Elisha Promises Food

7 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, ‘^(A)Tomorrow about this time a ^[a]measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’” ^2 (B)The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, ^(C)if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ^[b]of it.”

Four Lepers Relate Arameans’ Flight

³ Now there were four ^(D)leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us ^[c]go over to ^(E)the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die.” ⁵ They arose 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. ⁶ For ^(F)the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us ^(G)the kings of the Hittites and ^(H)the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.” ⁷ Therefore they ^(I)arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life. ⁸ When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and ^(J)carried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, 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, but we are keeping silent; if we wait until morning light, punishment will ^[d]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 they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” ¹¹ The gatekeepers called and told it within the king’s household. ¹² Then the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that ^(K)we are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp ^(L)to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’” ¹³ One of his servants said, “Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left ^[e]in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see.” ¹⁴ They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

The Promise Fulfilled

¹⁵ They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶ So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a ^[f]measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two ^[g]measures of barley for a shekel, ^(M)according to the word of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now the king appointed ^(N)the royal officer on whose hand he leaned ^[h]to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, ^(O)who spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ It happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “^(P)Two ^[i]measures of barley for a shekel and a ^[j]measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.” ¹⁹ Then the royal officer answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, ^(Q)if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ^[k]of it.” ²⁰ And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.

The Wiles of the Harlot

Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed

^14 (A)When Jesus came into Peter’s ^[a]home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and ^[b]waited on Him. ¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to Him many ^(B)who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and ^(C)healed all who were ill. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “^(D)He Himself took our infirmities and ^[c]carried away our diseases.”

Discipleship Tested

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, ^(E)He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. ^19 (F)Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” ²⁰ Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the ^[d]air have ^[e]nests, but ^(G)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ²¹ Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ²² But Jesus *said to him, “^(H)Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

^23 (I)When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose ^[f]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. ²⁵ And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “^(J)Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” ²⁶ He *said to them, “Why are you ^[g]afraid, ^(K)you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^[h]it became perfectly calm. ²⁷ The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Casts Out Demons

^28 (L)When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were ^(M)demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. ²⁹ And they cried out, saying, “^[i](N)What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before ^[j]the time?” ³⁰ Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. ³¹ The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” ³² And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, ^[k]including what had happened to the ^(O)demoniacs. ³⁴ And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, ^(P)they implored Him to leave their region.