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King Joram & The Boiled Babies · The Chosen People

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Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People.
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Speaker 2: Let me tell you this. Hearing God's voice isn't about
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Speaker 2: knowing secrets for your own gain. It's about trust. The
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Speaker 2: kind of trust that lets you act when he calls
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Speaker 2: and stay silent when he doesn't. If you want that,
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Speaker 2: you'd better learn to listen and stop looking for shortcuts.
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Speaker 1: In the war room of the King of Aram, the
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Speaker 1: king paced like a caged animal.
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Speaker 3: Where is this Elisha?
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Speaker 4: Tell me where he's hiding. In Dothan, your majesty. A
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Speaker 4: small city, lightly defended. They're here! The army! They've surrounded us!
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Speaker 4: There's no way out! Master, do you hear me?
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Speaker 1: Keisha gestured wildly toward the hills, where the Aramean army
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Speaker 1: stood like a silent avalanche waiting to fall. The air shifted,
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Speaker 1: heavy and electric. as though the world itself held its breath.
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Speaker 1: Keisha blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, everything
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Speaker 1: was different. The hills that had seemed full of enemies
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Speaker 1: now burned with light. Horses and chariots of fire stood
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Speaker 1: upon the ridges, their forms glowing with an otherworldly brilliance.
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Speaker 1: The army of heaven surrounded the army of Aram, their
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Speaker 1: numbers vast, their presence overwhelming. The city of Samaria was dying.
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Speaker 1: Its walls still stood, the gates still barred, but inside,
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Speaker 1: famine had hollowed out the people. Hunger had stripped away
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Speaker 1: all pretense. Dignity and morality had become distant memories. Outside
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Speaker 1: the walls, the Arameans waited patiently in their camp. They
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Speaker 1: knew the city would fall, not by force, but by
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Speaker 1: the slow, inescapable weight of starvation. Far from the palace,
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Speaker 1: in a small courtyard shaded poorly by wilted trees, a
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Speaker 1: group of young men sat in a semicircle around their teacher.
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Speaker 1: They were Elisha's disciples, men who had left their homes
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Speaker 1: and comforts to learn the ways of the Lord from
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Speaker 1: Israel's most controversial prophet, Elisha. The heat of the day
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Speaker 1: bore down on them, but it was nothing compared to
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Speaker 1: the heaviness in the air. Elisha sat before them, his
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Speaker 1: face calm, his voice steady. He seemed unaffected by the
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Speaker 1: misery that surrounded him. His students, though, were not so composed.
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Speaker 1: They fidgeted in silence, waiting for him to speak.
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Speaker 2: Do you know why people hate the prophets?
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Speaker 1: He asked the question lightly, almost conversationally, but no one
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Speaker 1: dared to answer.
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Speaker 2: It is not because we speak for God that they
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Speaker 2: can ignore. Nor is it because we speak the truth
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Speaker 2: that too they can dismiss. No, people hate prophets because
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Speaker 2: we make them see. And once a man sees, he
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Speaker 2: cannot unsee. That is what they cannot forgive.
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Speaker 1: The students exchanged uneasy glances. They had heard the murmurs
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Speaker 1: in the streets, the whispers of blame cast at Elisha's feet.
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Speaker 1: To them he was a man of wisdom and authority,
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Speaker 1: but to the people of Samaria he was something else entirely,
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Speaker 1: a reminder of the Lord's demands, of their own failures,
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Speaker 1: and perhaps worst of all, of their inability to save themselves.
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Speaker 1: Finally Kisha, Elisha's apprentice, spoke.
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Speaker 2: But surely, master, they must know the famine is not
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Speaker 2: your fault. You warned them this would happen if they
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Speaker 2: did not turn back to the Lord. Blame does not
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Speaker 2: require logic, my boy. The king sees his people starving
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Speaker 2: and looks for someone to hang the weight of it on.
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Speaker 2: He cannot blame the Armeans. They are doing what enemies do.
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Speaker 2: He cannot blame himself. Kings are never at fault in
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Speaker 2: their own eyes. So he blames me. because I am here,
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Speaker 2: and I am inconvenient.
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Speaker 1: The students fell silent again, their unease growing. They had
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Speaker 1: all heard the stories of the king's rage, of his
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Speaker 1: desperate attempts to find a scapegoat for the city's suffering. Elisha,
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Speaker 1: unbothered by their discomfort, pressed on.
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Speaker 2: They will come for me soon. The king will send
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Speaker 2: his men and they will knock down the door, and
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Speaker 2: they will drag me to his throne room. And do
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Speaker 2: you know what he will say?
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Speaker 4: What will he say, master?
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Speaker 2: He will say, why have you brought this on us?
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Speaker 2: Why has your god abandoned us? And I will tell
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Speaker 2: him what I have told him before. The lord does
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Speaker 2: not abandon. It is the people who walk away. But
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Speaker 2: the king will not listen. He will shout and threaten
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Speaker 2: and perhaps he'll try to kill me. And still, he
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Speaker 2: will not listen.
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Speaker 1: The tension in the courtyard was palpable. The students shifted uncomfortably,
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Speaker 1: but none dared to interrupt. Finally, one of them, a
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Speaker 1: younger man with a thin, trembling voice, spoke up.
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Speaker 4: Master, the Lord will deliver us, won't he? He will
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Speaker 4: not let his people perish, will he?
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Speaker 2: Deliverance will come. But not how you expect. The Lord
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Speaker 2: is not a tame god. He's not some street cat
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Speaker 2: you can woo with a saucer of milk. He's a lion.
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Speaker 2: He does not move according to your timetable or mine.
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Speaker 2: But he will move.
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Speaker 4: That I know.
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Speaker 1: The boy's question hung in the air, unanswered in any
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Speaker 1: way that comforted him. Another student, Reuben, finally asked the
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Speaker 1: question that the rest of them were too afraid to voice.
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Speaker 5: And what will become of us, Master, if the city falls?
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Speaker 5: Your task is not to ask what will become of you.
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Speaker 5: Your task is to be faithful, to trust. The city
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Speaker 5: may fall. You may fall.
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Speaker 2: But the Lord's purposes will not. If you cannot understand
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Speaker 2: that now, you will learn it in time.
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Speaker 1: The boy lowered his head, ashamed but not at ease.
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Speaker 1: Elisha watched him for a moment, then turned his gaze
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Speaker 1: to the city beyond the courtyard.
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Speaker 2: And now, my students, I must go. The king will
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Speaker 2: call and I must answer. Pray not for my safety,
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Speaker 2: but for their ears to be opened. For that, I fear,
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Speaker 2: is the greater miracle.
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Speaker 1: He left them then, walking with a purpose that defied
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Speaker 1: the slow decay of the city around him. The students
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Speaker 1: sat in silence. their eyes following him until he was
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Speaker 1: out of sight. Somewhere in the distance, the faint sound
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Speaker 1: of a woman crying echoed through the streets. The Arameans
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Speaker 1: waited beyond the walls, the king brooded in his chamber,
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Speaker 1: and above it all, the Lord watched. The palace of Samaria,
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Speaker 1: once a symbol of power and wealth, now reeked of despair.
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Speaker 1: The grandeur of its walls and ornate chambers could not
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Speaker 1: hide the truth. The king of Israel was a broken
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Speaker 1: man ruling over a broken city. King Joram, son of
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Speaker 1: Ahab and Jezebel, paced restlessly across the floor of his
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Speaker 1: throne room. His royal robes hung loose on his frame,
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Speaker 1: his face gaunt, his eyes hollow. He was a man
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Speaker 1: whose power meant nothing against the relentless grip of famine. Outside,
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Speaker 1: his people starved. Inside, he wrestled with his own helplessness.
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Speaker 1: He turned his anger toward heaven and earth alike.
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Speaker 4: Donkey heads and dove droppings. This is what my people
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Speaker 4: eat now.
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Speaker 3: This, this is the banquet I preside over as king.
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Speaker 1: He stopped pacing and turned toward the window, where the
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Speaker 1: faint sound of weeping drifted up from the streets below.
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Speaker 4: They come to me. crying out, Help me, my lord
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Speaker 4: the king.
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Speaker 6: They ask for my help, as though I can turn
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Speaker 6: stones into bread, as though I can conjure water from
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Speaker 6: the tears of widows. How can I help them? The
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Speaker 6: threshing floor is empty, the winepress is dry. Shall I
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Speaker 6: give them nothing and call it a feast?
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Speaker 1: King Joram's voice rose, trembling with frustration and fury before
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Speaker 1: it cracked under the weight of his despair. He leaned
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Speaker 1: heavily against the window. His gaunt frame was silhouetted by
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Speaker 1: the dimming sunlight. Below, the city stretched out like a graveyard.
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Speaker 1: The streets were quiet except for the faint sound of weeping.
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Speaker 1: His eyes wandered aimlessly, hollow with exhaustion, until they settled
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Speaker 1: on a woman standing alone in the market square. Her cries,
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Speaker 1: sharp and insistent, cut through the stillness, drawing Joram's attention.
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Speaker 1: For a fleeting moment, something stirred within him, a glimmer
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Speaker 1: of purpose, a chance to act, to fix something. The
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Speaker 1: king straightened his robe, his voice ringing out with an
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Speaker 1: authority that felt foreign even to him.
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Speaker 4: I say, good lady, what troubles you?
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Speaker 7: Speak.
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Speaker 4: Your king is here to help!
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Speaker 1: The woman's head snapped toward him, her skeletal frame trembling
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Speaker 1: as she stepped forward, her hollow eyes narrowing. Her cries softened,
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Speaker 1: replaced by a rasping voice that carried the weight of
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Speaker 1: unspeakable grief.
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Speaker 4: Jorum, you must judge between me and this woman.
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Speaker 1: The crowd shifted, murmurs rising as another figure, hunched and shadowed,
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Speaker 1: slinked further back into the square. Jorum leaned closer, his
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Speaker 1: grip tightening on the windowsill.
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Speaker 4: Tell me, what has happened? How can I assist?
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Speaker 1: The woman hesitated. her sunken eyes darting to the other
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Speaker 1: ghastly woman before locking on the king.
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Speaker 8: She said, she said to me, give us your son,
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Speaker 8: that we may, that we may eat him, and we
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Speaker 8: will eat my son tomorrow.
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Speaker 1: The murmurs ceased. The square fell silent, save for the
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Speaker 1: woman's ragged breaths. Joram blinked as if the words didn't register.
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Speaker 1: He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
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Speaker 4: So I.
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Speaker 8: I gave my son to her.
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Speaker 7: We.
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Speaker 4: We boiled him. We.
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Speaker 4: We hate my son.
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Speaker 1: Oh, God.
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Speaker 4: We hate my boy, my baby boy.
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Speaker 1: Oh, Lord, forgive me.
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Speaker 3: My son.
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Speaker 1: She collapsed into herself, trembling violently as the words spilled
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Speaker 1: into the air like poison. Joram recoiled, his hands gripping
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Speaker 1: the windowsill so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Her
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Speaker 1: confession lingered in the air, heavy and putrid. And then,
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Speaker 1: as if pulled taut by her own despair, she snapped upright,
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Speaker 1: trembling still, but now with a raw, searing fury. Her
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Speaker 1: voice cut through the suffocating stillness, sharp and unrelenting, as
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Speaker 1: her trembling finger shot out, accusing toward the shadowy figure
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Speaker 1: who had betrayed her. What did.
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Speaker 8: But when it was her turn to give her son,
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Speaker 8: she hid him.
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Speaker 6: She hid her son from me.
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Speaker 8: Where is the justice?
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Speaker 7: Where is the justice?
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Speaker 1: Her words echoed through the square, unanswered. The crowd stood frozen,
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Speaker 1: their faces pale, their bodies rigid. Joram stared down at her,
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Speaker 1: his chest heaving, his mind scrambling for something, anything to say.
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Speaker 1: But there was nothing, nothing but the truth staring back
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Speaker 1: at him. The city was broken beyond repair, and so
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Speaker 1: was he. King Joram's arms fell limply to his sides.
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Speaker 1: He turned slowly, retreating into the shadows of the throne
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Speaker 1: room like a man fleeing his own death.
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Speaker 10: Where is my justice, King Joram?
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Speaker 7: Where is my justice?
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Speaker 1: The woman's cries faded into the background. as the king
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Speaker 1: retreated in shame.
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Speaker 4: My people, my people, what have we become?
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Speaker 1: Joram shut the door behind him, drowning out the sobs
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Speaker 1: and shouts of the people. He fell face down onto
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Speaker 1: the dusty and cobbled floor. He peered up at the
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Speaker 1: dark ceiling, wondering if the lord was there. Was he listening?
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Speaker 1: Did he care? King Joram tore his robe, the fabric
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Speaker 1: ripping apart, as though to reveal the truth of his helplessness. Beneath,
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Speaker 1: the king wore sackcloth against his skin, a mark of
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Speaker 1: mourning and repentance. His sorrow curdled into rage, his trembling
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Speaker 1: hands bawling into fists. His grief gave way to anger.
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Speaker 9: Elisha! Elisha!
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Speaker 7: Elisha!
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Speaker 4: This is his doing.
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Speaker 9: He claims to speak to the Lord and yet he
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Speaker 9: lets us suffer.
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Speaker 4: He mocks us with his silence, hides.
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Speaker 9: While we starve and does nothing. May God deal with
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Speaker 9: me severely if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat,
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Speaker 9: remains on his shoulders today.
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Speaker 1: The king's words echoed through the chamber as he turned
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Speaker 1: sharply toward his guards.
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Speaker 4: Bring him to me.
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Speaker 3: Drag him from whatever hole he hides in.
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Speaker 4: He will answer for this. If the Lord will not act,
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Speaker 4: then I will.
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Speaker 1: The guards hesitated for only a moment before bowing and
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Speaker 1: hurrying to obey. The king, now alone in his chamber,
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Speaker 1: stood trembling, his breaths shallow and ragged. Outside, the cries
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Speaker 1: of the starving city continued, and in the distance... The
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Speaker 1: drums of the Arameans beat a steady, merciless rhythm. The
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Speaker 1: guards marched through the streets of Samaria, their faces grim,
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Speaker 1: their hands resting uneasily on the hilts of their swords.
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Speaker 1: They dared not disobey the king's commands, although they didn't
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Speaker 1: find pleasure in it. Their destination was a modest house
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Speaker 1: near the edge of the city where Elisha and his
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Speaker 1: students had gathered. The air was different within Elisha's home, calmer, quieter.
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Speaker 1: Elisha sat among his students, speaking softly.
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Speaker 2: The city's salvation is near. Don't let your hearts grow troubled.
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Speaker 1: Reuben leaned forward, speaking out of fear for the future.
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Speaker 4: But master, how can you say this? You're like a
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Speaker 4: man who... sleeps in the boat while the rest of
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Speaker 4: us face the storm.
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Speaker 1: Elisha let out a wry half-smile at his student's clever allegory.
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Speaker 1: Reuben pressed on, slightly aggravated by his master's lack of reply.
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Speaker 10: Have you not heard the latest reports? The people are starving.
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Speaker 10: Mothers oil their children for food. The king blames you,
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Speaker 10: and his anger grows by the hour. Master, I've followed
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Speaker 10: you since I was a boy. I've always trusted you.
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Speaker 10: But in this dire moment, I don't understand you. How
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Speaker 10: can you speak of salvation when all we.
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Speaker 4: See is death?
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Speaker 2: Is it death that frightens you, dear Reuben?
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Speaker 4: Or is it to suffer?
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Speaker 7: No.
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Speaker 2: Many men have fallen for fear of suffering, but I
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Speaker 2: entreat you to see beyond it all. What is the
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Speaker 2: Lord doing in the midst of it? Faith does not
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Speaker 2: come from what you feel, but from what you know
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Speaker 2: to be true about the Lord's character. And what I
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Speaker 2: know is this, the Lord has never failed us, and
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Speaker 2: he has not forgotten his people. He never has and
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Speaker 2: never will. Even now, he is moving forward.
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Speaker 1: The students exchanged uncertain glances. They wanted to believe him,
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Speaker 1: but the weight of the city's suffering bore down on
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Speaker 1: their hearts. Before any of them could speak, there came
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Speaker 1: a loud pounding at the door.
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Speaker 7: The Kingsmen!
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Speaker 9: They're here!
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Speaker 1: The students froze, their eyes darting toward Elisha. The prophet
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Speaker 1: remained seated, unbothered. He gestured for one of them to
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Speaker 1: open the door. The guards pushed their way in.
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Speaker 4: Elisha, son of Shaphat, you are summoned to the king.
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Speaker 4: He has commanded your head.
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Speaker 1: Elisha remained unmoved. Slowly, he stood, his gaze fixed on
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Speaker 1: the guards.
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Speaker 2: Do you not know what is about to happen? Before
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Speaker 2: the sun sets tomorrow, the siege will end. The gates
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Speaker 2: will open. There will be so much food in this
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Speaker 2: city that a measure of the finest flour will sell
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Speaker 2: for a single shekel. and two measures of barley for
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Speaker 2: the same price at the gates of Samaria.
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Speaker 1: The guards stared at him, their stern expressions faltering. One
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Speaker 1: of them, an officer with sharp features and a sneering tone,
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Speaker 1: stepped forward.
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Speaker 4: You take us for fools, Prophet. Even if the Lord
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Speaker 4: himself opened the floodgates of heaven, could such a thing happen?
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Speaker 2: You will see it with your own eyes, but you
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Speaker 2: will not eat of it.
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Speaker 4: What's that supposed to mean, old man?
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Speaker 1: Elisha paused, his back still turned, the faintest flicker of
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Speaker 1: a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He
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Speaker 1: glanced over his shoulder, his gaze steady, unyielding.
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Speaker 2: You will see.
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Speaker 1: The words landed like stones. The officer opened his mouth
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Speaker 1: as if to retort, but no words came. Something in Elisha's.
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Speaker 4: Tone, calm, sure.
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Speaker 1: The room felt colder, the silence stretching unbearably long as
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Speaker 1: Elisha turned away again, his focus now on his students
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Speaker 1: as though the office was his. had already ceased to matter.
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Speaker 2: Stay here, my students. Pray for the city. Salvation is near,
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Speaker 2: and when it comes, it will come swiftly.
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Speaker 1: With those words, he allowed the guards to lead him away.
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Speaker 1: His disciples stood in stunned silence as the door closed
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Speaker 1: behind them. Far beyond the city walls, the Aramean camp
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Speaker 1: stretched out like a great beast lying in wait. Tents
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Speaker 1: and fires dotted the landscape, but there was something unusual
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Speaker 1: about it. The fires burned, the food cooked, but the
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Speaker 1: camp was silent, too silent. Something was happening in the night.
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Speaker 1: something no one in Sumeria yet understood. The throne room
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Speaker 1: of Sumeria was in disarray. King Joram, gaunt and twitching
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Speaker 1: with barely contained frustration, sat slumped on his throne. Attendants
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Speaker 1: hovered nearby, trying to appear useful but avoiding eye contact
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Speaker 1: with the king. It was at that precise moment, when
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Speaker 1: things could not possibly get worse, A lone leper burst
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Speaker 1: into the room. By all accounts, lepers made the least
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Speaker 1: likely heralds of good news. Their bodies, ravaged by disease,
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Speaker 1: marked them as untouchable. But this one's expression, a bizarre
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Speaker 1: mix of giddy excitement and nervous energy, suggested he carried
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Speaker 1: tidings of significance.
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Speaker 2: Your Majesty, I bring urgent news. News that will change everything.
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Speaker 4: What the... What is this thing doing in my throne room?
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Speaker 4: Who let this contagion-riddled vermin in here?
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Speaker 9: Guard, seize him.
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Speaker 4: Your Majesty, he's a leper. You want me to touch him?
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Speaker 4: Of course. Seize him. But my leash, I'll... Get leprosy.
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Speaker 9: Then wear gloves or use a stick. Shoot him with
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Speaker 9: an arrow. Must I think of everything?
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Speaker 4: Hey, hey, don't shoot the messenger.
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Speaker 2: I'm just trying to help, all right?
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Speaker 10: Fine.
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Speaker 6: Speak, leper.
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Speaker 3: But if this is some trick, I'll make sure you
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Speaker 3: regret even existing.
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Speaker 2: Oh, my king. We went to the Aramean camp, my
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Speaker 2: friend and I. We were desperate, you see.
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Speaker 4: Starving.
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Speaker 2: Bones sticking out everywhere.
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Speaker 11: It's a miracle we even had the strength to crawl there.
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Speaker 11: We thought better to die by the sword than waste
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Speaker 11: away here, right? So we snuck into the camp and
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Speaker 11: lo and behold, it was empty, completely abandoned.
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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, not a single soldier in sight, just tents.
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Speaker 4: Filled with food.
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Speaker 11: Oh, oh, the food, your majesty, bread, wine, roast lamb,
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Speaker 11: perfectly seasoned, by the way, like they knew we were coming.
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Speaker 2: Oh, and the cheeses, soft cheeses, hard cheeses, cheeses I
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Speaker 2: didn't even know existed.
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Speaker 4: Oh, the cods. He's still talking. And the wine! Oh,
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Speaker 4: the wine! Barrels of it!
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Speaker 11: Red, white, something with hints of lavender.
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Speaker 4: Though I'm not an expert, of course. But anyway, we
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Speaker 4: feasted for hours.
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Speaker 7: Hours!
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Speaker 4: I mean, I haven't eaten.
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Speaker 2: Like that since.
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Speaker 4: Get to the point, you fool! Oh, right, right, the point.
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Speaker 4: The point, the point.
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Speaker 7: The point is... They're gone! The whole army vanished. We
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Speaker 7: don't know why, but they left everything behind.
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Speaker 4: Food, wine, gold, silver.
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Speaker 9: It's all still there.
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Speaker 3: And you expect me to believe this isn't some elaborate trap?
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Speaker 4: No, no, no, no, no. It's not a trap, I swear,
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Speaker 4: my king. If you don't believe me.
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Speaker 7: Send some scouts.
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Speaker 4: Please, sir, the city is starving.
24:07
Speaker 3: Send riders. If this wretch is lying... I'll see to
24:11
Speaker 3: it his punishment is legendary.
24:16
Speaker 4: And if he's telling the truth?
24:18
Speaker 3: Then I suppose he's slightly less useless. Now, out of
24:24
Speaker 3: my sight before you spread more misery in here.
24:27
Speaker 2: You won't regret this, your majesty. Oh, and if you
24:31
Speaker 2: happen to find a barrel of wine marked with a
24:33
Speaker 2: red X, we may have finished that one.
24:38
Speaker 10: Sorry.
24:38
Speaker 4: Get out!
24:43
Speaker 1: Joram, for all his faults, was not quite as much
24:47
Speaker 1: a fool as his father Ahab. He ordered scouts to investigate,
24:52
Speaker 1: and their return confirmed the leper's outlandish tale. The Arameans
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Speaker 1: had fled, leaving behind a bounty so vast it defied comprehension.
25:04
Speaker 1: As word spread, The starving masses surged toward the gates,
25:08
Speaker 1: a desperate tide of humanity ready to claim the salvation
25:12
Speaker 1: they had long prayed for. Joram, however, was fixated on
25:17
Speaker 1: one thing, or rather, one man.
25:20
Speaker 3: Elisha's prophecy, it's come true. Against all odds, the prophet
25:27
Speaker 3: was right. And my officer, that doubting fool. Oh, he'll
25:34
Speaker 3: be utterly confused.
25:35
Speaker 4: He hears this. I must tell him.
25:38
Speaker 1: The king moved to the window, his smirk fading as
25:42
Speaker 1: he peered down at the chaos below. The gates had
25:46
Speaker 1: been thrown open and the people, hollow-eyed, skeletal and frantic,
25:51
Speaker 1: were surging toward the abandoned camp like a flood breaking
25:55
Speaker 1: through a dam. And there, at the centre of it all,
25:59
Speaker 1: was the officer. The officer... The same man who had
26:04
Speaker 1: sneered at Elisha's prophecy had been stationed at the gate
26:09
Speaker 1: to manage the crowd. But there was no managing the mob.
26:13
Speaker 1: They pushed, clawed, and trampled in their desperation, and the
26:17
Speaker 1: officer's body, frail against the tide, disappeared beneath the crush
26:23
Speaker 1: of humanity. He was, quite literally, crushed.
26:28
Speaker 4: He'll be crushed by the noose.
26:33
Speaker 1: The dark irony of his words hung in the air,
26:37
Speaker 1: heavy and bitter. Elisha's prophecy had been fulfilled to the letter.
26:43
Speaker 1: The city was saved, the famine broken. But for the
26:47
Speaker 1: doubting officer, salvation had come too late. This Pray.com production
26:59
Speaker 1: is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents.
27:03
Speaker 1: Steve Gatina, Max Bard, Zach Schellewager, and Ben Gammon are
27:07
Speaker 1: the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu.
27:12
Speaker 1: Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz,
27:17
Speaker 1: Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher,
27:24
Speaker 1: and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by
27:28
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You can hear
27:32
Speaker 1: more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the
27:37
Speaker 1: Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed
27:40
Speaker 1: The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.