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 Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.
2 and sends messengers to Ahab king of Israel, to the city,
And, sending messengers to Achab king of Israel into the city,
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.”
He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold is mine: and thy wives, and thy goodliest children are mine.
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 king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
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 the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children thou shalt deliver up to me.
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.”
Tomorrow therefore at this same hour I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away.
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 the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay.
8 And all the elderly and all the people say to him, “Do not listen, nor consent.”
And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
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.
Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to me thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I cannot do.
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 the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
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 king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
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 it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it.
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 behold a prophet coming to Achab king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude, behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord.
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 Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.
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,
So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand:
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 they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him.
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 servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria.
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.”
And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive.
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,
So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed:
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 every one slew the man that came against him: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad king of Syria fled away on horseback with his horsemen.
21 and the king of Israel goes out, and strikes the horses, and the charioteers, and has struck among the Arameans a great striking.
But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
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 a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
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?
But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.
24 And this thing you do: turn aside each of the kings out of his place, and set captains in their stead;
Do thou therefore this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead:
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.
And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses according to the former horses, and chariots according to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel and did so.
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,
Wherefore at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, ancient up to Aphec, to fight against 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 the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals went out on the other side, and camped over against them, like two little hocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land.
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 a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
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.
And both sides set their armies in array one against the other seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
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 they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And Benadad fleeing went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
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 his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful: so let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives.
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.”
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant Benadad saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive he is my brother.
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.
The men took this for a sign: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up into his chariot.
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 he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria, and having made a league I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
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,
Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his companion in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
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.
Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold then shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
37 And he finds another man and says, “Please strike me”; and the man strikes him, striking and wounding,
Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him, and wounded him.
38 and the prophet goes and stands for the king on the way, and disguises himself with ashes on his eyes.
So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
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 as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
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 whilst I in a hurry turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
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,
But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.
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 he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a mall worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
43 and the king of Israel goes to his house, sulky and angry, and comes to Samaria.
And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.
