Scrutatio

Lunedi, 29 aprile 2024 - Santa Caterina da Siena ( Letture di oggi)

2 Kings 7


font
NEW JERUSALEMKING JAMES BIBLE
1 'Listen to the word of Yahweh,' Elisha said. 'Yahweh says this, "By this time tomorrow a measure offinest flour wil sel for one shekel, and two measures of barley for one shekel, at the gate of Samaria." '1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2 The equerry on whose arm the king was leaning retorted to Elisha, 'Even if Yahweh made windows inthe sky, could this word come true?' 'You wil see it with your own eyes,' Elisha replied, 'though you will eat noneof it.'2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would 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 at the entrance to the gate -- for they were afflicted with virulent skin-disease -- there were four men and they debated among themselves, 'Why sit here waiting for death?3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
4 If we decide to go into the city, what with the famine in it, we shal die there; if we stay where we are, weshall die just the same. Come on, let us go over to the Aramaean camp; if they spare our lives, we live; if they kilus, wel , then 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 So at dusk they set out and made for the Aramaean camp, but when they reached the confines of thecamp there was not a soul there.5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
6 For Yahweh had caused the Aramaeans in their camp to hear a noise of chariots and horses, the noiseof a great army; and they had said to one another, 'Listen! The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptiankings against us, to attack us.'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 So in the dusk they had made off and fled, abandoning their tents, their horses and their donkeys;leaving the camp just as it was, they had fled for their lives.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 The men with skin-disease, then, reached the confines of the camp. They went into one of the tents andate and drank, and from it carried off silver and gold and clothing; these they took and hid. Then they came backand, entering another tent, looted it too, and took and hid their booty.8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost 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 came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said to one another, 'We are doing wrong. This is a day of good news, yet we are holding ourtongues! If we wait til morning, we shal certainly be punished. Come on, let us go and take the news to thepalace.'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, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.
10 Off they went and shouted out to the guards on the city gate, 'We have been to the Aramaean camp.There was not a soul there, no sound of anyone, only tethered horses and tethered donkeys, and their tents justas they were.'10 So they came and called unto the 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 horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, which was reported inside the palace.11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.
12 The king got up while it was still dark and said to his officers, 'I can tel you what the Aramaeans havedone to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the open country. "They wil comeout of the city," they think, "we shall catch them alive and get into the city." '12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be 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 catch them alive, and get into the city.
13 One of his officers replied, 'Five of the surviving horses stil left us had better be taken -- they would diein any case like al the rest. Let us send them and see.'13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.
14 So they took two chariot teams and the king sent them after the Aramaean army, saying, 'Go and see.'14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
15 They fol owed them as far as the Jordan, finding the whole way strewn with clothes and gear which theAramaeans had thrown away in their panic. The scouts returned and informed the king.15 And they went after them unto 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 Then the people went out and plundered the Aramaean camp: a measure of finest flour sold for oneshekel, and two measures of barley for one shekel, as Yahweh had promised they would.16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents 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 the LORD.
17 The king had detailed the equerry, on whose arm he leaned, as commander of the guard on the gate,but the people trampled on him in the gateway and he died, as the man of God had foretold when the king hadcome down to him.17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode 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 (What Elisha had said to the king came true, 'Two measures of barley wil sel for one shekel, and ameasure of finest flour for one shekel, by this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.'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 the equerry in question had replied to the man of God, 'Even if Yahweh made windows in the sky,could this word come true?' 'You wil see it with your own eyes,' Elisha had answered, 'though you wil eat noneof it.'19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD 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 And that was what happened to him: for the people trampled on him in the gateway and he died.)20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.