1
Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To-morrow about this time [shall] a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2
Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, [if] the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see [it] with thy eyes, but shalt not eat of it.
3
And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
4
If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine [is] in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall to the army of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5
And they rose in the twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians: and when they had come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, [there was] no man there.
6
For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
7
Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it [was], and fled for their life.
8
And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid [it]; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence [also], and went and hid [it].
9
Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day [is] a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.