rsv 2Kings:7:3-20 SEEK
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Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate ;
and they said to one another , "
Why do we sit here till we die ?
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If we say , `
Let us enter the city ,'
the famine is in the city ,
and we shall die there ;
and if we sit here ,
we die also .
So now come ,
let us go over to the camp of the Syrians ;
if they spare our lives we shall live ,
and if they kill us we shall but die ."
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So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians ;
but when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians ,
behold ,
there was no one there .
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For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots ,
and of horses ,
the sound of a great army ,
so that they said to one another , "
Behold ,
the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come upon us ."
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So they fled away in the twilight and forsook their tents ,
their horses ,
and their asses ,
leaving the camp as it was ,
and fled for their lives .
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And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp ,
they went into a tent ,
and ate and drank ,
and they carried off silver and gold and clothing ,
and went and hid them ;
then they came back ,
and entered another tent ,
and carried off things from it ,
and went and hid them .
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Then they said to one another , "
We are not doing right .
This day is a day of good news ;
if we are silent and wait until the morning light ,
punishment will overtake us ;
now therefore come ,
let us go and tell the king '
s household ."
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So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city ,
and told them , "
We came to the camp of the Syrians ,
and behold ,
there was no one to be seen or heard there ,
nothing but the horses tied ,
and the asses tied ,
and the tents as they were ."
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Then the gatekeepers called out ,
and it was told within the king '
s household .
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And the king rose in the night ,
and said to his servants , "
I will tell you what the Syrians have prepared against us .
They know that we are hungry ;
therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country ,
thinking , `
When they come out of the city ,
we shall take them alive and get into the city .'"
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And one of his servants said , "
Let some men take five of the remaining horses ,
seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel that have already perished ;
let us send and see ."
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So they took two mounted men ,
and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians ,
saying , "
Go and see ."
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So they went after them as far as the Jordan ;
and ,
lo ,
all the way was littered with garments and equipment which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste .
And the messengers returned ,
and told the king .
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Then the people went out ,
and plundered the camp of the Syrians .
So a measure of fine meal was sold for a shekel ,
and two measures of barley for a shekel ,
according to the word of the LORD .
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Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate ;
and the people trod upon him in the gate ,
so that he died ,
as the man of God had said when the king came down to him .
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For when the man of God had said to the king , "
Two measures of barley shall be sold for a shekel ,
and a measure of fine meal for a shekel ,
about this time tomorrow in the gate of Sama '
ria ,"
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the captain had answered the man of God , "
If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven ,
could such a thing be ?"
And he had said , "
You shall see it with your own eyes ,
but you shall not eat of it ."
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And so it happened to him ,
for the people trod upon him in the gate and he died .