2 Kings 7

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN 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 Elisha said: "Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD, 'At this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the market 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 But the adjutant on whose arm the king leaned, answered the man of God, "Even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, how could this happen?" "You shall see it with your own eyes," Elisha said, "but you shall not eat of it."
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 At the city gate were four lepers who were deliberating, "Why should we sit 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 decide to go into the city, we shall die there, for there is famine in the city. If we remain here, we shall die too. Come, let us desert to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, we 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 At twilight they left for the Arameans; but when they reached the edge of the camp, no one was 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 The LORD had caused the army of the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses, the din of a large army, and they had reasoned among themselves, "The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the borderlands to fight 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 Then in the twilight they fled, abandoning their tents, their horses, and their asses, the whole camp just as it was, and fleeing for their lives.
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 After the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went first into one tent, ate and drank, and took silver, gold, and clothing from it, and went out and hid them. Back they came into another tent, took things from it, and again went out and hid them.
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 to one another: "We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. If we wait until morning breaks, we shall be blamed. Come, let us go and inform the palace."
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 They came and summoned the city gatekeepers. "We went to the camp of the Arameans," they said, "but no one was there--not a human voice, only the horses and asses tethered, and the tents just as they were left."
11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, which was reported inside the palace.	11 The gatekeepers announced this and it was reported within the palace.
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 Though it was night, the king got up; he said to his servants: "Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. Knowing that we are in famine, they have left their camp to hide in the field, hoping to take us alive and enter our city when we leave it."
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 One of his servants, however, suggested: "Since those who are left in the city are no better off than all the throng that has perished, let some of us take five of the abandoned horses and send scouts to investigate."
14 So they took two chariot teams and the king sent them after the Aramaean army, saying, 'Go and see.'	14 They took two chariots, and horses, and the king sent them to reconnoiter the Aramean army. "Go and find out," he ordered.
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 They followed the Arameans as far as the Jordan, and the whole route was strewn with garments and other objects that the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. 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 The people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans; and then a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel, as the LORD had said.
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 The king put in charge of the gate the officer who was his adjutant; but the people trampled him to death at the gate, just as the man of God had predicted when the king visited 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 Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the man of God to the king, "Two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and one seah of fine flour for a shekel at this time tomorrow at 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 The adjutant had answered the man of God, "Even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, how could this happen?" And Elisha had replied, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
20 And that was what happened to him: for the people trampled on him in the gateway and he died.)	20 And that is what happened to him, for the people trampled him to death at the gate.