1 Kings 20
1 Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots. He went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
Now Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got all his army together, and thirty-two kings with him, and horses and carriages of war; he went up and made war on Samaria, shutting it in.
2 He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Ben Hadad says,
And he sent representatives into the town to Ahab, king of Israel;
3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.’”
And they said to him, Ben-hadad says, Your silver and your gold are mine; and your wives and children are mine.
4 The king of Israel answered, “It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.”
And the king of Israel sent him an answer saying, As you say, my lord king, I am yours with all I have.
5 The messengers came again and said, “Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent indeed to you, saying, “You shall deliver me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children;
Then the representatives came back again, and said, These are the words of Ben-hadad: I sent to you saying, Give up to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children;
6 but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants. Whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hand, and take it away.”’”
But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, to make a search through your house and the houses of your people, and everything which is pleasing in your eyes they will take away in their hands.
7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Please notice how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I did not deny him.”
Then the king of Israel sent for all the responsible men of the land, and said, Now will you take note and see the evil purpose of this man: he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I did not keep them back.
8 All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen, and do not consent.”
And all the responsible men and the people said to him, Do not give attention to him or do what he says.
9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” The messengers departed and brought him back the message.
So he said to the representatives of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, All the orders you sent the first time I will do; but this thing I may not do. And the representatives went back with this answer.
10 Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if there is enough of the dust of Samaria for all the people at my feet to take some in their hands.
11 The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Do not let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’”
And the king of Israel said in answer, Say to him, The time for loud talk is not when a man is putting on his arms, but when he is taking them off.
12 When Ben Hadad heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, he said to his servants, “Prepare to attack!” So they prepared to attack the city.
Now when this answer was given to Ben-hadad, he was drinking with the kings in the tents, and he said to his men, Take up your positions. So they put themselves in position for attacking the town.
13 Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, “The LORD says, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
Then a prophet came up to Ahab, king of Israel, and said, The Lord says, Have you seen all this great army? See, I will give it into your hands today, and you will see that I am the Lord.
14 Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “The LORD says, ‘By the young men of the princes of the provinces.’” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.”
And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, The Lord says, By the servants of the chiefs who are over the divisions of the land. Then he said, By whom is the fighting to be started? And he made answer, By you.
15 Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two. After them, he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
Then he got together the servants of all the chiefs who were over the divisions of the land, two hundred and thirty-two of them; and after them, he got together all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.
16 They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.
And in the middle of the day they went out. But Ben-hadad was drinking in the tents with the thirty-two kings who were helping him.
17 The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, “Men are coming out from Samaria.”
And the servants of the chiefs who were over the divisions of the land went forward first; and when Ben-hadad sent out, they gave him the news, saying, Men have come out from Samaria.
18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
And he said, If they have come out for peace, take them living, and if they have come out for war, take them living.
19 So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.
So the servants of the chiefs of the divisions of the land went out of the town, with the army coming after them.
20 They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen.
And every one of them put his man to death, and the Aramaeans went in flight with Israel after them; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got away safely on a horse with his horsemen.
21 The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.
And the king of Israel went out and took the horses and the war-carriages, and made great destruction among the Aramaeans.
22 The prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself, and plan what you must do, for at the return of the year, the king of Syria will come up against you.”
Then the prophet came up to the king of Israel, and said to him, Now make yourself strong, and take care what you do, or a year from now the king of Aram will come up against you again.
23 The servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.
Then the king of Aram's servants said to him, Their god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we: but if we make an attack on them in the lowlands, we will certainly be stronger than they.
24 Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place.
This is what you have to do: take away the kings from their positions, and put captains in their places;
25 Muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are.” He listened to their voice and did so.
And get together another army like the one which came to destruction, horse for horse, and carriage for carriage; and let us make war on them in the lowlands, and certainly we will be stronger than they. And he gave ear to what they said, and did so.
26 At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
So, a year later, Ben-hadad got the Aramaeans together and went up to Aphek to make war on Israel.
27 The children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats, but the Syrians filled the country.
And the children of Israel got themselves together, and food was made ready and they went against them; the tents of the children of Israel were like two little flocks of goats before them, but all the country was full of the Aramaeans.
28 A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “The LORD says, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”
And a man of God came up and said to the king of Israel, The Lord says, Because the Aramaeans have said, The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys; I will give all this great army into your hands, and you will see that I am the Lord.
29 They encamped opposite each other for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day.
Now the two armies kept their positions facing one another for seven days. And on the seventh day the fight was started; and the children of Israel put to the sword a hundred thousand Aramaean footmen in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner room.
But the rest went in flight to Aphek, into the town, where a wall came down on the twenty-seven thousand who were still living. And Ben-hadad went in flight into the town, into an inner room.
31 His servants said to him, “See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life.”
Then his servants said to him, It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel; it may be that he will give you your life.
32 So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’” He said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
So they put on haircloth, and cords on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, Let me now keep my life. And he said, Is he still living? he is my brother.
33 Now the men observed diligently and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, “Your brother Ben Hadad.” Then he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
Now the men took it as a sign, and quickly took up his words; and they said, Ben-hadad is your brother. Then he said, Go and get him. So Ben-hadad came out to him and he made him get up into his carriage.
34 Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” “I”, said Ahab, “will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
And Ben-hadad said to him, The towns my father took from your father I will give back; and you may make streets for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria. And as for me, at the price of this agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him go.
35 A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the LORD’s word, “Please strike me!” The man refused to strike him.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour by the word of the Lord, Give me a wound. But the man would not.
36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.
Then he said to him, Because you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, straight away when you have gone from me a lion will put you to death. And when he had gone, straight away a lion came rushing at him and put him to death.
37 Then he found another man, and said, “Please strike me.” The man struck him and wounded him.
Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him.
38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.
So the prophet went away, and pulling his head-band over his eyes to keep his face covered, took his place by the road waiting for the king.
39 As the king passed by, he cried to the king, and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’
And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment.
40 As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it.”
But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself.
41 He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets.
42 He said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’”
And he said to him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people.
43 The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.
