bi12_E

503 Famine to end. Syrians flee; camp pillaged 2 KINGS 6:33–7:12
when he sent a man from before
him. Before the messenger could
come in to him, he himself said
to the older men: “Have YOU seen
how this son of a murderer a has
sent to take off my head? See to
it: as soon as the messenger
comes, close the door, and YOU
must press him back with the
door. Is there not the sound b of
the feet of his lord behind him?”
33 While he was yet speaking
with them, here was the messenger
coming down to him, and the
king proceeded to say: “Here this
is the calamity from Jehovah. c
WhyshouldIwaitanylongerfor
Jehovah?” d
E·lisha now said: “Listen,
7 YOU men, to the word of Jehovah.
e This is what Jehovah has
said, ‘Tomorrow about this time
a seah measure of fine flour will
be worth a shekel, and two seah
measures of barley worth a shekel
in the gateway of Sa·mari·a.’ ” f
2 At that the adjutant upon
whose hand the king was supporting
g himself answered the
man of the true God and said: “If
Jehovah were making floodgates
in the heavens, h could this thing
take place?” i To this he said:
“Here you are seeing it with your
own eyes, j butfromityouwillnot
eat.” k
3 And there were four men,
lepers, that happened to be at
the entrance of the gate; l and
they began to say the one to the
other: “Why are we sitting here
untilwehavedied? 4 If we had
said, ‘Let us enter the city,’ when
the famine is in the city, we
would also have to die there. m
Andifwedosithere,weshall
also have to die. So now come
and let us invade the camp of the
Syrians. If they preserve us alive,
we shall live; but if they put us
to death, then we shall have to
die.” n 5 Accordingly they rose
up in the evening darkness to enter
the camp of the Syrians; and
CHAP. 6
a 1Ki 18:13
1Ki 21:10
b 1Ki 14:6
c Pr 19:3
Isa 8:21
Am 3:6
d Ps 27:14
Pr 14:29
Pr 30:9
2Pe 3:9
Re 16:9
CHAP. 7
e Am 3:7
Heb 1:1
f De 32:36
Jg 5:11
2Ki 7:18
g 2Ki 5:18
h Ge 7:11
Ps 78:23
Mal 3:10
i Nu 14:11
2Th 3:2
j Nu 11:23
2Ch 20:20
k 2Ki 7:17
l Le 13:46
De 24:8
m 2Ki 6:25
n La 4:9
Second Col.
a Pr 20:12
b De 28:7
2Sa 5:24
2Ki 19:7
c 1Ki 10:29
2Ch 1:17
d 2Ch 12:2
e Ps 48:5
Pr 28:1
f Ps 33:17
Pr 21:31
g Ge 2:7
h Jer 41:8
i Na 1:15
1Co 10:24
Php 2:4
1Th 5:15
j 1Ti 6:10
k 2Sa 18:26
Ps 127:1
Mr 13:34
l 2Ki 7:7
m 2Ki 6:8
they got to come as far as the
outskirts of the camp of the Syrians,
and, look! nobody was there.
6 And Jehovah himself had
caused the camp of the Syrians
to hear a the sound of war chariots,
the sound of horses, the
sound of a great military force, b
so that they said to one another:
“Look! The king of Israel
has hired against us the
kings of the Hittites c and the
kings of Egypt d to come against
us!” 7 Immediatelytheygotup
and went fleeing in the evening
darkness e and leaving their tents
and their horses f and their asses
—the camp just as it was—and
they kept fleeing for their soul. g
8 When these lepers came as
farastheoutskirtsofthecamp,
they then entered into one tent
and began to eat and drink
and carry from there silver and
gold and garments and go off
and stick them away. After that
they returned and entered into
another tent and carried things
from there and went off and
stuck them away. h
9 Finallytheybegantosaythe
one to the other: “It is not right
what we are doing. This day is a
day of good news! i If we are hesitating,
and we actually wait until
the morning light, guilt must
alsocatchupwithus. j So now
come and let us enter and
make report at the king’s house.”
10 So they came and called to
the gatekeepers k of the city and
reported to them, saying: “We
came into the camp of the Syrians,
and, look! there was nobody
there nor sound of a man,
but only the horses tied and
the asses tied and the tents just
as they were.” l 11 At once the
gatekeepers called out and they
reported to the king’s house inside.
12 Immediately the king rose
up by night and said to his servants:
m “Let me tell YOU, please,