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Elisha said, âListen! Godâs word! The famineâs over. This time tomorrow food will be plentifulâa handful of meal for a shekel; two handfuls of grain for a shekel. The market at the city gate will be buzzing.â The attendant on whom the king leaned for support said to the Holy Man, âYou expect us to believe that? Trapdoors opening in the sky and food tumbling out?â âYouâll watch it with your own eyes,â he said, âbut you will not eat so much as a mouthful!â It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, âWhat are we doing sitting here at deathâs door? If we enter the famine-struck city weâll die; if we stay here weâll die. So letâs take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us weâll live, if they kill us weâll die. Weâve got nothing to lose.â So after the sun went down they got up and went to the camp of Aram. When they got to the edge of the camp, surprise! Not a man in the camp! The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, âThe king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!â Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeysâthe whole camp just as it wasârunning for dear life. These four lepers entered the camp and went into a tent. First they ate and drank. Then they grabbed silver, gold, and clothing, and went off and hid it. They came back, entered another tent, and looted it, again hiding their plunder. Finally they said to one another, âWe shouldnât be doing this! This is a day of good news and weâre making it into a private party! If we wait around until morning weâll get caught and punished. Come on! Letâs go tell the news to the kingâs palace!â So they went and called out at the city gate, telling what had happened: âWe went to the camp of Aram and, surprise!âthe place was deserted. Not a soul, not a sound! Horses and donkeys left tethered and tents abandoned just as they were.â The gatekeepers got the word to the royal palace, giving them the whole story. Roused in the middle of the night, the king told his servants, âLet me tell you what Aram has done. They knew that we were starving, so they left camp and have hid in the field, thinking, âWhen they come out of the city, weâll capture them alive and take the city.ââ One of his advisors answered, âLet some men go and take five of the horses left behind. The worst that can happen is no worse than what could happen to the whole city. Letâs send them and find out whatâs happened.â They took two chariots with horses. The king sent them after the army of Aram with the orders, âScout them out; find out what happened.â They went after them all the way to the Jordan. The whole way was strewn with clothes and equipment that Aram had dumped in their panicked flight. The scouts came back and reported to the king. The people then looted the camp of Aram. Food prices dropped overnightâa handful of meal for a shekel; two handfuls of grain for a shekelâGodâs word to the letter! The king ordered his attendant, the one he leaned on for support, to be in charge of the city gate. The people, turned into a mob, poured through the gate, trampling him to death. It was exactly what the Holy Man had said when the king had come to see him. Every word of the Holy Man to the kingââA handful of meal for a shekel, two handfuls of grain for a shekel this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,â with the attendantâs sarcastic reply to the Holy Man, âYou expect us to believe that? Trapdoors opening in the sky and food tumbling out?â followed by the response, âYouâll watch it with your own eyes, but you wonât eat so much as a mouthfulââproved true. The final stroke came when the people trampled the man to death at the city gate.
2 Kings 7:1â-âŹ20 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/2ki.7.1-20.MSG

