24. And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria
gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they
besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore
pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's
dung for five pieces of silver.
26. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall,
there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
27. And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I
help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
28. And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she
answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may
eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
29. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on
the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she
hath hid her son.
30. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the
woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the
wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth
within upon his flesh.
31. Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of
Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
32. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him;
and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the
messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how
this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head?
look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him
fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet
behind him?
33. And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger
came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the
LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
Chapter 7
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 thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
3. And there were four leprous men at the entering in 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 unto
the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall
live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the
Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of
the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
6. For the LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a
noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of
a great host: 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 did eat and drink, 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.
10. So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and
they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians,
and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man,
but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11. And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's
house within.
12. And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants,
I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They
know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the
camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come
out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the
city.
13. And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I
pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in
the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel
that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the
multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us
send and see.
14. They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent
after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
15. And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way
was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told
the king.
16. And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the
Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the
word of the LORD.
17. And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to
have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him
in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who
spake when the king came down to him.
18. And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the
king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a
measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about
this time in the gate of Samaria:
19. And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now,
behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might
such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with
thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
20. And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him
in the gate, and he died.
