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          DASV: 2 Kings 7    

1 Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD: This is what
the LORD says, 'Tomorrow about this time, five quarts of fine
flour will be sold for a shekel, and ten quarts of barley for
a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"
2 Then the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the
man of God, "Even if the LORD should open the windows of
heaven, could this really happen?" Elisha replied, "You
will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat
any of it."

3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate.
They said to each other, "Why should we just sit here
until we die?
4 If we say, 'We will enter the city,' there is famine is in
the city, and we will starve to death there. If we sit here,
we will die too. So come on, let's surrender to the Aramean
army. If they spare our lives, we will live, and if they
kill us, we would have died anyway."
5 So they got up in the twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans.
When they came to the edge of the Aramean camp, there was no
one there.
6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound
of chariots and horses, and the sound of a great army. They
said to each other, "The king of Israel has hired the kings
of the Hittites and the Egyptians to fight against us."
7 So they got up and fled in the twilight, and left their tents,
horses and donkeys. They left the camp just as it was and
ran for their lives.

8 When these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went
into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried off silver,
gold, and clothes, and went and hid them. Then they came
back, and entered into another tent, and carried off its
spoils also, and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to each other, "This isn't right. This day
is a day of good news, and we haven't told anyone. If we
wait until morning, we will be punished. So let's go and
tell the royal palace."
10 So they came and called out to the gatekeepers of the
city. They told them, "We went to the camp of the Arameans,
and there was no one there. The horses and donkeys were
tied up, and the tents were left as they were, but there
was not a sound from anyone there."

11 Then the gatekeepers reported it to the royal palace.
12 The king got up in the night, and said to his officers,
"I will tell you what the Arameans have done to trick us.
They know that we are starving; so they have left the camp
and are hiding in the field, thinking, 'When they come
out of the city, we will take them alive, and get into
the city.'"
13 One of his officials suggested, "Let some people take
five of the horses still left in the city, their fate will
be no different than the multitude of Israel who are left
behind, they will be just like all the Israelites who
are going to die anyway. Let us send them out and find
out what's going on."

14 They took two chariots with horses; and the king sent
them after the Aramean army, saying, "Go and find out
what's going on."
15 They followed them as far as the Jordan River, all the
way was littered with garments and equipment that the
Arameans had thrown away in their haste. The messengers
returned and told the king.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the
Arameans. So five quarts of fine flour was sold for a shekel,
and ten quarts of barley for a shekel, just as the word of
the LORD had said.
17 The king put the commander on whose arm he leaned in
charge of the city gate. The people trampled him to death
in the city gate, just as the man of God had predicted,
who spoke when the king came down to him.
18 The man of God told the king, "Tomorrow about this time
in the gate of Samaria ten quarts of barley will be sold
for a shekel, and a five quarts of fine flour for a shekel."
19 For that officer had said to the man of God, "Even if
the LORD should open the windows of heaven, how could
such a thing be?" Elisha replied, "You will see it with
your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."
20 So this is precisely what happened to him. The people
trampled him to death in the city gate.

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