Elisha’s Prophecy of Plenty 1 ULT And Elisha said,“Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh:‘At{ this} time tomorrow, a seah of flour{ will be} at a shekel, and two seahs of barley{ will be} at a shekel in the gate of Samaria.’” BSB BSB: Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”
2 ULT And the captain who{ was} to the king, leaning himself on his hand, answered the man of God and said,“Behold Yahweh, making windows in the heavens, may this thing be?” And he said,“Behold you, seeing with your eyes, but from there you will not eat.” BSB BSB: But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”
The Arameans Flee 3 ULT Now four men were lepers{ at} the entrance of the gate. And they said, a man to his fellow,“Why are we sitting here until we die? BSB BSB: Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why just sit here until we die?
4 ULT If we say,‘We will enter the city,’ then famine{ is} in the city, and we will die there. But if we sit here, then we will die. And now, come, let us fall to the camp of Aram. If they let us live, we will live. And if they kill us, then we will die.” BSB BSB: If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
5 ULT So they arose in the twilight to go to the camp of Aram. And they came to the edge of the camp of Aram, and behold, not a man{ was} there. BSB BSB: So they arose at twilight and went to the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the outskirts of the camp, there was not a man to be found.
6 ULT For the Lord had made the camp of Aram hear the sound of chariotry, the sound of a horse, the sound of a great army. And they said, a man to his brother,“Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come against us.” BSB BSB: For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”
7 ULT And they arose, and they fled in the twilight. And they abandoned their tents and their horses and their donkeys, the camp just as it{ was}, and they fled for their life. BSB BSB: Thus the Arameans had arisen and fled at twilight, abandoning their tents and horses and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had run for their lives.
8 ULT And those lepers came to the edge of the camp, and they went into one tent, and they ate, and they drank. And they carried away from there silver and gold and clothing, and they went, and they hid{ it}. Then they returned, and they went into another tent, and they carried away from there, and they went, and they hid{ it}. BSB BSB: When the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. On returning, they entered another tent, carried off some items from there, and hid them.
9 ULT And they said, a man to his fellow,“We should not be doing thus this day. It{ is} a day of good news, but we are being quiet. If we wait until the light of morning, then punishment will find us. And now, go, and let us come and inform the house of the king.” BSB BSB: Finally, they said to one another, “We are not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will overtake us. Now, therefore, let us go and tell the king’s household.”
10 ULT And they came and called to the gatekeeper of the city. And they declared to them, saying,“We came to the camp of Aram, and behold, there was not a man there or the sound of a man, but the horse was tied, and the donkey was tied, and the tents{ were} just as they{ were}.” BSB BSB: So they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city, saying, “We went to the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a trace—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.”
11 ULT And the gatekeepers called, and they informed the house of the king within. BSB BSB: The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported to the king’s household.
12 ULT And the king arose{ at} night, and he said to his servants,“Please let me declare to you what Aram has done to us. They know that we{ are} hungry, and they have gone out from the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying,‘For they will come out from the city, and we will capture them alive, and we will enter into the city.’” BSB BSB: So 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, so they have left the camp to hide in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and enter the city.’”
13 ULT And one from his servants answered and said,“Now please let us take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Behold them, like all of the multitude of Israel who remain in it. Behold them, like all of the multitude of Israel who have finished. So let us send, and let us see.” BSB BSB: But one of his servants replied, “Please, have scouts take five of the horses that remain in the city. Their plight will be no worse than all the Israelites who are left here. You can see that all the Israelites here are doomed. So let us send them and find out.”
14 ULT And they took two chariots{ with} horses, and the king sent after the camp of Aram, saying,“Go and see.” BSB BSB: Then the scouts took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”
15 ULT And they went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all of the road{ was} full with clothes and equipment that Aram had thrown away in their hastening themselves. And the messengers returned, and they declared to the king. BSB BSB: And they tracked them as far as the Jordan, and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in haste. So the scouts returned and told the king.
Elisha’s Prophecy Fulfilled 16 ULT And the people went out, and they plundered the camp of Aram. And it happened, a seah of fine flour{ was} at a shekel, and two seahs of barley{ were} at a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. BSB BSB: Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. It was then that a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
17 ULT And the king appointed the captain{ on} whom he was leaning himself on his hand over the gate, but the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had spoken, what he spoke when the king came down to him. BSB BSB: Now the king had appointed the officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king had come to him.
18 ULT And it had happened, when the man of God spoke to the king, saying,“Two seahs of barley{ will be} at a shekel, and a seah of flour{ will be} at a shekel, it will be at{ this} time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” BSB BSB: It happened just as the man of God had told the king: “About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel.”
19 ULT that the captain had answered the man of God and said,“Behold Yahweh, making windows in the heavens, may this thing be?” And he had said,“Behold you, seeing with your eyes, but from there you will not eat.” BSB BSB: And the officer had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” So Elisha had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!”
20 ULT And thus it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died. BSB BSB: And that is just what happened to him. The people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.
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