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The Arameans Flee

Now there happened to be four lepers who were at that very moment at the entrance to the city gate. As they were talking with one another, they said, “Why are we sitting here waiting to die? If we tell ourselves, ‘Let’s remain in the city,’ we’ll die there since there’s famine in the city. But if we sit here, we’ll die, too. So let’s go over[a] to the Arameans! If they spare our lives, we’ll live, and if they kill us…we’re dying anyway!”[b]

So they got up at dusk and went out to the Aramean encampment. But when they arrived at the outskirts of the Aramean encampment, there was no one there! The Lord had made the Aramean army hear the sounds of chariots, horses, and a large army, so they told one another, “Look! The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the Egyptians to come attack us!” So the Arameans[c] got up and ran away in the gathering darkness. They left behind their tents, horses, and donkeys just as they were—and fled for their lives!

When the lepers arrived at the outskirts of the encampment, they entered one tent and ate and drank. Then they carried off from there some silver, gold, and clothes, and went out and hid them. After this, they returned, entered another tent, raided it, and went and hid all of that,[d] too! But then they told each other, “We’re not doing the right thing. This is a day of good news, but if we keep quiet until morning, we’re sure to be punished! So let’s leave and go tell the king’s household!” 10 So they left, called out to the city gatekeepers, and reported to them: “We went out to the Aramean encampment, and there was nobody there! Not even the sound of men—only horses and donkeys tied up, and tents left just as they were!”

11 The gatekeepers announced the report to the king’s attendants, 12 so the king got up in the middle of the night and ordered his servants: “Let me explain what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we’re hungry, so they’ve left their encampment to conceal themselves in the surrounding fields. They’re telling themselves, ‘When they come out of the city, we’ll capture them alive and enter the city!’”

13 One of his attendants suggested, “Please, let’s take five of the remaining horses, since those who remain here will end up like the rest of Israel, which has already died, and we’ll send them out to look.” 14 So they took two chariots and horses, and the king sent them out after the Aramean army with the orders, “Go and look!”

The Prophecy is Fulfilled

15 They went out in the direction of the Jordan River,[e] and the entire roadway was strewn with clothes and equipment that the Arameans had abandoned in their haste to leave![f] So the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16 At this, the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. At that time, a seah[g] of finely ground flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the Lord’s message.

17 Meanwhile, the king appointed the same royal attendant on whom he depended[h] to take control of the city gate, but the people trampled him to death in the gate, just as the man of God had told the king when the king came down to him. 18 It happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king:

“At about this time tomorrow, in Samaria’s city gate, a seah[i] of finely ground flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel.”

19 But the royal attendant on whom the king depended responded to the man of God: “Look here! Even if the Lord were to make a window in the sky, how could this happen?”

He replied, “No, you look! You’ll see it with your eyes, but you won’t eat any of it!”[j]

20 And so it happened to him, because the people trampled him in the city gate and he died.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 7:4 Lit. let’s fall
  2. 2 Kings 7:4 The Heb. lacks anyway
  3. 2 Kings 7:7 Lit. So they
  4. 2 Kings 7:8 The Heb. lacks all of that
  5. 2 Kings 7:15 The Heb. lacks River
  6. 2 Kings 7:15 The Heb. lacks to leave
  7. 2 Kings 7:16 I.e. a dry measure of grain equal to about 2 gallons in volume.
  8. 2 Kings 7:17 Cf. v. 2
  9. 2 Kings 7:18 I.e. a dry measure of grain equal to about 2 gallons in volume.
  10. 2 Kings 7:19 Cf. v. 1-2

Four Lepers Report the Departure of the Arameans

Now four men who had a skin disease were at the entrance of the gate, and they said to each other,[a] “Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall die. So then, come, let us fall into the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we shall live; but if they kill us, then we shall die.” So they got up at dusk to go to the camp of the Arameans. They went up to the edge of the camp of the Arameans, and look, there was no man there! Now the Lord had caused the camp of the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, and the sound of a great army. So they said to one another,[b] “Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us!” So they got up and fled at dusk and left their tents, their horses, their donkeys, and the camp as it was, and they fled for their lives. When these who had the skin disease came to the edge of the camp, they went into a certain tent and they ate, drank, and took from there silver and gold and clothes. Then they went and hid them, then returned and came to another tent, and they took from there and went and hid them.

Then they said to one another,[c] “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news! If we are silent and wait until the light of morning, they will find us and we will be punished.[d] So then, come, let us go and tell the house of the king.” 10 When they came, they called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no man or the voice of a man there! Only the horses and the donkeys were tied up, and the tents were left as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called and told it inside the house of the king. 12 The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Please let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. The Arameans know that we are hungry, so they went out from the camp to hide in the field, saying, ‘When they go out from the city, we shall seize them alive and go into the city.’” 13 Then one of his servants replied and said, “Please let them take five of the remaining horses which remain in the city; behold, they are like all of the multitude of Israel that remain in it; they are like all the multitude of Israel who have perished. Let us send and see.” 14 So he took two charioteer horsemen, and the king sent after the camp of the Arameans, saying, “Go, find out,” 15 and they went after them to the Jordan. Look, all of the way was littered with clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.

Prophecy Fulfilled

16 So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. A seah of wheat flour went for a shekel and two seahs of barley went for a shekel according to the word of Yahweh. 17 Then the king appointed the officer he was depending on over the gate, but the people trampled him and he died, according to that which the man of God had said which he spoke when the king came down to him. 18 It happened as the man of God spoke to the king, saying, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel and a seah of wheat flour for a shekel at this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.” 19 Then the officer had replied to the man of God and said, “Look, even if Yahweh is opening the windows in heaven, could this thing happen?” And he had said, “Look you are about to see it with your eyes, but you will not eat from it.” 20 So it had happened to him; the people trampled him in the gate and he died.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 7:3 Literally “each to his friend”
  2. 2 Kings 7:6 Literally “each to his brother”
  3. 2 Kings 7:9 Literally “each to his friend”
  4. 2 Kings 7:9 Literally “guiltiness”