1 Kings
20:1 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there
were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots; and he
went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.
20:2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said
unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
20:3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even
the goodliest, are mine.
20:4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to
thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
20:5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying,
Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy
silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
20:6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and
they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it
shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it
in their hand, and take it away.
20:7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said,
Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent
unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my
gold; and I denied him not.
20:8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto
him, nor consent.
20:9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the
king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will
do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and
brought him word again.
20:10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more
also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the
people that follow me.
20:11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that
girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
20:12 And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was
drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his
servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array
against the city.
20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus
saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will
deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the
LORD.
20:14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the
young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order
the battle? And he answered, Thou.
20:15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they
were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the
people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
20:16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in
the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped
him.
20:17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and
Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of
Samaria.
20:18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or
whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
20:19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city,
and the army which followed them.
20:20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel
pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with
the horsemen.
20:21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and
slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go,
strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return
of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods
of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight
against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
20:24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and
put captains in their rooms:
20:25 And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for
horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the
plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto
their voice, and did so.
20:26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered
the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
20:27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went
against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two
little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and
said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is
God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I
deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that
I am the LORD.
20:29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was,
that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of
Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.
20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon
twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled,
and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
20:31 And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings
of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put
sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king
of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
20:32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads,
and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I
pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
20:33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from
him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then
he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he
caused him to come up into the chariot.
20:34 And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy
father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in
Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee
away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him
away.
20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in
the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to
smite him.
20:36 Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the
LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay
thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and
slew him.
20:37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man
smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
20:38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and
disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
20:39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy
servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned
aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any
means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou
shalt pay a talent of silver.
20:40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of
Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
20:41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of
Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
20:42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out
of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy
life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
20:43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came
to Samaria.
