9. They said to each other, “This isn't right. Today is a day to celebrate, and we haven't told anyone else what has happened. If we wait until morning, we will be punished. Let's go to the king's palace straight away and tell the good news.”
10. They went back to Samaria and shouted up to the guards at the gate, “We've just come from the Syrian army camp, and all the soldiers are gone! The tents are empty, and the horses and donkeys are still tied up. We didn't see or hear anybody.”
11. The guards reported the news to the king's palace.
12. The king got out of bed and said to his officers, “I know what those Syrians are doing. They know we're starving, so they're hiding in the fields, hoping we will go out to look for food. When we do, they can capture us and take over our city.”
13. One of his officers replied, “We have a few horses left—why don't we let some men take five of them and go to the Syrian camp and see what's happening? We're going to die anyway like those who have already died.”
14. They found two chariots, and the king commanded the men to find out what had happened to the Syrian troops.
15. The men rode as far as the River Jordan. All along the way they saw clothes and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away as they escaped. Then they went back to the king and told him what they had seen.
16. At once the people went to the Syrian camp and carried off what was left. They took so much that a large sack of flour and two large sacks of barley sold for almost nothing, just as the Lord had promised.
17. The king of Israel had put his chief officer in charge of the gate, but he died when the people trampled him as they rushed out of the city.
18. Earlier, when the king was at Elisha's house, Elisha had told him that flour or barley would sell for almost nothing.
19. But the officer refused to believe that even the Lord could do that. So Elisha warned him that he would see it happen, but would not eat any of the food.
20. And that's exactly what happened—the officer was trampled to death.