Four Lepers Report the Departure of the Arameans

3 Now four men who had a skin disease were at the entrance of the gate, and they said to each other,[fn] “Whyare we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall die. So then, come, let us fall into the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we shall live; but if they kill us, then we shall die.” 5 So they got up at dusk to go to the camp of the Arameans. They went up to the edge of the camp of the Arameans, and look, there was no man there! 6 Now the Lord had caused the camp of the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, and the sound of a great army. So they said to one another,[fn] “Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us!” 7 So they got up and fled at dusk and left their tents, their horses, their donkeys, and the camp as it was, and they fled for their lives. 8 When these who had the skin disease came to the edge of the camp, they went into a certain tent and they ate, drank, and took from there silver and gold and clothes. Then they went and hid them, then returned and came to another tent, and they took from there and went and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another,[fn] “Weare not doing right. This day is a day of good news! If we are silent and wait until the light of morning, they will find us and we will be punished.[fn] So then, come, let us go and tell the house of the king.” 10 When they came, they called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no man or the voice of a man there! Only the horses and the donkeys were tied up, and the tents were left as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called and told it inside the house of the king. 12 The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Please let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. The Arameans know that we are hungry, so they went out from the camp to hide in the field, saying, ‘When they go out from the city, we shall seize them alive and go into the city.’ ” 13 Then one of his servants replied and said, “Please let them take five of the remaining horses which remain in the city; behold, they are like all of the multitude of Israel that remain in it; they are like all the multitude of Israel who have perished. Let us send and see.” 14 So he took two charioteer horsemen, and the king sent after the camp of the Arameans, saying, “Go, find out,” 15 and they went after them to the Jordan. Look, all of the way was littered with clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king.