And Elisha said, Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: About this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gates of Samaria.
And the officer on whose hand the king leaned answered Elisha and said, Behold, if the Lord should make floodgates in heaven, could this thing be? And Elisha said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.
If we say, Let us enter the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit here, we shall also die. Now then, come, let us fall into the camp of Syria. If they let us live, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall die.
For the Lord had made the camp of Syria hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses and a sound of a great army; and each said to his brother, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.
And they rose up and fled in the dark and abandoned their tents and their horses and their donkeys in the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.
And these lepers came to the edge of the camp and entered one tent and ate and drank; and they carried off from there silver and gold and clothing, and they went and returned and entered another tent and took from there and went and hid it.
And each said to his neighbor, We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent and waiting until the morning light; we shall find iniquity. And now, come, let us go in and report to the king's household.
And they went and called out to the gate of the city and reported to them, saying, We entered the camp of Syria, and behold, there was no man there, nor the voice of a man, but only a horse tied and a donkey, and their tents just as they were.
And the king rose up at night and said to his servants, Let me tell you what Syria has done to us. They know that we are hungry, and they have gone out from the camp and hidden themselves in the field, saying, They will come out of the city, and we shall take them alive and enter into the city.
And one of his servants answered and said, Let them take, I pray, five of the remaining horses that were left here — behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel that is perishing — and let us send there and see.
And they went after them as far as the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels that Syria had thrown away in their panic. And the messengers returned and reported to the king.
And the people went out and plundered the camp of Syria; and a measure of fine flour went for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
And the king appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to be over the gate; and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had spoken, who spoke when the messenger came down to him.
And it came about just as Elisha had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, and it shall be about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.
And the officer answered Elisha and said, Behold, if the Lord makes floodgates in heaven, could this thing be? And Elisha said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.