9 Then they said one to another, We do not well; this day is a day to give good tidings, and we are silent; if we tarry until the morning light, we shall be taken in the iniquity. Now, therefore, come, that we may enter in and give the news in the king’s house.
10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city, and they told them, saying, We went to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11 And the porters cried out and told it inside and in the king’s house.
12 And the king arose in the night and said unto his slaves, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore, 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 get into the city.
13 Then one of his slaves answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (for they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; they are also as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed) and let us send and see.
14 They took, therefore, two chariot horses; and the king sent after the camp of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
15 And they went after them unto the Jordan; and, behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.