Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the LORD; this is what the LORD says: ‘^aAbout this time tomorrow a ¹measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’” 2 ^aThe royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning responded to the man of God and said, “^bEven if the LORD were to make ¹windows in heaven, could this thing happen?” Then he said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ²any of it.”

3 Now there were four ^aleprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; but if we sit here, we will also die. Now then come, and let’s go over to ^athe camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, then we will die.” 5 So they got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. 6 For ^athe Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, that is, the sound of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired ^bthe kings of the Hittites and ^cthe kings of the Egyptians against us, to ¹attack us!” 7 So they ^agot up and fled at twilight, and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—indeed the camp itself, just as it was; and they fled for their lives. 8 When these men with leprosy came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and ^acarried from there silver, gold, and clothes, and they went and hid them; then they returned and entered another tent, and carried valuables from there also, and went and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing the right thing. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent about it; if we wait until the morning light, punishment will ¹overtake us. Now then come, let’s go and inform the king’s household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor a human voice; only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” 11 And the gatekeepers called and announced it inside the king’s house. 12 Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that ^awe are hungry; so they have left the camp ^bto hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’” 13 One of his servants responded and said, “Please, have some men take five of the horses that remain, which are left ¹in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send them and see.” 14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

15 They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away when they fled in a hurry. Then the messengers returned and informed the king.

16 So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a ¹measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two ²measures of barley for a shekel, ^ain accordance with the word of the LORD. 17 Now the king appointed ^athe royal officer on whose hand he leaned ¹to be in charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, ^bwho spoke when the king came down to him. 18 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “^aTwo ¹measures of barley for a shekel and a ²measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.” 19 At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, “Now even if ^athe LORD were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?” And he had said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat ¹any of it.” 20 And this is what happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.