Kings III 20
1 And Nabuthai the Jezraelite had a vineyard, near the threshing floor of Achaab king of Samaria.
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 And Achaab spoke to Nabuthai, saying, Give me your vineyard, and I will have it for a garden of herbs, for it [is] near my house: and I will give you another vineyard better than it; or if it please you, I will give you money, the price of this your vineyard, and I will have it for a garden of herbs.
And he sent representatives into the town to Ahab, king of Israel;
3 And Nabuthai said to Achaab, My God forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.
And they said to him, Ben-hadad says, Your silver and your gold are mine; and your wives and children are mine.
4 And the spirit of Achaab was troubled, and he lay down upon his bed, and covered his face, and ate no bread.
And the king of Israel sent him an answer saying, As you say, my lord king, I am yours with all I have.
5 And Jezabel his wife went in to him, and spoke to him, [saying], Why [is] your spirit troubled, and [why] do you eat no bread?
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 And he said to her, Because I spoke to Nabuthai the Jezraelite, saying, Give me your vineyard for money; or if you will, I will give you another vineyard for it: and he said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.
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 And Jezabel his wife said to him, Do you now thus act the king over Israel? arise, and eat bread, and be your own [master], and I will give you the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite.
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 And she wrote a letter in the name of Achaab, and sealed it with his seal, and sent the letter to the elders, and to the freemen who lived with Nabuthai.
And all the responsible men and the people said to him, Do not give attention to him or do what he says.
9 And it was written in the letters, saying, Keep a fast, and set Naboth in a chief place amongst the people.
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 And set two men, sons of transgressors, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, He blessed God and the king: and let them lead him forth, and stone him, and let them die.
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 And the men of his city, the elders, and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezabel sent to them, and as it had been written in the letters which she sent to them.
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 And they proclaimed a fast, and set Nebuthai in a chief place amongst the people.
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 And two men, sons of transgressors, came in, and sat opposite him, and bore witness against him, saying, You have blessed God and the king. And they led him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, and he died.
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 And they sent to Jezabel, saying, Nabuthai is stoned, and is dead.
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 And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard [it], that she said to Achaab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite, who would not sell it to you: for Nebuthai is not alive, for he is dead.
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 And it came to pass, when Achaab heard that Nabuthai the Jezraelite was dead, that he tore his garments, and put on sackcloth. And it came to pass afterward, that Achaab arose and went down to the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite, to take possession of it.
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 And the Lord spoke to Eliu the Thesbite, saying,
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 Arise, and go down to meet Achaab king of Israel, who is in Samaria, for he [is] in the vineyard of Nabuthai, for he has gone down there to take possession of it.
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 And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, Forasmuch as you have slain and taken possession, therefore thus says the Lord, In every place where the swine and the dogs have licked the blood of Nabuthai, there shall the dogs lick your blood; and the harlots shall wash themselves in your blood.
So the servants of the chiefs of the divisions of the land went out of the town, with the army coming after them.
20 And Achaab said to Eliu, Hast you found me, mine enemy? and he said, I have found [you]: because you have wickedly sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger;
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 behold, I bring evil upon you: and I will kindle a fire after you, and I will utterly destroy every male of Achaab, and him that is shut up and him that is left in Israel.
And the king of Israel went out and took the horses and the war-carriages, and made great destruction among the Aramaeans.
22 And I will make your house as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and as the house of Baasa son of Achia, because of the provocations wherewith you have provoked [me], and caused Israel to sin.
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 And the Lord spoke of Jezabel, saying, The dogs shall devour her within the fortification of Jezrael.
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 Him that is dead of Achaab in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that is dead of him in the field shall the birds of the sky eat.
This is what you have to do: take away the kings from their positions, and put captains in their places;
25 But Achaab [did] wickedly, in that he sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his wife Jezabel led him astray.
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 And he did very abominably in following after the abominations, according to all that the Amorite did, whom the Lord utterly destroyed from before the children of Israel.
So, a year later, Ben-hadad got the Aramaeans together and went up to Aphek to make war on Israel.
27 And because of the word, Achaab was pierced with sorrow before the Lord, and he both went weeping, and tore his garment, and girded sackcloth upon his body, and fasted; he put on sackcloth also in the day that he struck Nabuthai the Jezraelite, and went his way.
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 And the word of the Lord came by the hand of his servant Eliu concerning Achaab, and the Lord said,
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 Hast you seen how Achaab has been pricked [to the heart] before me? I will not bring on the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring on the evil.
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 And the son of Ader gathered all his forces, and went up and besieged Samaria, [he] and thirty-two kings with him, and all [his] horse and chariots: and they went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
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 And he sent into the city to Achaab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says the son of Ader,
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 Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your children are mine.
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 And the king of Israel answered and said, As you have said, my lord, O king, I am your, and all mine [also].
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 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus says the son of Ader, I sent to you, saying, You shall give me your silver and your gold, and your wives and your children.
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 For at this time to-morrow I will send my servants to you, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants, and it shall be that all the desirable objects of their eyes on which they shall lay their hands, they shall even take [them].
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 And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Take notice now and consider, that this man seeks mischief: for he has sent to me concerning my wives, and concerning my sons, an concerning my daughters: I have not kept back from him my silver and my gold.
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 And the elders and all the people said to him, Listen not, and consent not.
Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him.
38 And he said to the messengers of the son of Ader, Say to your master, All things that you have sent to your servant about at first I will do; but this thing I shall not be able to do. And the men departed, and carried back the answer to him.
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 And the son of Ader sent to him, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for foxes to all the people, even my infantry.
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 And the king of Israel answered and said, Let it be sufficient; let not the humpbacked boast as he that is upright.
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 And it came to pass when he returned him this answer, he and all the kings with him were drinking in tents: and he said to his servants, Form a trench. And they made a trench against the city.
Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets.
42 And, behold, a prophet came to Achaab king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Hast you seen this great multitude? behold, I give it this day into your hands; and you shall know that I [am] the Lord.
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 And Achaab said, Whereby? And he said, Thus says the Lord, by the young men of the heads of the districts. And Achaab said, Who shall begin the battle? and he said, You.
Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.
