1 Kings 20
1 Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his army, and he persuaded 32 other kings to join him with their armies and horses and chariots. They marched to Samaria [city, the capital of Israel], and surrounded it, and [prepared to] attack 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 Ben-Hadad sent messengers into the city to King Ahab, to say this to him: “This is what King Ben-Hadad says:
And he sent representatives into the town to Ahab, king of Israel;
3 ‘[You must give to] me all your silver and gold, your (good-looking/most beautiful) wives/women and strongest children.’”
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 replied to them, “Tell this to King Ben-Hadad: ‘I agree to do what you requested. You can have me and everything that I own.’”
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 told that to] Ben-Hadad, and he [sent them back with] another message: “I sent a message to you saying that you must give me all your silver and gold and 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 [in addition to that], about this time tomorrow, I will send some of my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials, and to bring to me everything that pleases them.”
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 King Ahab summoned all the leaders of Israel, and said to them, “You can see/realize for yourselves that this man is trying to cause much trouble. He sent me a message insisting that I must give him my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I agreed to do that.”
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 The leaders and all the other people said to him, “Do not pay any attention to him! Do not do what he is requesting!”
And all the responsible men and the people said to him, Do not give attention to him or do what he says.
9 So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell the king that I agree to give him the things that he first requested, but I do not agree to allow his officials to take anything that they want from my palace and from the houses of my officials.” So the messengers [reported that to King Ben-Hadad, and they] returned with another message from Ben-Hadad.
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 In that message he said, “[We will destroy] your city [completely, with the result that] there will not be enough dust and rubble left for each of my soldiers to have one handful! I hope/wish that the gods will strike me dead if we do not do that!”
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 King Ahab replied [to the messengers], “Tell King Ben-Hadad that a soldier who is putting on his armor [preparing to fight a battle] [MTY] should not boast at that time; he [should wait until] after he wins the battle.”
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 Ben-Hadad heard that message while he and the other rulers were drinking [wine] in their temporary shelters. He told his men to prepare to attack [MTY] the city. So his men did that.
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 At that moment, a prophet came to King Ahab and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘[Do not be at all afraid of] [RHQ] the large enemy army that you see! I will enable your army to defeat them today, and you will know that it is I, Yahweh, [who have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”
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 asked, “What group [of our army] will defeat them?” The prophet replied, “The young soldiers who are commanded by the district governors will do it.” The king asked, “Who should lead the attack?” The prophet replied, “You should!”
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 So Ahab gathered the young soldiers who were commanded by the district governors. There were 232 of those men. Then he also summoned all the Israeli army. There were [only] 7,000 soldiers.
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 started to attack at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the other rulers were getting drunk in their temporary shelters.
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 soldiers advanced first. Some scouts who had been sent out by Ben-Hadad reported to him, “There are men coming out of Samaria [city]”!
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, “It does not matter whether they are coming to fight against us or to ask for peace. Capture them, but do not kill them
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 The young Israeli soldiers went out of the city to attack [the Syrian army], and the other soldiers in the Israeli army 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 Each [Israeli soldier] killed a [Syrian] soldier. The rest of the Syrian army then ran away, and the Israeli soldiers pursued them. But King Ben-Hadad escaped riding his horse, along with some other men riding horses.
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 Then the king of Israel went out [of the city], and he and his soldiers captured [all] the [other Syrian] horses and chariots, and also killed a large number of Syrian soldiers.
And the king of Israel went out and took the horses and the war-carriages, and made great destruction among the Aramaeans.
22 Then that same prophet went to King Ahab and said to him, “Go back and prepare your soldiers, and think carefully about what will be necessary for you to do, because the king of Syria with attack with his army again in the springtime of next year.”
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 [After the Syrian army was defeated, ] Ben-Hadad’s officials said to him, “The gods that the Israelis [worship] are gods [who live] in the hills. [Samaria is built on a hill, and] that is why their soldiers were able to defeat us. But if we fight against them in the plains/lowlands, we certainly will be able to defeat them.
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 So, this is what you should do: You must remove the 32 kings [who are leading your troops] and replace them with army commanders.
This is what you have to do: take away the kings from their positions, and put captains in their places;
25 Then gather an army like the army that was defeated. Gather an army that has as many horses and chariots as the first army had. Then we will fight the Israelis in the plains/lowlands, and we will surely defeat them.” Ben-Hadad agreed with them, and he did what they suggested.
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 In the spring of the following year, he gathered his soldiers and marched [with them] to Aphek [city east of Galilee Lake], to fight against the Israeli army.
So, a year later, Ben-hadad got the Aramaeans together and went up to Aphek to make war on Israel.
27 The Israeli army was also gathered together, and they were equipped with the things that they needed [for the battle]. Then they marched out and formed two groups facing the Syrian army. Their army was very small; they resembled two small flocks of goats, whereas the Syrian army [was very large and] spread all over the countryside.
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 prophet came to King Ahab and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘The Syrians say that I am a god who lives in the hills, and that I am not a god who lives in the valleys. So I will [show that they are wrong by] enabling your men to defeat this huge army [IDM] [in the valley], and you will know that I, Yahweh, [have done it].’”
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 The two armies stayed in their tents for seven days, in groups that faced each other. Then, on the seventh day, they started fighting. The Israeli army killed 100,000 Syrian soldiers.
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 The other Syrian soldiers ran away into Aphek City. Then the wall of the city collapsed and killed 27,000 more Syrian soldiers. Ben-Hadad also escaped into the city, and hid in the back room of a house.
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 officials went to him and said, “We have heard a report that the Israelis act mercifully. So allow us to go to the king of Israel, wearing coarse sacks around our waists and ropes on our heads/necks [to indicate that we will be his slaves]. Perhaps [if we do that, ] he will allow you to remain alive.”
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 [The king permitted them to do that, ] so they wrapped coarse sacks around their waists and put ropes on their heads/necks, and they went to the king of Israel and said to him, “Ben-Hadad, who greatly respects you, says, ‘Please do not kill me.’” Ahab replied, “Is he still alive? He is like a brother to me!”
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 Ben-Hadad’s officials were trying to find out if Ahab would act mercifully, and when Ahab said “brother,” they (were optimistic/thought that Ahab would be merciful). So they replied, “Yes, he is like your brother!” Ahab said, “Go and bring him to me.” So they [went and] brought Ben-Hadad to him. [When Ben-Hadad arrived, ] Ahab told him to get in his chariot [and sit with him].
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, “I will give back to you the towns that my father’s army took from your father. And I will allow you to set up market areas for your merchants in Damascus [my capital], just as my father did in Samaria [your capital].” Ahab replied, “Because you agree to do that, I will not execute you.” So Ahab made an agreement with Ben-Hadad, and allowed him to go home.
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 Then Yahweh spoke to a member of a group of prophets and said to him, “Ask one of your fellow prophets to strike and wound you.” [So he did what Yahweh told him to do]. [He said to one of his fellow prophets, ‘Strike me and wound me].’ But that man refused to do it.
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 So the prophet said to him, “Because you refused to obey what Yahweh told you to do, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And as soon as he left that prophet, a lion suddenly pounced on 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 the prophet found another prophet, and said to him, “Strike me!” So that man hit him [very hard] and injured him.
Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him.
38 Then the prophet put a large bandage/cloth over his face so that no one would recognize him. Then he went and stood alongside the road, waiting for the king to come by.
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 When the king passed by, the prophet cried out to him, saying “Your majesty, [after I was wounded] while I was fighting in a battle, a soldier brought to me one of our enemies that he had captured, and said to me, ‘Guard this man! If he escapes, you must pay me 3,000 pieces of silver, and if you do not pay that, you will be executed!’
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 But while I was busy doing other things, the man escaped!” The king of Israel said to him, “That is your problem! You yourself have said that you deserve to be punished.”
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 The prophet immediately took off the bandage, 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 And the prophet said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You have allowed that man [Ben-Hadad] to escape after I commanded you to be sure to execute him! Since you did not do that, you will be killed instead. And your army will be destroyed because you allowed [some of] his army to escape!’”
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 went back home to Samaria, very angry and depressed/dejected.
Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.
