2 Kings 7
Four Lepers with Good News They Could Not Keep
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Elisha Foretells Plenty
7:1Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: About this hour tomorrow, a measure of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gates of Samaria.’
7:2The officer on whose arm the king leaned answered Elisha, saying, ‘Look, the Lord will make floodgates in heaven—surely this word cannot come true?’ Elisha said, ‘Look, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from there.’
The Four Leprous Men at the Gate
7:3Four leprous men were beside the city’s doorway. One said to his neighbor, ‘Why are we sitting here until we die?’
7:4‘If we say, Let us enter the city, the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit here, we will die. Now come, let us throw ourselves upon the camp of Syria. If they keep us alive, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.’
7:5They rose in the darkness to enter Syria’s camp. They came to a part of Syria’s camp, and look, no man was there.
7:6The Lord had made Syria’s camp hear the sound of a chariot, the sound of horse forces, and the sound of a great army. One said to his brother, ‘Now the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt against us, to come upon us.’
7:7They rose and ran away in the darkness, abandoning their tents, their horses, and their donkeys in the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.
7:8These leprous men entered as far as part of the camp and entered one tent. They ate and drank, carried away silver, gold, and clothing from there, and went away. They returned, entered another tent, took things from there, and went and hid them.
7:9One said to his neighbor, ‘We are not acting rightly. This day is a day of good news, yet we are silent and remain until morning light, and we will encounter lawlessness. Now come, let us go in and report to the king’s house.’
7:10They came and cried toward the city gate and reported to them, saying, ‘We entered Syria’s camp, and look, no man was there, not a human voice—only a tethered horse and a donkey, and their tents just as they were.’
7:11The gatekeepers cried out and reported it inside the king’s house.
The King Tests the Report
7:12The king rose in the night and said to his attendants, ‘I will tell you what Syria has done to us. They know that we are hungry. They have left the camp and hidden in the field, saying: They will come out of the city; we will seize them alive and enter the city.’
7:13One of his attendants answered, ‘Please let them take five of the remaining horses left here. Look, they are like all the multitude of Israel that is failing. We will send there and see.’
7:14They took two horse riders, and the king of Israel sent them after the king of Syria, saying, ‘Go and see.’
7:15They followed them as far as the Jordan, and look, the whole road was full of garments and equipment that Syria had thrown away in their panic. The messengers returned and reported to the king.
The Plunder and the Officer Trampled
7:16The people went out and plundered Syria’s camp. A measure of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
7:17The king had placed the officer on whose arm the king leaned over the gate. The people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said when the messenger came down to him.
7:18It happened just as Elisha had said to the king: ‘Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be available about this hour tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.’
7:19The officer had answered Elisha, saying, ‘Look, the Lord makes floodgates in heaven—surely this word cannot come true?’ Elisha had said, ‘Look, you will see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from there.’
7:20So it happened: the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.