Elisha’s Prophecy of Plenty 1 UST Elisha told everyone there,“Listen to what Yahweh says. He says that at this time tomorrow, at the marketplace here in Samaria, you will be able to buy six liters of good flour for about ten grams of silver, and you will be able to buy twelve liters of barley for about ten grams of silver.” 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 UST The officer accompanying the king told Elijah,“That could not happen even if Yahweh opened the windows of the sky{ and sent grain down to us}!” Elisha responded,“{ Because you have said that,} you will see it happen, but you will not eat any of the food!” 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 UST Now there were four men who had leprosy who were sitting outside the gate of the city of Samaria. They told each other,“We should not stay here until we starve to death. 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 UST If we go into the city, we will die there, since there is no food there. If we remain sitting here, we will die here. So let us go and surrender to the army of Aram. If they kill us, we will die. But they might give us food. Then we would live.” 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 UST So when it started to get dark, those four men went to the place where the Aramean soldiers had set up their tents. But when they arrived at that place, they discovered that no soldiers were 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 UST What had happened was that Yahweh had caused the army of Aram to hear something that sounded like a large army approaching with chariots and horses. The Aramean soldiers told each other,“Listen! The king of Israel has hired the kings of Egypt and the Hittites to come and attack us with their armies!” 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 UST The Aramean solders were very afraid that enemy soldiers would kill them if they stayed where they were. So they all ran away, even though it was getting dark. They left their tents and their horses and donkeys behind. In fact, they did not take anything with them from the camp. 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 UST { That was why no one was there} when those four men who had leprosy arrived at the place where the soldiers of Aram had set up their tents. So they went into one tent and{ found food and valuable things in it. So} they ate and drank what was there, and they took the silver and gold and clothes. They left that tent and hid those things. Then they came back and went into another tent. They took the things from there, and they went away and hid them as well. 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 UST But then they told each other,“Something very good has happened today, but we are not telling anyone about it. That is the wrong thing to do at a time like this. If we wait until it gets light in the morning{, then other people will discover what has happened, and} they will punish us{ for not telling anyone}. We should go right now and tell the king’ s officials what has happened!” 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 UST So they went to the guards at the city gates and called out to them,“We went to where the army of Aram had set up their tents, but we did not see or hear anyone there. However, their horses and donkeys were still where they had tied them up, and their tents were still there too.” 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 UST The guards shouted the news, and some people who heard it went to the palace and reported it to the king’ s officials. BSB BSB: The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported to the king’s household.
12 UST It was still night, but the king got out of bed and told his officials,“The Arameans are trying to trick us! I will tell you how. They know that we are starving here, so they have left their camp and are hiding in the fields. They think that we will{ discover that the camp is empty and} leave the city{ to get the food they have left in it}. Then they will{ come out of hiding and} capture us and conquer 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 UST But one of his officials said,“Please let us send out some men on five of our horses that are still alive. Those men can go and see what has actually happened.{ If the Arameans are hiding in ambush and kill them,} they will be no worse off than the other Israelites who stay here in the city. After all, all of us Israelites here are about to starve to death.” 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 UST The king agreed to send some men to find out where the army of Aram actually was. There were enough horses alive to pull two chariots. So the men went out on those. BSB BSB: Then the scouts took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”
15 UST All along the road, those men found clothing and weapons that the Arameans had discarded while they were running away. The men went as far as the Jordan River{ and still saw no enemy soldiers, so they knew they had left Israel and gone back to Aram}. So the men returned to the king and reported what they had seen. 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 UST Then many of the people of Samaria left the city and went to where the army of Aram had set up their tents. They entered all the tents and took everything.{ The Arameans had left much grain behind, and} as a result, people could buy six liters of good flour for about ten grams of silver, and they could buy twelve liters of barley for about ten grams of silver. That was exactly what Yahweh had said would happen. 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 UST The king appointed the officer who usually accompanied him to control the flow of people through the city gate. But the people who were rushing through the gate{ knocked him over and} trampled on him. As a result, he died. That was just what Elisha had told him would happen when he came to Elisha’ s house with the king. 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 UST Elisha had told the king,“At this time tomorrow at the marketplace here in Samaria, you will be able to buy six liters of good flour for about ten grams of silver. You will be able to buy twelve liters of barley for about ten grams of silver.” 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 UST The captain had replied,“That could not happen even if Yahweh opened the windows of the sky{ and sent grain down to us}!” Elisha had responded,“{ Because you have said that,} you will see it happen, but you will not eat any of the food!” 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 UST And that is what happened to him. The people who were rushing through the gate{ knocked him over and} trampled on him. As a result, 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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