out, and spoiled 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.

17 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house.

And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.

18 It happened just as the man of God had said to the king: "About 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."

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:

19 The officer had answered the man of God, "Look, even if the Lord were to open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" The man of God had replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!"

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 thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.