And Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord, for tomorrow a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.” The captain, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of God, “Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, how could this be? Elisha replied, “You will see it, but you will not eat of it.” Four leprous men at the gate decided to surrender to the army of the Arameans, because they were going to die anyway. They said, “If they let us live, we will live. If they kill us, then we will die.” When they came into the camp of the Arameans at twilight, there was no one there. The Lord had made the Arameans think they heard the noise of a great army coming near from the king of Israel, who had joined with the Hittites and the Egyptians to attack the Arameans. So they fled and left everything behind, their tents, the horses and the donkeys.
So when the lepers came to the camp, they went into one of the tents and ate and drank, and took silver, gold and clothing, went and hid it and came back. They went into another tent and carried things out, and went and hid them. But one said, “Let us not do this, because this is a day of good news. If we conceal it and wait until the morning, punishment will overtake us. Let us tell the king.” And they went to the city and informed the gatekeepers and told it to the king. The king arose in the night and said to his captains, “They know we are hungry and have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, thinking that when we come out of the city, they can capture us alive and enter the city. One of the captains said, “Take five horses of those that are left, and let us go see.” When they followed after the Arameans to the Jordan, the path along the way was full of garments and equipment they had cast away in their haste. When the people heard it, they went out to the camp of the Arameans and plundered it. And a measure of the finest flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. The king appointed the captain, on whose hand he leaned, to be in charge of the gate. And the people trampled over him in the gate and he died, as the man of God had said. The captain had answered the man of God, “Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, how could this be? And Elisha had answered, “You will see it, but you will not eat of it.” This is exactly what happened to him.