Haftarah Portion for 05/27/2023

Four leprous men at the gate of Shomeron decide to surrender to the Arameans because of the scarcity of food. When they reach the Aramean camp, they find it deserted as the Arameans had fled, thinking they were being attacked. The lepers then go into the camp and take food, silver, gold, and garments for themselves. They realize it is not right to keep the good news to themselves and inform the king's gatekeepers. The king sends messengers to check the situation and they find the camp abandoned, allowing the people to plunder it. As foretold by the man of Elohim, there is an abundance of food available at the gate of Shomeron. The officer who doubted the prophecy is trampled and killed by the people. 2 Kings 7 verses 1-20 And Elisha said, Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus said Yahweh, About this time to-morrow, a sayah of fine flour for a shekel, and two sayahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Shomeron. And an officer, on whose hand the sovereign leaned, answered the man of Elohim, and said, Look, if Yahweh is making windows in the heavens, shall this word come true? And he said, Look, you are about to see it with your eyes, but not eat of it. And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said to each other, Why are we sitting here until we are dead? If we shall say, Let us go into the city, the scarcity of food is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we shall die. And now, come, let us surrender to the army of the Arameans. If they keep us alive, we live, and if they kill us, we shall die. So at twilight they rose up to go to the camp of the Arameans. And when they had come to the outskirts of the Aramean camp, look, no one was there. For Yahweh had called the army of the Arameans to hear the noise of chariots, and the noise of horses, and the noise of a great army. And they said to each other, Look, the sovereign of Israel has hired against us the sovereigns of the Hittites and the sovereigns of the Mitrians to come against us. So they rose up and fled at twilight, and left the camp as it is, their tents and their horses and their donkeys, and they fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank and took from there silver and gold and garments and went and hid them. And they came back and went into another tent and took from there and went and hid it. Then they said to each other, We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. And if we wait until morning light, then evil shall come upon us. And now come let us go and inform the house of the sovereign. And they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and informed them, saying, We went to the camp of Aram, and look, there is not a man or a voice of a man, only horses tied and donkeys tied, and the tents as they were. And the gatekeepers called, and they informed the house of the sovereign inside. So the sovereign rose up in the night and said to his servants, Let me now inform you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are starving, so they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and enter into the city. And one of his servants answered and said, Please let some take five of the horses that are left in the city. Look they are like the entire crowd of Israel that are left in it. Look they are like the entire crowd of Israel left from those who are consumed. So let us send and see. They then took two chariots with horses, and the sovereign sent them in the direction of the camp of Aram, saying, Go and see. And they went after them to the Yarden, and look, all the way was littered with garments and weapons which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and reported to the sovereign. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of Aram. So a sayah of fine flour was for a shekel, and two sayahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. And the sovereign had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of Elohim had said, who spoke when the sovereign came down to him. And it came to be as the man of Elohim had spoken to the sovereign, saying, Two sayahs of barley for a shekel, and a sayah of fine flour for a shekel, at this time to-morrow in the gate of Shomeron. That officer answered the man of Elohim, and said, Now look, if Yahweh is making windows in the heavens, is it according to this word? And he had said, Look, you are about to see it with your eyes, but not eat of it. And so it came to be for him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.