2 Kings 6:24-7:20

American Standard Version

²⁴ And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. ²⁵ And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore ^[a]pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five ^[b]pieces of silver. ²⁶ And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. ²⁷ And he said, ^[c]If Jehovah do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? ²⁸ And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. ²⁹ So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son. ³⁰ And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes (now he was passing by upon the wall); and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. ³¹ Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and ^[d]hold the door fast against him: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? ³³ And while he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah; why should I wait for Jehovah any longer? 7 ¹ And Elisha said, Hear ye the word of Jehovah: thus saith Jehovah, To-morrow about this time shall a ^[e]measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. ² Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if Jehovah should 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 leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? ⁴ 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 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. ⁶ 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 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 And when these lepers came to the outermost 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 they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

⁹ 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, ^[f]punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household. ¹⁰ So they came and called unto the ^[g]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 the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were. ¹¹ And ^[h]he called the porters; and they told it to the king’s household within. ¹² And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are 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 take them alive, and get into the city. ¹³ And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left ^[i]in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed); and let us send and see. ¹⁴ They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. ¹⁵ And they went after them unto the 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 And the people went out, and plundered the camp 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 Jehovah. ¹⁷ And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod 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 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 and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if Jehovah 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 it came to pass even so unto him; for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.