2 Kings 7

Elisha Promises Food

1 Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: a 'Tomorrow about this time a 1 seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.' " 2 b So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, c if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

The Syrians Flee

3 Now there were four leprous men d 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,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the e army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die." 5 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. 6 For the LORD had caused the army of the Syrians f to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses - the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired against us g the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!" 7 Therefore they h arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact - their tents, their horses, and their donkeys - and they fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

9 Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some 2 punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king's household." 10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, "We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound - only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact." 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king's household inside. 12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, "Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are i hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to 3 hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.' " 13 And one of his servants answered and said, "Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see." 14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, "Go and see." 15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, j according to the word of the LORD. 17 Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just k as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, l "Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria." 19 Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, "Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it." 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

  1. Cross References
    2 Kings 7:18
    So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.
    2 Kings 7:19
    Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, "Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.
  2. Cross References
    2 Kings 5:18
    "Yet in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon - when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD please pardon your servant in this thing."
    2 Kings 7:17
    Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
    2 Kings 7:19
    Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, "Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.
    2 Kings 7:20
    And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
  3. Cross References
    Genesis 7:11
    In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
    Malachi 3:10
    Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
  4. Cross References
    Leviticus 13:45
    "Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!'
    Leviticus 13:46
    He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
    Numbers 5:2 - 4
    Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse.
    Numbers 12:10 - 14
    And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.
  5. Cross References
    2 Kings 6:24
    And it happened after this that BenHadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
  6. Cross References
    2 Samuel 5:24
    "And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines."
    2 Kings 19:7
    "Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land." '"
    Job 15:21
    Dreadful sounds are in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
  7. Cross References
    1 Kings 10:29
    Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 48:4 - 6
    For behold, the kings assembled, They passed by together.
    Proverbs 28:1
    The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.
  9. Cross References
    2 Kings 6:24 - 29
    And it happened after this that BenHadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
  10. Cross References
    2 Kings 7:1
    Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'
  11. Cross References
    2 Kings 6:32
    But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?
    2 Kings 7:2
    So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.
  12. Cross References
    2 Kings 7:1
    Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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