15. For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.

16. He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin."

Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As The LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."

13. Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, "The LORD says, 'Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today. Then you will know that I am The LORD.'"

14. Ahab said, "By whom?"He said, "The LORD says, 'By the young men of the princes of the provinces.'"Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?"He answered, "You."

15. Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two. After them, he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.

16. They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.

17. The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, "Men are coming out from Samaria."

18. He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive."

19. So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.

20. They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen.

21. The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.

22. The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you."

23. The servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

24. Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place.

25. Muster an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than them."He listened to their voice, and did so.

26. At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

27. The children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats; but the Syrians filled the country.

28. A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "The LORD says, 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys"; therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am The LORD.'"

1. Elisha said, "Hear The LORD's word. the LORD says, 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.'"

2. Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, "Behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, could this thing be?"He said, "Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it."

3. Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, "Why do we sit here until we die?

4. If we say, 'We will enter into the city,' then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die."

5. They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, no man was there.

6. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us."

7. Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

8. When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried away silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried things from there also, and went and hid them.

9. Then they said to one another, "We aren't doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let's go and tell the king's household."

10. So they came and called to the city gatekeepers; and they told them, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, not even a man's voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were."

11. He called the gatekeepers; and they told it to the king's household within.

12. The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, "I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.'"

13. One of his servants answered, "Please let some people take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let us send and see."

14. Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king them sent out to the Syrian army, saying, "Go and see."

15. They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the path was full of garments and equipment which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king.

16. The people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to The LORD's word.

17. 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, who spoke when the king came down to him.

Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise, and go, you and your household, and stay for a while wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine. It will also come on the land for seven years."

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;