1 Kings 20
1 And Ben-Hadad king of Aram has gathered all his force, and thirty-two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goes up and lays siege against Samaria, and fights with it,
And Nabuthai the Jezraelite had a vineyard, near the threshingfloor of Achaab king of Samaria.
2 and sends messengers to Ahab king of Israel, to the city,
And Achaab spoke to Nabuthai, saying, Give me thy vineyard, and I will have it for a garden of herbs, for it [is] near my house: and I will give thee another vineyard better than it; or if it please thee, I will give thee money, the price of this thy vineyard, and I will have it for a garden of herbs.
3 and says to him, “Thus said Ben-Hadad: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your sons—the best—are mine.”
And Nabuthai said to Achaab, My God forbid me that I should give thee the inheritance of my fathers.
4 And the king of Israel answers and says, “According to your word, my lord, O king: I [am] yours, and all that I have.”
And the spirit of Achaab was troubled, and he lay down upon his bed, and covered his face, and ate no bread.
5 And the messengers turn back and say, “Thus spoke Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent to you, saying, Your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your sons, you give to me;
And Jezabel his wife went in to him, and spoke to him, [saying], Why [is] thy spirit troubled, and [why] dost thou eat no bread?
6 for if, at this time tomorrow, I send my servants to you, then they have searched your house, and the houses of your servants, and it has been [that] every desirable thing of your eyes they place in their hand, and have taken [them] away.”
And he said to her, Because I spoke to Nabuthai the Jezraelite, saying, Give me thy vineyard for money; or if thou wilt, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers.
7 And the king of Israel calls to all [the] elderly of the land and says, “Please know and see that this [one] is seeking evil, for he sent to me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I did not withhold from him.”
And Jezabel his wife said to him, Dost thou now thus act the king over Israel? arise, and eat bread, and be thine own [master], and I will give thee the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite.
8 And all the elderly and all the people say to him, “Do not listen, nor consent.”
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 dwelt with Nabuthai.
9 And he says to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Say to my lord the king, All that you sent to your servant for at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do”; and the messengers go and take him back word.
And it was written in the letters, saying, Keep a fast, and set Naboth in a chief place among the people.
10 And Ben-Hadad sends to him and says, “Thus the gods do to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet.”
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.
11 And the king of Israel answers and says, “Speak: Do not let him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armor].”
And the men of his city, the elders, and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did as Jezabel sent to them, and as it had been written in the letters which she sent to them.
12 And it comes to pass at the hearing of this word—and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the shelters—that he says to his servants, “Set yourselves”; and they set themselves against the city.
And they proclaimed a fast, and set Nebuthai in a chief place among the people.
13 And behold, a certain prophet has come near to Ahab king of Israel and says, “Thus said YHWH: Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I am giving it into your hand today, and you have known that I [am] YHWH.”
And two men, sons of transgressors, came in, and sat opposite him, and bore witness against him, saying, Thou hast blessed God and the king. And they led him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, and he died.
14 And Ahab says, “By whom?” And he says, “Thus said YHWH: By the young men of the heads of the provinces”; and he says, “Who directs the battle?” And he says, “You.”
And they sent to Jezabel, saying, Nabuthai is stoned, and is dead.
15 And he inspects the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred and thirty-two, and after them he has mustered all the people, all the sons of Israel—seven thousand,
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 thee: for Nebuthai is not alive, for he is dead.
16 and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking—drunk in the shelters, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings helping him.
And it came to pass, when Achaab heard that Nabuthai the Jezraelite was dead, that he rent 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.
17 And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sends, and they declare to him, saying, “Men have come out of Samaria.”
And the Lord spoke to Eliu the Thesbite, saying,
18 And he says, “If they have come out for peace, catch them alive; and if they have come out for battle, catch them alive.”
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 thither to take possession of it.
19 And these have gone out of the city—the young men of the heads of the provinces—and the force that [is] after them,
And thou shalt speak to him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast slain and taken possession, therefore thus saith the Lord, In every place where the swine and the dogs have licked the blood of Nabuthai, there shall the dogs lick thy blood; and the harlots shall wash themselves in thy blood.
20 and each strikes his man, and Aram flees, and Israel pursues them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapes on a horse—and the horsemen;
And Achaab said to Eliu, Hast thou found me, mine enemy? and he said, I have found [thee]: because thou hast wickedly sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger;
21 and the king of Israel goes out, and strikes the horses, and the charioteers, and has struck among the Arameans a great striking.
behold, I bring evil upon thee: and I will kindle a fire after thee, and I will utterly destroy every male of Achaab, and him that is shut up and him that is left in Israel.
22 And the prophet comes near to the king of Israel and says to him, “Go, strengthen yourself, and know and see that which you do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against you.”
And I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and as the house of Baasa son of Achia, because of the provocations wherewith thou hast provoked [me], and caused Israel to sin.
23 And the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods [are] gods of hills, therefore they were stronger than us; and yet, we fight with them in the plain—are we not stronger than they?
And the Lord spoke of Jezabel, saying, The dogs shall devour her within the fortification of Jezrael.
24 And this thing you do: turn aside each of the kings out of his place, and set captains in their stead;
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.
25 and you, number for yourself a force as the force that is fallen from you, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?” And he listens to their voice, and does so.
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.
26 And it comes to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspects the Arameans, and goes up to Aphek, to battle with Israel,
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.
27 and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Arameans have filled the land.
And because of the word, Achaab was pierced with sorrow before the Lord, and he both went weeping, and rent his garment, and girt sackcloth upon his body, and fasted; he put on sackcloth also in the day that he smote Nabuthai the Jezraelite, and went his way.
28 And a man of God comes near, and speaks to the king of Israel and says, “Thus said YHWH: Because that the Arameans have said, YHWH [is] God of [the] hills, but He [is] not God of [the] valleys—I have given the whole of this great multitude into your hand, and you have known that I [am] YHWH.”
And the word of the Lord came by the hand of his servant Eliu concerning Achaab, and the Lord said,
29 And they encamp opposite one another [for] seven days, and it comes to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draws near, and the sons of Israel strike one hundred thousand footmen of Aram in one day.
Hast thou 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.
30 And those left flee to Aphek, into the city, and the wall falls on twenty-seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad has fled, and comes into the city, into the innermost part.
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.
31 And his servants say to him, “Now behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel—that they are kind kings; please let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and we go out to the king of Israel; it may be he keeps you alive.”
And he sent into the city to Achaab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says the son of Ader,
32 And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come to the king of Israel, and say, “Your servant Ben-Hadad has said, Please let me live”; and he says, “Is he still alive? He [is] my brother.”
Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy children are mine.
33 And the men observe diligently, and hurry, and catch [the word] from him, and say, “Your brother Ben-Hadad”; and he says, “Go in, bring him”; and Ben-Hadad comes out to him, and he causes him to come up on the chariot.
And the king of Israel answered and said, As thou hast said, my lord, O king, I am thine, and all mine [also].
34 And he says to him, “The cities that my father took from your father, I give back, and you make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria; and I, with a covenant, send you away”; and he makes a covenant with him, and sends him away.
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus says the son of Ader, I sent to thee, saying, Thou shalt give me thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy children.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of YHWH, “Please strike me”; and the man refuses to strike him,
For at this time to-morrow I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy 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].
36 and he says to him, “Because that you have not listened to the voice of YHWH, behold, you are going from me, and the lion has struck you”; and he goes from him, and the lion finds him, and strikes him.
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.
37 And he finds another man and says, “Please strike me”; and the man strikes him, striking and wounding,
And the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not, and consent not.
38 and the prophet goes and stands for the king on the way, and disguises himself with ashes on his eyes.
And he said to the messengers of the son of Ader, Say to your master, All things that thou hast sent to thy 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.
39 And it comes to pass—the king is passing by—that he has cried to the king and says, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man has turned aside and brings a man to me, and says, Keep this man; if he is at all missing, then your life has been for his life, or you weigh out a talent of silver;
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.
40 and it comes to pass, your servant is working here and there, and he is not!” And the king of Israel says to him, “Your judgment [is] right; you have determined [it].”
And the king of Israel answered and said, Let it be sufficient; let not the humpbacked boast as he that is upright.
41 And he hurries and turns aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerns him, that he [is] of the prophets,
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.
42 and he says to him, “Thus said YHWH: Because you have sent away the man I devoted, out of [your] hand, even your life has been for his life, and your people for his people”;
And, behold, a prophet came to Achaab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen this great multitude? behold, I give it this day into thine hands; and thou shalt know that I [am] the Lord.
43 and the king of Israel goes to his house, sulky and angry, and comes to Samaria.
And Achaab said, Whereby? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, by the young men of the heads of the districts. And Achaab said, Who shall begin the battle? and he said, Thou.
