²⁴And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathereth all his camp, and goeth up, and layeth siege to Samaria, ²⁵and there is a great famine in Samaria, and lo, they are laying siege to it, till the head of an ass is at eighty silverlings, and a forth of the cab of dovesdung at five silverlings. ²⁶And it cometh to pass, the king of Israel is passing by on the wall, and a woman hath cried unto him, saying, ‘Save, my lord, O king.’ ²⁷And he saith, ‘Jehovah doth not save thee—whence do I save thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-vat?’ ²⁸And the king saith to her, ‘What—to thee?’ and she saith, ‘This woman said unto me, Give thy son, and we eat him to-day, and my son we eat to-morrow; ²⁹and we boil my son and eat him, and I say unto her on the next day, Give thy son, and we eat him; and she hideth her son.’ ³⁰And it cometh to pass, at the king’s hearing the words of the woman, that he rendeth his garments, and he is passing by on the wall, and the people see, and lo, the sackcloth is on his flesh within. ³¹And he saith, ‘Thus doth God do to me, and thus He doth add—if it remain—the head of Elisha son of Shaphat—upon him this day.’ ³²And Elisha is sitting in his house, and the elders are sitting with him, and the king sendeth a man from before him; before the messenger doth come unto him, even he himself said unto the elders, ‘Have ye seen that this son of the murderer hath sent to turn aside my head? see, at the coming in of the messenger, shut the door, and ye have held him fast at the door, is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?’ ³³He is yet speaking with them, and lo, the messenger is coming down unto him, and he saith, ‘Lo, this is the evil from Jehovah: what—do I wait for Jehovah any more?’

Chapter 7

¹And Elisha saith, ‘Hear ye a word of Jehovah: thus said Jehovah, About this time to-morrow, a measure of fine flour is at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’ ²And the captain whom the king hath, by whose hand he hath been supported, answereth the man of God and saith, ‘Lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens—shall this thing be?’ and he saith, ‘Lo, thou art seeing it with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat.’

³And four men have been leprous, at the opening of the gate, and they say one unto another, ‘What—we are sitting here till we have died; ⁴if we have said, We go in to the city, then the famine is in the city, and we have died there; and if we have sat here, then we have died; and now, come and we fall unto the camp of Aram; if they keep us alive, we live, and if they put us to death—we have died.’ ⁵And they rise in the twilight, to go in unto the camp of Aram, and they come in unto the extremity of the camp of Aram, and lo, there is not a man there, ⁶seeing Jehovah hath caused the camp of Aram to hear a noise of chariot and a noise of horse—a noise of great force, and they say one unto another, ‘Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Egypt, to come against us.’ ⁷And they rise and flee in the twilight, and forsake their tents, and their horses, and their asses—the camp as it is—and flee for their life. ⁸And these lepers come in unto the extremity of the camp, and come in unto one tent, and eat, and drink, and lift up thence silver, and gold, and garments, and go and hide; and they turn back and go in unto another tent, and lift up thence, and go and hide. ⁹And they say one unto another, ‘We are not doing right this day; a day of tidings it is, and we are keeping silent; and—we have waited till the light of the morning, then hath punishment found us; and now, come and we go in and declare to the house of the king.’ ¹⁰And they come in, and call unto the gatekeeper of the city, and declare for themselves, saying, ‘We have come in unto the camp of Aram, and lo, there is not there a man, or sound of man, but the bound horse, and the bound ass, and tents as they are.’ ¹¹and he calleth the gatekeepers, and they declare to the house of the king within.

¹²And the king riseth by night, and saith unto his servants, ‘Let me declare, I pray you, to you that which the Aramaeans have done to us; they have known that we are famished, and they are gone out from the camp to be hidden in the field, saying, When they come out from the city, then we catch them alive, and unto the city we enter.’ ¹³And one of his servants answereth and saith, ‘Then let them take, I pray thee, five of the horses that are left, that have been left in it—lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it; lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been consumed—and we send and see.’ ¹⁴And they take two chariot-horses, and the king sendeth after the camp of Aram, saying, ‘Go, and see.’ ¹⁵And they go after them unto the Jordan, and lo, all the way is full of garments and vessels that the Aramaeans have cast away in their haste, and the messengers turn back and declare to the king. ¹⁶And the people go out and spoil the camp of Aram, and there is a measure of fine flour at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the word of Jehovah. ¹⁷And the king hath appointed the captain, by whose hand he is supported, over the gate, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth, as the man of God spake, which he spake in the coming down of the king unto him, ¹⁸yea, it cometh to pass, according to the speaking of the man of God unto the king, saying, ‘Two measures of barley at a shekel, and a measure of fine flour at a shekel are, at this time to-morrow, in the gate of Samaria;’ ¹⁹and the captain answereth the man of God, and saith, ‘And lo, Jehovah is making windows in the heavens—it is according to this word?’ and he saith, ‘Lo, thou art seeing with thine eyes, and thereof thou dost not eat;’ ²⁰and it cometh to him so, and the people tread him down in the gate, and he dieth.

Chapter 8

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