Eliseus prophesieth a great plenty, which presently ensueth upon the
sudden flight of the Syrians; of which four lepers bring the news to the
city. The incredulous nobleman is trod to death.
7:1. And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the
Lord: Tomorrow, about this time, a bushel of fine flour shall be sold
for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of
Samaria.
A stater... It is the same as a sicle or shekel.
7:2. Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering
the man of God, said: If the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, can
that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with
thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
7:3. Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and
they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?
7:4. If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and
if we will remain here, we must also die: come therefore, and let us run
over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if
they kill us, we shall but die.
7:5. So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp. And when
they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found
no man there.
7:6. For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of
chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army: and they said one to
another: Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of
the Hethites, and of the Egyptians; and they are come upon us.
7:7. Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their
tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to
save their lives.
7:8. So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they
went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver,
and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and
went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid
it.
7:9. Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of
good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning,
we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go, and tell it in the
king's court.
7:10. So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We
went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses,
and asses tied, and the tents standing.
7:11. Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the king's
palace.
7:12. And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you
what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine,
and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields,
saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and
then we may get into the city.
7:13. And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that
are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole
multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and
see.
7:14. They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp
of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.
7:15. And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all
the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king.
7:16. And the people going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a
bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley
for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.
7:17. And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand
at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate;
and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him.
7:18. And it came to pass, according to the word of the man of God,
which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be
for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time
tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria.
7:19. When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the
Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which
thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, and
shalt not eat thereof.
7:20. And so it fell out to him, as it was foretold, and the people trod
upon him in the gate, and he died.