Eliseus prophesies a great plenty, which presently ensues upon the sudden flight of the Syrians; of which four lepers bring the news to the city. The incredulous nobleman is trod to death.

¹ Then Elisha said: “Listen to the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow, at this time, one measure of fine wheat flour will be one silver coin, and two measures of barley will be one silver coin, at the gate of Samaria.”¹

1. 7:1A stater: It is the same as a sicle or shekel.(Challoner)

² And one of the leaders, upon whose hand the king leaned, responding to the man of God, said, “Even if the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven, how can what you say possibly be?” And he said, “You will see it with your own eyes, and you will not eat from it.”

³ Now there were four lepers beside the entrance of the gate. And they said one to another: “Should we choose to stay here until we die?

⁴ If we choose to enter the city, we will die from the famine. And if we remain here, we also will die. Therefore, come and let us flee over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we will live. But if they choose to kill us, we will die anyway.”

⁵ Therefore, they rose up in the evening, so that they might go to the camp of the Syrians. And when they had arrived at the beginning of the camp of the Syrians, they found no one in that place.

⁶ For indeed, the Lord had caused them to hear, in the camp of Syria, the sound of chariots and horses, and a very numerous army. And they said one to another: “Behold, the king of Israel has paid wages to the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians against us. And they will overwhelm us.”

⁷ Therefore, they rose up and fled away in the dark. And they left behind their tents and horses and donkeys in the camp. And they fled, desiring to save so much as their own lives.

⁸ And so, when these lepers had arrived at the beginning of the camp, they entered one tent, and they ate and drank. And they took from there silver, and gold, and clothing. And they went away and hid it. And they returned again to another tent, and similarly, carrying away from there, they hid it.

⁹ Then they said one to another: “We are not doing the right thing. For this is a day of good news. If we remain silent and refuse to report it until morning, we will be charged with a crime. Come, let us go and report it in the court of the king.”¹

1. 7:9The lepers correctly discerned that to refrain from reporting this good news would be a sin of omission.(Conte)

¹⁰ And when they had arrived at the gate of the city, they explained to them, saying: “We went into the camp of the Syrians, and we found no one in that place, except horses and donkeys tied, and the tents still standing.”

¹¹ Therefore, the gatekeepers went and reported it in the palace of the king.

¹² And he rose up in the night, and he said to his servants: “I tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are suffering from famine, and therefore they have gone out from the camp, and they lie hidden in the fields, saying: ‘When they will have gone out from the city, we will capture them alive, and then we will be able to enter the city.’ ”

¹³ But one of his servants responded: “Let us take the five horses that remain in the city (for there were no more amid the entire multitude of Israel, since the rest had been consumed), and sending, we will be able to explore.”

¹⁴ Therefore, they brought two horses. And the king sent them into the camp of the Syrians, saying, “Go, and see.”

¹⁵ And they went away after them, as far as the Jordan. But behold, the entire way was filled with clothing and vessels, which the Syrians had thrown aside when they were disturbed. And the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶ And the people, going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians. And one measure of fine wheat flour went for one silver coin, and two measures of barley went for one silver coin, in accord with the word of the Lord.

¹⁷ Then the king stationed that leader, on whose hand he leaned, at the gate. And the crowd trampled him at the entrance of the gate. And he died, in accord with what the man of God had said when the king had descended to him.

¹⁸ And this happened in accord with the word of the man of God, which he had spoken to the king, when he said: “Two measures of barley will be one silver coin, and one measure of fine wheat flour will be one silver coin, at this same time tomorrow, at the gate of Samaria.”

¹⁹ Then that leader had responded to the man of God, and he had said, “Even if the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven, how can what you say possibly happen?” And he said to him, “You will see it with your own eyes, and you will not eat from it.”

²⁰ Therefore, it happened to him just as it had been predicted. For the people trampled him at the gate, and he died.