¶ Then Eliseus said: hear the word of the LORD: for thus sayeth the LORD: tomorrow this time a bushel of fine flour shall be sold for a sicle and two bushels of Barley for another in the gates of Samaria.
Then a great lord on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of God and said, though the LORD would make windows in heaven, yet would not this be. And he said again: Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes and shalt not eat thereof.
¶ And there were four lepers set without the gate of Samaria. And they said each to his companion, what sit we here until we die?
though we thought that we might come into the city, yet is the dearth so great in the city, that we shall there die. And if we tarry here, we are but dead also. Now therefore come and let us flee to the Host of the Sirians: if they save our lives, we shall live: And if they kill us, then are we dead.
And so they arose in the dark to go to the Host of the Sirians. And when they were come to the side of the Host of Siria: see, there was no man there.
For the Lord had made the host of the Sirians hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, and the noise of a great Host. In so much that they said one to another: see, the king of Israel hath hired against us, the kings of the Hethites and the kings of Egypt, to come upon us.
And upon that they arose and fled in the dark, and left their tents, their horses, their Asses and the field they had pitched even as it was, and fled for their lives.
And when these lepers came to the edge of the Host, they went into a tent and did eat and drink and carried thence silver, gold and raiment, and went and hid it: and came again and entered into another, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
Then they said one to another: it is not well that we do, for this day is a day to bring tidings. And if we hold our peace, and tarry till it be daylight, we shall find a mischief. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.
And so they went and called to the porter of the city and told them saying: we came to the pavilions of the Sirians: and see, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses and Asses tied, and the tents even as they were.
Then the porters called and told the kings house within.
¶ And the king arose in the night and said to his servants: I will shew you, how the Sirians have served us. They know that we are oppressed with hunger, and therefore are gone out of their pavilions to hide themselves in the field saying: They will come out of the city, and then we shall catch them alive and get into the city.
And one of his servants answered and said: Let men take five of the horses that remain and are left in the city. Behold they are as good as all the multitude that are left in the city: and as good as all the multitude of the city that are consumed, and let us send and see.
And they took two chariots of horses, and the king sent after the Host of the Sirians saying: go and see.
And they followed after them even unto Iordan: and see, all the way was full of clothes and vessels which the Sirians had cast from them for haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
And then the people went out and robbed the tents of the Sirians. And so a bushel of flour was sold for a sicle, and two bushels of barley for a sicle, according to the word of the LORD.
And the king set the lord on whose hand he leaned, to keep the gate. And the people trod him in the gate, that he died, according to the saying of the man of God which he said, when the king came down to him.
And it came to pass according to the word of the man of God to the king saying: two bushels of barley for a sicle and a bushel of flour for another shall be tomorrow this time in the gates of Samaria.
And the lord answered the man of God and said: though the LORD made windows in heaven, yet would not this be. And the other said: Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.
And so it chanced: for the people trod him under feet in the gate, that he died.
Praise the Everlasting Lord for His Faithful Word.