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.
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.
2 Ben-Hadad sent messengers into the city to King Ahab, to say this to him: “This is what King Ben-Hadad says:
He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Ben Hadad says,
3 ‘[You must give to] me all your silver and gold, your (good-looking/most beautiful) wives/women and strongest children.’”
‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, 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.’”
The king of Israel answered, “It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that 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.
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;
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, 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.”’”
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 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 didn’t deny him.”
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!”
All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen, and don’t consent.”
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.
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.
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!”
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.”
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.”
The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it 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.
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.
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].’”
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.’”
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!”
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.”
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 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.
16 They started to attack at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the other rulers were getting drunk in their temporary shelters.
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.
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]”!
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.”
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
He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
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 these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed 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.
They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with 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.
The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place.
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.
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.
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.
At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against 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.
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.
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].’”
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.’”
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
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.”
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 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.”
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 found another man, and said, “Please strike me.” The man struck him and wounded 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 departed and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.
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!’
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.’
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.”
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.”
41 The prophet immediately took off the bandage, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized 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!’”
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.’”
43 The king went back home to Samaria, very angry and depressed/dejected.
The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
