1 Kings 20
20
1 Kings 20
1¶ Then Benhadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his host together; and there were thirty-two kings with him and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria and warred against it.
2And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city and said unto him, Thus hath Benhadad said,
3Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
4And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy word, I am thine and all that I have.
5And the messengers came again and said, Thus hath Benhadad said, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children,
6yet I will send my slaves unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thy house and the houses of thy slaves; and it shall be that whatever is precious in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand and take it away.
7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Understand, I pray you, and see how this man seeks only evil, 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.
8And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
9So he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy slave at the first I will do, but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again.
10And Benhadad sent unto him again and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, that the dust of Samaria shall not be enough for the open hands of all the people that follow me.
11And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girds on his harness boast as he that puts it off.
12¶ And when he heard this word, as he was drinking with the kings in the pavilions, he said unto his slaves, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
13And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab, king of Israel, saying, Thus hath the Lord said, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into thy hand today, that thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
14And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus hath the Lord said, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, Thou.
15Then 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 sons of Israel, being seven thousand.
16And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.
17And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benhadad had sent out men who warned him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.
18Then he said, If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.
19So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army followed after them.
20And each one smote the man that came against him; and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them. And Benhadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with some of the horsemen.
21And the king of Israel went out and smote the horsemen and the chariots and smote the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22¶ And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and consider, and see what thou must do, for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
23And the slaves of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the mountains; therefore, they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
24Therefore, do this: Remove the kings from their positions and put captains in their place.
25And prepare another army like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot; then 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.
26And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27And the sons of Israel were numbered and took provisions and went against them; and the sons of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the land.
28 Then the man of God came and spoke unto the king of Israel and said, Thus hath the Lord said, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the mountains, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore, I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand that ye may know that I am the Lord.
29And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the sons of Israel slew of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad also fled and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
31¶ Then his slaves 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 give thee thy life.
32So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, Thy slave Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he replied, If he is yet alive, he is my brother.
33Now these men took this as a good omen and quickly took this word from his mouth, and they said, Thy brother Benhadad! And he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
34And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make plazas for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria, and I will leave here confederated with thee. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.
35Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
36Then 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 smite thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and smote him.
37Then he found another man and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him and wounded him.
38So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way and disguised himself with a veil over his eyes.
39And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and he said, Thy slave went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me and said, Guard this man; if by any means he should get away, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40And when thy slave was busy here and there, he disappeared. Then the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy sentence be; thou thyself hast decided it.
41Then he quickly took the veil away from his face; and the king of Israel recognized that he was of the prophets.
42And he said unto him, Thus hath the Lord said, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man of my anathema, therefore, thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people.
43And the king of Israel went to his house, sad and angry, and came to Samaria.
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1 Kings 20: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
1 Kings 20
20
Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria
1About that time King Ben-hadad of Aram mobilized his army, supported by the chariots and horses of thirty-two allied kings. They went to besiege Samaria, the capital of Israel, and launched attacks against it. 2Ben-hadad sent messengers into the city to relay this message to King Ahab of Israel: “This is what Ben-hadad says: 3‘Your silver and gold are mine, and so are your wives and the best of your children!’”
4“All right, my lord the king,” Israel’s king replied. “All that I have is yours!”
5Soon Ben-hadad’s messengers returned again and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have already demanded that you give me your silver, gold, wives, and children. 6But about this time tomorrow I will send my officials to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take away everything you consider valuable!’”
7Then Ahab summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, “Look how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed with his demand that I give him my wives and children and silver and gold.”
8“Don’t give in to any more demands,” all the elders and the people advised.
9So Ahab told the messengers from Ben-hadad, “Say this to my lord the king: ‘I will give you everything you asked for the first time, but I cannot accept this last demand of yours.’” So the messengers returned to Ben-hadad with that response.
10Then Ben-hadad sent this message to Ahab: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if there remains enough dust from Samaria to provide even a handful for each of my soldiers.”
11The king of Israel sent back this answer: “A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.”
12Ahab’s reply reached Ben-hadad and the other kings as they were drinking in their tents.#20:12 Or in Succoth; also in 20:16. “Prepare to attack!” Ben-hadad commanded his officers. So they prepared to attack the city.
Ahab’s Victory over Ben-Hadad
13Then a certain prophet came to see King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This is what the Lord says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
14Ahab asked, “How will he do it?”
And the prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: The troops of the provincial commanders will do it.”
“Should we attack first?” Ahab asked.
“Yes,” the prophet answered.
15So Ahab mustered the troops of the 232 provincial commanders. Then he called out the rest of the army of Israel, some 7,000 men. 16About noontime, as Ben-hadad and the thirty-two allied kings were still in their tents drinking themselves into a stupor, 17the troops of the provincial commanders marched out of the city as the first contingent.
As they approached, Ben-hadad’s scouts reported to him, “Some troops are coming from Samaria.”
18“Take them alive,” Ben-hadad commanded, “whether they have come for peace or for war.”
19But Ahab’s provincial commanders and the entire army had now come out to fight. 20Each Israelite soldier killed his Aramean opponent, and suddenly the entire Aramean army panicked and fled. The Israelites chased them, but King Ben-hadad and a few of his charioteers escaped on horses. 21However, the king of Israel destroyed the other horses and chariots and slaughtered the Arameans.
22Afterward the prophet said to King Ahab, “Get ready for another attack. Begin making plans now, for the king of Aram will come back next spring.#20:22 Hebrew at the turn of the year; similarly in 20:26. The first day of the year in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in March or April.”
Ben-Hadad’s Second Attack
23After their defeat, Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “The Israelite gods are gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains. 24Only this time replace the kings with field commanders! 25Recruit another army like the one you lost. Give us the same number of horses, chariots, and men, and we will fight against them on the plains. There’s no doubt that we will beat them.” So King Ben-hadad did as they suggested.
26The following spring he called up the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek. 27Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and marched out for battle. But the Israelite army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast Aramean forces that filled the countryside!
28Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: The Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the plains.’ So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
29The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day. 30The rest fled into the town of Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad fled into the town and hid in a secret room.
31Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “Sir, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. So let’s humble ourselves by wearing burlap around our waists and putting ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel. Then perhaps he will let you live.”
32So they put on burlap and ropes, and they went to the king of Israel and begged, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’”
The king of Israel responded, “Is he still alive? He is my brother!”
33The men took this as a good sign and quickly picked up on his words. “Yes,” they said, “your brother Ben-hadad!”
“Go and get him,” the king of Israel told them. And when Ben-hadad arrived, Ahab invited him up into his chariot.
34Ben-hadad told him, “I will give back the towns my father took from your father, and you may establish places of trade in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”
Then Ahab said, “I will release you under these conditions.” So they made a new treaty, and Ben-hadad was set free.
A Prophet Condemns Ahab
35Meanwhile, the Lord instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another man, “Hit me!” But the man refused to hit the prophet. 36Then the prophet told him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And when he had gone, a lion did attack and kill him.
37Then the prophet turned to another man and said, “Hit me!” So he struck the prophet and wounded him.
38The prophet placed a bandage over his eyes to disguise himself and then waited beside the road for the king. 39As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Sir, I was in the thick of battle, and suddenly a man brought me a prisoner. He said, ‘Guard this man; if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay a fine of seventy-five pounds#20:39 Hebrew 1 talent [34 kilograms]. of silver!’ 40But while I was busy doing something else, the prisoner disappeared!”
“Well, it’s your own fault,” the king replied. “You have brought the judgment on yourself.”
41Then the prophet quickly pulled the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42The prophet said to him, “This is what the Lord says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed,#20:42 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people.” 43So the king of Israel went home to Samaria angry and sullen.
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