2 Kings 7

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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.'"	1 Then Elisha said: “Listen to the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow, at this time, one measure of fine wheat flour will be one silver coin, and two measures of barley will be one silver coin, at the gate of Samaria.”
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."	2 And one of the leaders, upon whose hand the king leaned, responding to the man of God, said, “Even if the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven, how can what you say possibly be?” And he said, “You will see it with your own eyes, and you will not eat from it.”
3 At the city gate were four lepers who were deliberating, "Why should we sit here until we die?	3 Now there were four lepers beside the entrance of the gate. And they said one to another: “Should we choose to stay here until 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."	4 If we choose to enter the city, we will die from the famine. And if we remain here, we also will die. Therefore, come and let us flee over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we will live. But if they choose to kill us, we will die anyway.”
5 At twilight they left for the Arameans; but when they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there.	5 Therefore, they rose up in the evening, so that they might go to the camp of the Syrians. And when they had arrived at the beginning of the camp of the Syrians, they found no one in that place.
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."	6 For indeed, the Lord had caused them to hear, in the camp of Syria, the sound of chariots and horses, and a very numerous army. And they said one to another: “Behold, the king of Israel has paid wages to the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians against us. And they will overwhelm us.”
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.	7 Therefore, they rose up and fled away in the dark. And they left behind their tents and horses and donkeys in the camp. And they fled, desiring to save so much as their own lives.
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.	8 And so, when these lepers had arrived at the beginning of the camp, they entered one tent, and they ate and drank. And they took from there silver, and gold, and clothing. And they went away and hid it. And they returned again to another tent, and similarly, carrying away from there, they hid it.
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."	9 Then they said one to another: “We are not doing the right thing. For this is a day of good news. If we remain silent and refuse to report it until morning, we will be charged with a crime. Come, let us go and report it in the court of the king.”
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."	10 And when they had arrived at the gate of the city, they explained to them, saying: “We went into the camp of the Syrians, and we found no one in that place, except horses and donkeys tied, and the tents still standing.”
11 The gatekeepers announced this and it was reported within the palace.	11 Therefore, the gatekeepers went and reported it in the palace of the king.
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."	12 And he rose up in the night, and he said to his servants: “I tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are suffering from famine, and therefore they have gone out from the camp, and they lie hidden in the fields, saying: ‘When they will have gone out from the city, we will capture them alive, and then we will be able to enter the city.’ ”
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."	13 But one of his servants responded: “Let us take the five horses that remain in the city (for there were no more amid the entire multitude of Israel, since the rest had been consumed), and sending, we will be able to explore.”
14 They took two chariots, and horses, and the king sent them to reconnoiter the Aramean army. "Go and find out," he ordered.	14 Therefore, they brought two horses. And the king sent them into the camp of the Syrians, saying, “Go, and see.”
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.	15 And they went away after them, as far as the Jordan. But behold, the entire way was filled with clothing and vessels, which the Syrians had thrown aside when they were disturbed. And the messengers returned and told the king.
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.	16 And the people, going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians. And one measure of fine wheat flour went for one silver coin, and two measures of barley went for one silver coin, in accord with the word of the Lord.
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.	17 Then the king stationed that leader, on whose hand he leaned, at the gate. And the crowd trampled him at the entrance of the gate. And he died, in accord with what the man of God had said when the king had descended to him.
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."	18 And this happened in accord with the word of the man of God, which he had spoken to the king, when he said: “Two measures of barley will be one silver coin, and one measure of fine wheat flour will be one silver coin, at this same time tomorrow, at the gate of Samaria.”
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."	19 Then that leader had responded to the man of God, and he had said, “Even if the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven, how can what you say possibly happen?” And he said to him, “You will see it with your own eyes, and you will not eat from it.”
20 And that is what happened to him, for the people trampled him to death at the gate.	20 Therefore, it happened to him just as it had been predicted. For the people trampled him at the gate, and he died.