1. Elisha said, “Listen to the Lord’s word. This is what he says: ‘About this time tomorrow 7 quarts of fine flour will be sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. And 13 quarts of barley will be sold for two-fifths of an ounce of silver. This will happen at the gate of Samaria.’”
2. Then the officer who was close to the king answered Elisha. He said, “Even if the Lord opened windows in heaven, that couldn’t happen.”Elisha said, “Because you have said that, you will see it with your eyes. But you will not eat any of it.”
3. There were four men with a harmful skin disease at the entrance to the city gate. They said to each other, “Why do we sit here until we die?
4. A time of hunger is in the city. So if we go into the city, we will die there. If we stay here, we will die. So let’s go to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we will live. If they kill us, then we die.”
5. So they got up at twilight. And they went to the Aramean camp. But when they arrived, no one was there.
6. The Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, horses and a large army. They had said to each other, “The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!”
7. So they ran away in the twilight. They left their tents, horses and donkeys. They left the camp standing and ran for their lives.
8. The men with the skin disease came to the edge of the camp. Then they went into one of the tents. They ate and drank. They carried silver, gold and clothes out of the camp and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent. They carried things from this tent and hid them, also.
9. Then they said to each other, “We’re doing wrong. Today we have good news, but we are silent. If we wait until the sun comes up, we’ll be punished. Let’s go now and tell the people in the king’s palace.”
10. So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They said, “We went to the Aramean camp. But no one is there. We didn’t hear anyone. The horses and donkeys were still tied up, and the tents were still standing.”
11. Then the gatekeepers shouted out and told the people in the palace.
12. So the king got up in the night. He said to his officers, “I’ll tell you what the Arameans are doing to us. They know we are hungry. They have gone out of the camp to hide in the field. They’re saying, ‘When the Israelites come out of the city, we’ll capture them alive. Then we’ll enter the city.’”
13. One of his officers answered, “Let some men take five horses still left in the city. These men are like all the Israelites who are left. They are also about to die. Let’s send them to see what has happened.”