2 Kings 7
Young's Literal Translation
7 And Elisha saith, `Hear ye a word of Jehovah: thus said Jehovah, About this time to-morrow, a measure of fine flour [is] at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'
2 And the captain whom the king hath, by whose hand he hath been supported, answereth the man of God and saith, `Lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens -- shall this thing be?' and he saith, `Lo, thou art seeing it with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat.'
3 And four men have been leprous, at the opening of the gate, and they say one unto another, `What -- we are sitting here till we have died;
4 if we have said, We go in to the city, then the famine [is] in the city, and we have died there; and if we have sat here, then we have died; and now, come and we fall unto the camp of Aram; if they keep us alive, we live, and if they put us to death -- we have died.'
5 And they rise in the twilight, to go in unto the camp of Aram, and they come in unto the extremity of the camp of Aram, and lo, there is not a man there,
6 seeing Jehovah hath caused the camp of Aram to hear a noise of chariot and a noise of horse -- a noise of great force, and they say one unto another, `Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Egypt, to come against us.'
7 And they rise and flee in the twilight, and forsake their tents, and their horses, and their asses -- the camp as it [is] -- and flee for their life.
8 And these lepers come in unto the extremity of the camp, and come in unto one tent, and eat, and drink, and lift up thence silver, and gold, and garments, and go and hide; and they turn back and go in unto another tent, and lift up thence, and go and hide.
9 And they say one unto another, `We are not doing right this day; a day of tidings it [is], and we are keeping silent; and -- we have waited till the light of the morning, then hath punishment found us; and now, come and we go in and declare to the house of the king.'
10 And they come in, and call unto the gatekeeper of the city, and declare for themselves, saying, `We have come in unto the camp of Aram, and lo, there is not there a man, or sound of man, but the bound horse, and the bound ass, and tents as they [are].'
11 and he calleth the gatekeepers, and they declare to the house of the king within.
12 And the king riseth by night, and saith unto his servants, `Let me declare, I pray you, to you that which the Aramaeans have done to us; they have known that we are famished, and they are gone out from the camp to be hidden in the field, saying, When they come out from the city, then we catch them alive, and unto the city we enter.'
13 And one of his servants answereth and saith, `Then let them take, I pray thee, five of the horses that are left, that have been left in it -- lo, they [are] as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it; lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been consumed -- and we send and see.'
14 And they take two chariot-horses, and the king sendeth after the camp of Aram, saying, `Go, and see.'
15 And they go after them unto the Jordan, and lo, all the way is full of garments and vessels that the Aramaeans have cast away in their haste, and the messengers turn back and declare to the king.
16 And the people go out and spoil the camp of Aram, and there is a measure of fine flour at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the word of Jehovah.
17 And the king hath appointed the captain, by whose hand he is supported, over the gate, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth, as the man of God spake, which he spake in the coming down of the king unto him,
18 yea, it cometh to pass, according to the speaking of the man of God unto the king, saying, `Two measures of barley at a shekel, and a measure of fine flour at a shekel are, at this time to-morrow, in the gate of Samaria;'
19 and the captain answereth the man of God, and saith, `And lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens -- it is according to this word?' and he saith, `Lo, thou art seeing with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat;'
20 and it cometh to him so, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth.
2 Kings 7
New King James Version
The Syrians Flee
7 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: (A)‘Tomorrow about this time a [a]seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”
2 (B)So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, (C)if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”
And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
The Syrians Flee
3 Now there were four leprous men (D)at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the (E)army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” 5 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. 6 For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians (F)to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us (G)the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” 7 Therefore they (H)arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some [b]punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” 10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.
12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are (I)hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to [c]hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.’ ”
13 And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.” 14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.” 15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, (J)according to the word of the Lord.
17 Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just (K)as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, (L)“Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.”
19 Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, “Now look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?”
And he had said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 7:1 A third of an ephah, or about 8 gallons
- 2 Kings 7:9 Calamity
- 2 Kings 7:12 Hide themselves in ambush
2 Kings 7
English Standard Version
Elisha Promises Food
7 But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, (A)Tomorrow about this time a seah[a] of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel,[b] and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” 2 Then (B)the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, (C)“If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
The Syrians Flee
3 Now there were four men who were lepers[c] (D)at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” 5 So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians (E)hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us (F)the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7 (G)So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. 12 And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’” 13 And one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” 14 So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” 15 So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, (H)according to the word of the Lord. 17 Now the king had appointed (I)the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said (J)when the king came down to him. 18 For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” 19 (K)the captain had answered the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, (L)“You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 7:1 A seah was about 7.7 quarts or 7.3 liters
- 2 Kings 7:1 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
- 2 Kings 7:3 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
