2 Kings 7

7 ¹ Elisha said, "Hear the word of our Father. This is what our Father says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria."

² Then the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of our Father, "Look, even if our Father were to open windows in the heavens, could this thing happen?" Elisha replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."

The Father Scatters the Aramean Army

³ Now there were four men with a skin disease 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 go into the city,' the famine is in the city, and we will die there. And if we sit here, we die too. So come, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we live; and if they kill us, we die."

⁵ So they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans. But when they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there. ⁶ For the Sovereign Father had made the army of the Arameans hear the sound of chariots and horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!" ⁷ So they got up and fled in the twilight, abandoning their tents, their horses, and their donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. ⁸ When these men with the skin disease reached the edge of the camp, they went into one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they carried off silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. They came back, entered another tent, took things from it, and went and hid those too. ⁹ Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until morning light, punishment will overtake us. Come, let us go at once and tell the king's household."

¹⁰ So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, "We went to the camp of the Arameans, and there was no one there, not a human sound, only the horses and donkeys tied up and the tents left just as they were."

¹¹ The gatekeepers called out the news, and it was reported inside the king's household.

¹² 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 open country, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and get into the city.'"

¹³ One of his servants answered, "Have some men take five of the horses that remain in the city. They will be like all the multitude of Israel who are left here—like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send them and see."

¹⁴ So they took two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, "Go and find out." ¹⁵ They followed them as far as the Jordan, and the whole road was strewn with clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and reported to the king.

The Father's Word Comes True

¹⁶ Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of our Father.

¹⁷ Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of our Father had foretold when the king came down to him. ¹⁸ It happened just as the man of our Father had told the king: "About this time tomorrow, two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel and a seah of fine flour for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." ¹⁹ The officer had answered the man of our Father, "Look, even if our Father were to open windows in the heavens, could such a thing happen?" And he had replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it." ²⁰ And this is exactly what happened to him: the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.