2 Kings 7
7
1Elisha replied, “Listen to a message from the Lord. He says, ‘About this time tomorrow, flour won’t cost very much. Even 12 pounds of the finest flour will cost less than half of an ounce of silver. You will also be able to buy 20 pounds of barley for the same price. That’s all you will have to pay for those things at the gate of Samaria.’ ”
2The king was leaning on an officer’s arm. The officer spoke to the man of God. The officer said, “Suppose the Lord opens the sky and pours down food on us. Even if he does, could what you are saying really happen?”
“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha. “But you won’t eat any of it!”
The Attack on Samaria Ends
3There were four men who had a skin disease. They were at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. They said to one another, “Why should we stay here until we die? 4Suppose we say, ‘We’ll go into the city.’ There isn’t any food there, and we’ll die. But if we stay here, we’ll die anyway. So let’s go over to Aram’s army camp. Let’s give ourselves up. If they spare us, we’ll live. If they kill us, we’ll die.”
5At sunset they got up and went to Aram’s army camp. They arrived at the edge of it. But no one was there. 6The Lord had caused the soldiers of Aram to hear a noise. It sounded like chariots and horses and a huge army. So the soldiers said to one another, “Listen! The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings. He has paid them to attack us!” 7So the soldiers of Aram had run away at sunset. They had left their tents and horses and donkeys behind. They had left the camp just as it was. And they had run for their lives.
8The men who had a skin disease arrived at the edge of the camp. They entered one of the tents. They ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes. They went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent. They took some things from it and hid them also.
9But then they said to one another, “What we’re doing isn’t right. This is a day of good news. And we’re keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until sunrise, we’ll be punished. Let’s go at once. Let’s report this to the royal palace.”
10So they went. They called out to the people who were guarding the city gates. They told them, “We went into Aram’s army camp. No one was there. We didn’t hear anyone. The horses and donkeys were still tied up. The tents were left just as they were.” 11The people who guarded the gates shouted the news. It was reported inside the palace.
12The king of Israel got up in the night. He spoke to his officers. He said, “I’ll tell you what the men of Aram have done to us. They know we are very hungry. So they have left the camp to hide in the countryside. They are thinking, ‘We are sure they’ll come out. Then we’ll take them alive. And we’ll get into the city.’ ”
13One of the king’s officers said, “A few horses are still left in the city. Have some men get five of them. Those men won’t be any worse off than all the other Israelites who are left here. In fact, all of us will soon be dead anyway. So let’s send the men to find out what happened.”
14The men chose two chariots and their horses. The king sent them out to look for Aram’s army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” 15They followed the trail of Aram’s soldiers all the way to the Jordan River. They found clothes and supplies all along the road. The soldiers had thrown them down when they ran away. So the men who were sent out returned. They reported to the king what they had seen. 16Then the people went out of the city. They took everything of value from Aram’s army camp. So 12 pounds of the finest flour sold for less than half of an ounce of silver. And 20 pounds of barley sold for the same price. That’s exactly what the Lord had said would happen.
17The king had put an officer in charge of the city gate. He was the officer on whose arm the king leaned. On their way out of the city, the people knocked the officer down. In the entrance of the gate he was crushed as they walked on top of him. And so he died. That’s exactly what the man of God had said would happen. He had said it when the king came down to his house. 18What Elisha, the man of God, had told the king came true. Elisha had said, “About this time tomorrow, flour won’t cost very much. Even 12 pounds of the finest flour will cost less than half of an ounce of silver. You will also be able to buy 20 pounds of barley for the same price. That’s all you will have to pay for those things at the gate of Samaria.”
19The officer had spoken to the man of God. The officer had said, “Suppose the Lord opens the sky and pours down food on us. Even if he does, could what you are saying really happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes. But you won’t eat any of it!” 20And that’s exactly what happened to the officer. On their way out of the city, the people knocked him down. In the entrance of the gate he was crushed as they walked on top of him. And so he died.
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2 Kings 7: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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2 Kings 7
7
Aram Defeated
1Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, six quarts # Lit a seah of fine meal will sell for a shekel # About 1/2 ounce of silver and 12 quarts # Lit two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’ ” # About 1/2 ounce of silver # 2Kg 7:18
2Then the captain, the king’s right-hand man, # 2Kg 5:18; 7:17 responded to the man of God, # 2Kg 4:8-9 “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen? ” # Mal 3:10
Elisha announced, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.” # 2Kg 7:17
3Four men with a skin disease # Nm 5:2-4; 2Kg 5:1 were at the entrance to the gate. They said to each other, “Why just sit here until we die? 4If we say, ‘Let’s go into the city,’ we will die there because the famine is in the city, but if we sit here, we will also die. So now, come on. Let’s go to the Arameans’ camp. # 2Kg 6:24 If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
5So the diseased men got up at twilight to go to the Arameans’ camp. When they came to the camp’s edge, they discovered that there was not a single man there, 6for the Lord # Some Hb mss read Lord had caused the Aramean camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army. # 2Sm 5:24; 2Kg 5:16-17 The Arameans had said to each other, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites # 1Kg 10:29 and the kings of Egypt # 2Ch 12:2-3 to attack us.” 7So they had gotten up and fled # Jdg 7:21 at twilight, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had fled for their lives.
8When these men came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they picked up the silver, gold, and clothing and went off and hid them. They came back and entered another tent, picked things up, and hid them. # Jos 7:21 9Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. # Pr 15:27; 21:17-18 If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will catch up with us. Let’s go tell the king’s household.”
10The diseased men went and called to the city’s gatekeepers and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there — no human sounds. There was nothing but tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.” 11The gatekeepers called out, and the news was reported to the king’s household.
12So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, # 2Kg 6:25 so they have left the camp to hide in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and go into the city.’ ” # Jos 8:4-12
13But one of his servants responded, “Please, let messengers take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their fate is like the entire Israelite community who will die, # Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read left in it. Indeed, they are like the whole multitude of Israel that are left in it; indeed, they are like the whole multitude of Israel who will die. so let’s send them and see.”
14The messengers took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.” 15So they followed them as far as the Jordan. They saw that the whole way was littered with clothes and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king. 16Then the people went out and plundered the Aramean camp. # 2Kg 7:8
It was then that six quarts # Lit a seah of fine meal sold for a shekel # About 1/2 ounce of silver and 12 quarts # Lit two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, # About 1/2 ounce of silver according to the word of the Lord. # 2Kg 7:1-2 17The king had appointed the captain, his right-hand man, # 2Kg 7:2 to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway. He died, just as the man of God had predicted when the king came to him. 18When the man of God had said to the king, “About this time tomorrow 12 quarts # Lit two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel # About 1/2 ounce of silver and six quarts # Lit a seah of fine meal will sell for a shekel # About 1/2 ounce of silver at the gate of Samaria,” 19this captain had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen? ” Elisha had said, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.” # 2Kg 7:1-2 20This is what happened to him: the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.
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