Parallel Bible results for "2 kings 7"

2 Kings 7

Common English Bible CEB

1 Elisha said, "Hear the LORD's word! This is what the LORD says: At this time tomorrow a seah of wheat flour will sell for a shekel at Samaria's gate, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel."

2 Then the officer, the one the king leaned on for support, spoke to the man of God: "Come on! Even if the LORD should make windows in the sky, how could that happen?" Elisha said, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat from it."

3 Now there were four men with skin disease at the entrance to the city. They said to each other, "What are we doing sitting here until we die?

4 If we decide, ‘Let's go into the city,' the famine is there, and we'll die in the city. But if we stay here, we'll die just the same. So let's go and surrender to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we'll live. If they kill us, we'll die."

5 So they set out in the evening to the Aramean camp, and they came to the edge of the camp. But there was no one there because

6 the Lord had made the Aramean camp hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a strong army. They had said to each other, "Listen! Israel's king has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to come against us!"

7 So they had got up and fled in the evening, leaving their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp exactly as it was and ran for their lives.

8 So these men with skin disease came to the edge of the camp. They entered a tent where they ate and drank. They carried off some silver, gold, and garments, and they hid them. Then they returned and went into another tent. They took more things from there, went away, and hid them.

9 But then they said to each other, "What we're doing isn't right. Today is a day of good news, but we're keeping quiet about it. If we wait until dawn, something bad will happen to us. Come on! Let's go and tell the palace."

10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers, telling them, "We went to the Aramean camp, and listen to this: No one was there, not even the sound of anyone! The only things there were tied-up horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were."

11 The gatekeepers shouted out the news, and it was reported within the palace.

12 The king got up in the night. He said to his servants, "Let me tell you what the Arameans are doing to us. They know we are starving, so they've left the camp to hide in the fields. They are thinking, The Israelites will come out from the city, and then we'll capture them alive and invade the city."

13 But one of his servants answered, "Please let some men take five of the horses that are left, and let's send them out to see what happens. They are in the same situation as the large number of Israelites who are left here; they are no better off than the large number of Israelites who've already perished."

14 So they chose two chariots with their horses. The king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, "Go and see!"

15 So they went after the Arameans as far as the Jordan River. The road was filled the whole way with garments and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their rush. The messengers returned and reported this to the king.

16 Then the people went out and looted the Aramean camp. And so it happened that a seah of wheat flour did sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, in agreement with the LORD's word.

17 But the king had put the officer whom he leaned on for support in charge of the city gate. The people trampled the officer at the gate, and he died. This was just what the man of God said when the king had come down to him.

18 Because when the man of God said to the king, "At this time tomorrow two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel at Samaria's gate, and one seah of wheat flour will sell for a shekel,"

19 the officer had answered the man of God, "Come on! Even if the LORD should make windows in the sky, how could that happen?" Then Elisha had said, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat from it."

20 That's exactly what happened to him. The people trampled him at the city gate, and he died.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Elisha said, "Listen! God's word! The famine's over. This time tomorrow food will be plentiful - a handful of meal for a shekel; two handfuls of grain for a shekel. The market at the city gate will be buzzing."

2 The attendant on whom the king leaned for support said to the Holy Man, "You expect us to believe that? Trapdoors opening in the sky and food tumbling out?" "You'll watch it with your own eyes," he said, "but you will not eat so much as a mouthful!"

3 It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, "What are we doing sitting here at death's door?

4 If we enter the famine-struck city we'll die; if we stay here we'll die. So let's take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we'll live, if they kill us we'll die. We've got nothing to lose."

5 So after the sun went down they got up and went to the camp of Aram. When they got to the edge of the camp, surprise! Not a man in the camp!

6 The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, "The king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!"

7 Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeys - the whole camp just as it was - running for dear life.

8 These four lepers entered the camp and went into a tent. First they ate and drank. Then they grabbed silver, gold, and clothing, and went off and hid it. They came back, entered another tent, and looted it, again hiding their plunder.

9 Finally they said to one another, "We shouldn't be doing this! This is a day of good news and we're making it into a private party! If we wait around until morning we'll get caught and punished. Come on! Let's go tell the news to the king's palace!"

10 So they went and called out at the city gate, telling what had happened: "We went to the camp of Aram and, surprise! - the place was deserted. Not a soul, not a sound! Horses and donkeys left tethered and tents abandoned just as they were."

11 The gatekeepers got the word to the royal palace, giving them the whole story.

12 Roused in the middle of the night, the king told his servants, "Let me tell you what Aram has done. They knew that we were starving, so they left camp and have hid in the field, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we'll capture them alive and take the city.'"

13 One of his advisors answered, "Let some men go and take five of the horses left behind. The worst that can happen is no worse than what could happen to the whole city. Let's send them and find out what's happened."

14 They took two chariots with horses. The king sent them after the army of Aram with the orders, "Scout them out; find out what happened."

15 They went after them all the way to the Jordan. The whole way was strewn with clothes and equipment that Aram had dumped in their panicked flight. The scouts came back and reported to the king.

16 The people then looted the camp of Aram. Food prices dropped overnight - a handful of meal for a shekel; two handfuls of grain for a shekel - God's word to the letter!

17 The king ordered his attendant, the one he leaned on for support, to be in charge of the city gate. The people, turned into a mob, poured through the gate, trampling him to death. It was exactly what the Holy Man had said when the king had come to see him.

18 Every word of the Holy Man to the king - "A handful of meal for a shekel, two handfuls of grain for a shekel this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,"

19 with the attendant's sarcastic reply to the Holy Man, "You expect us to believe that? Trapdoors opening in the sky and food tumbling out?" followed by the response, "You'll watch it with your own eyes, but you won't eat so much as a mouthful" - proved true.

20 The final stroke came when the people trampled the man to death at the city gate.