1Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; this is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow a Heb seahmeasure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

2The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning responded to the man of God and said, “Even if the Lord were to make Or hatcheswindows in heaven, could this thing happen?” Then he said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat Lit from thereany of it.”

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

4If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; but if we sit here, we will also die. Now then come, and let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, then we will die.”

5So they got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there.

6For the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, that is, the sound of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians against us, to Lit come againstattack us!”

7So they got up and fled at twilight, and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—indeed the camp itself, just as it was; and they fled for their lives.

8When these men with leprosy came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, gold, and clothes, and they went and hid them; then they returned and entered another tent, and carried valuables from there also, and went and hid them.

9Then they said to one another, “We are not doing the right thing. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent about it; if we wait until the morning light, punishment will Lit findovertake us. Now then come, let’s go and inform the king’s household.”

10So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor a human voice; only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.”

11And the gatekeepers called and announced it inside the king’s house.

12Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; so they have left the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’ ”

13One of his servants responded and said, “Please, have some men take five of the horses that remain, which are left Lit in itin the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send them and see.”

14Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

15They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away when they fled in a hurry. Then the messengers returned and informed the king.

16So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a Heb seahmeasure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two Heb seahmeasures of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the word of the Lord.

17Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned Lit over the gateto be in charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

18So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two Heb seahsmeasures of barley for a shekel and a Heb seahsmeasure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.”

19At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, “Now even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?” And he had said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat Lit from thereany of it.”

20And this is what happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.