2 Kings 7:9

We do not well Although by the law of Moses these lepers were excluded from the city, they yet had in their degree the duties of citizens to perform, and in neglecting to give tidings of the Syrian flight, they were not acting the citizen's part.

some mischief will come upon us R.V. punishment will overtake us. On the margin of R.V. is -our iniquity will find us out". The noun is the same which in Genesis 4:13 is rendered in A.V. in the text by -punishment" and on the margin by -iniquity". The idea of penalty is, and ought to be, closely bound up with the thought of wrong-doing. It could hardly fail to be found out in the morning at what time the lepers had made their discovery, and when it became known they would surely be punished for not giving immediate information.

the king's household The men themselves would go no further than the gate, but the warders on the wall would carry the news, as soon as they received it, to the royal palace. The king's distress at the sufferings of the besieged citizens would be known to every one.