1 Kings 20
20
Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria
1Ben-Hadad brought his whole army together. He was king of Aram. He went up to Samaria. He took 32 kings and their horses and chariots with him. All of them surrounded Samaria and attacked it. 2Ben-Hadad sent messengers into the city. They spoke to Ahab, the king of Israel. They told him, “Ben-Hadad says, 3‘Your silver and gold belong to me. The best of your wives and children also belong to me.’ ”
4The king of Israel replied, “What you say is true. You are my king and master. I belong to you. And everything I have belongs to you.”
5The messengers came again. They told Ahab, “Ben-Hadad says, ‘I commanded you to give me your silver and gold. I also commanded you to give me your wives and children. 6But now I’m going to send my officials to you. They will come about this time tomorrow. They’ll search your palace. They’ll search the houses of your officials. They’ll take everything you value. And they’ll carry it all away.’ ”
7The king of Israel sent for all the elders of the land. He said to them, “This man is really looking for trouble! He sent for my wives and children. He sent for my silver and gold. And I agreed to give them to him.”
8All the elders and people answered, “Don’t listen to him. Don’t agree to give him what he wants.”
9So Ahab replied to Ben-Hadad’s messengers. He said, “Tell my king and master, ‘I will do everything you commanded me to do the first time. But this time, I can’t do what you want me to do.’ ” They took Ahab’s answer back to Ben-Hadad.
10Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab. Ben-Hadad said, “There won’t be enough dust left in Samaria to give each of my followers even a handful. If there is, may the gods punish me greatly.”
11The king of Israel replied. He said, “Tell him, ‘Someone who puts his armor on shouldn’t brag like someone who takes it off.’ ”
12Ben-Hadad and the kings were in their tents drinking. That’s when he heard the message. He ordered his men, “Get ready to attack.” So they prepared to attack the city.
Ahab Wins the Battle Over Ben-Hadad
13During that time a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘Do you see this huge army? I will hand it over to you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
14“But who will do it?” Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, “The Lord says, ‘The junior officers who are under the area commanders will do it.’ ”
“And who will start the battle?” Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, “You will.”
15So Ahab sent for the junior officers who were under the area commanders. The total number of officers was 232. Ahab gathered together the rest of the Israelites. The total number of them was 7,000. 16They started out at noon. At that time Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings helping him were in their tents. They were getting drunk. 17The junior officers who were under Ahab’s area commanders marched out first.
Ben-Hadad had sent out scouts. They came back and reported, “Men are marching against us from Samaria.”
18Ben-Hadad said, “They might be coming to make peace. If they are, take them alive. Or they might be coming to make war. If they are, take them alive.”
19The junior officers marched out of the city. The army was right behind them. 20Each man struck down the one fighting against him. When that happened, the army of Aram ran away. The Israelites chased them. But Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse. Some of his horsemen escaped with him. 21The king of Israel attacked them. He overpowered the horses and chariots. Large numbers of the men of Aram were wounded or killed.
22After that, the prophet came to the king of Israel again. The prophet said, “Make your position stronger. Do what needs to be done. Next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”
23During that time, the officials of the king of Aram gave him advice. They said, “The gods of Israel are gods of the hills. That’s why they were too strong for us. But suppose we fight them on the plains. Then we’ll certainly be stronger than they are. 24Here’s what you should do. Don’t let any of the kings continue as military leaders. Have other officers take their places. 25You must also put another army together. It should be just like the one you lost. It should have the same number of horses and chariots. Then we’ll be able to fight against Israel on the plains. And we’ll certainly be stronger than they are.” Ben-Hadad agreed with their advice. He did what they suggested.
26The next spring Ben-Hadad brought together the men of Aram. They went up to the city of Aphek to fight against Israel. 27The Israelites were also brought together. They were given supplies. They marched out to fight against their enemies. Israel’s army camped across from Aram’s army. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats that had become separated from the others. But the men of Aram covered the countryside.
28The man of God came up to the king of Israel again. He told him, “The Lord says, ‘The men of Aram think the Lord is a god of the hills. They do not think he is a god of the valleys. So I, the Lord, will hand their huge army over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
29For seven days the two armies camped across from each other. On the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites wounded or killed 100,000 Aramean soldiers who were on foot. That happened in a single day. 30The rest of the men of Aram escaped to the city of Aphek. Its wall fell down on 27,000 of them. Ben-Hadad ran to the city. He hid in a secret room.
31His officials said to him, “Look, we’ve heard that the kings of Israel often show mercy. So let’s go to the king of Israel. Let’s wear the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Let’s tie ropes around our heads. Perhaps Ahab will spare your life.”
32So they wore rough clothing. They tied ropes around their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel. They told him, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ”
The king answered, “Is he still alive? He used to be my friend.”
33The men thought that was good news. So they quickly used the word Ahab had used. “Yes! Your friend Ben-Hadad!” they said.
“Go and get him,” the king said. Ben-Hadad came out of the secret room. Then Ahab had him get into his chariot.
34“I’ll return the cities my father took from your father,” Ben-Hadad offered. “You can set up your own market areas in Damascus. That’s what my father did in Samaria.”
Ahab said, “If we sign a peace treaty, I’ll set you free.” So Ben-Hadad made a treaty with him. Then Ahab let him go.
A Prophet Accuses Ahab
35There was a group of people called the group of the prophets. A message from the Lord came to one of their members. He said to his companion, “Strike me down with your weapon.” But he wouldn’t do it.
36The prophet said, “You haven’t obeyed the Lord. So as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” The companion went away. And a lion found him and killed him.
37The prophet found another man. He said, “Please strike me down.” So the man struck him down and wounded him. 38Then the prophet went and stood by the road. He waited for the king to come by. He pulled his headband down over his eyes so no one would recognize him. 39The king passed by. Then the prophet called out to him. He said, “I went into the middle of the battle. Someone came to me with a prisoner. He said, ‘Guard this man. Don’t let him get away. If he does, you will pay for his life with yours. Or you can pay 75 pounds of silver.’ 40While I was busy here and there, the man disappeared.”
The king of Israel spoke to him. He told him, “What you’ve just said is what will happen to you.”
41Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes. The king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42He told the king, “The Lord says, ‘You have set a man free. But I had said he should be set apart to the Lord in a special way to be destroyed. So you must pay for his life with yours. You must pay for his people’s lives with the lives of your people.’ ” 43The king of Israel was angry. He was in a bad mood. He went back to his palace in Samaria.
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1 Kings 20: NIrV
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M'lakhim Alef (1 Ki) 20
20
1Now Ben-Hadad the king of Aram rallied his whole army; with him were thirty-two kings, besides horses and chariots. Then he marched on Shomron and laid siege to it. 2He sent messengers inside the city to Ach’av king of Isra’el 3to say to him, “Here is the message from Ben-Hadad: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, also your wives and your best children are mine.’” 4The king of Isra’el answered, “Just as you say, my lord, king; I am yours, along with everything I own.”
5The messengers returned and said, “Here is Ben-Hadad’s response: ‘I sent you a message to hand over your silver, gold, wives and children to me. 6But I am going to send my servants to you tomorrow around this time; they will ransack your house and the houses of your servants; and whatever they see that they like they will seize and remove.’” 7Then the king of Isra’el summoned all the leaders of the land and said, “Please take notice! Do you see how this man is trying to make trouble? First he demanded my wives, children, silver and gold; and I denied him nothing.” 8All the leaders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen, and don’t agree.” 9So he said to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell my lord the king, ‘I will do all that you asked of me the first time, but this I cannot do.” The messengers left and brought word back to him.
10Ben-Hadad then sent this message to him: “May the gods do terrible things to me and worse ones as well if there’s enough dust in Shomron to give each of my followers a handful!” 11The king of Isra’el answered, “Tell him: ‘He who is putting on his armor shouldn’t boast as if he were taking it off!’” 12It happened that Ben-Hadad received this message when he was drinking, he and his kings, in the field-barracks. He ordered his servants: “Take up your battle positions!” So they got ready to attack the city.
13At that moment a prophet approached Ach’av king of Isra’el and said, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Have you seen this vast army? I am going to give you victory over them today. Then you will know that I am Adonai!’” 14Ach’av asked, “Who will defeat them?” He answered, “This is what Adonai says: ‘The young men who serve the district governors.’” He asked, “Who will start the fighting?” and he answered, “You will.” 15He counted the district governors’ young men; there were 232. After that, he counted all the people, all the people of Isra’el; there were 7,000.
16They set out at noon. Ben-Hadad was drinking himself senseless in the field-barracks, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who were his allies. 17The district governors’ men went out first. Ben-Hadad sent for information, and they reported, “Men have come out from Shomron.” 18He said, “Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.” 19So the district governors’ men left the city, followed by the army; 20and each one killed his man. Aram fled, and Isra’el pursued them. Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of the cavalry. 21The king of Isra’el went out and attacked the horses and chariots, inflicting a massive defeat on Aram.
22Afterwards, the prophet approached the king of Isra’el and said to him, “Go, regroup your forces, and think carefully what to do, for next year at this time the king of Aram will renew his attack.” 23Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their God is a God of the hills; that’s why they were stronger than we were. But if we fight them on level ground, we will certainly be stronger than they are. 24Also do this: remove all the kings from their commands, and put professional officers in their place. 25Then recruit an army as big as the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will attack them on level ground, and we will certainly be stronger than they.” He heeded what they said and acted accordingly.
26At the same time the following year, Ben-Hadad mustered the army of Aram and went up to Afek to attack Isra’el. 27The army of Isra’el, already mobilized and supplied, went to meet them; but the army of Isra’el, encamped opposite them, looked like two herds of goats; while Aram filled the land.
28At this point, a man of God approached and said to the king of Isra’el, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Because Aram said that Adonai is a God of the hills but not a God of the valleys, I will hand over to you this entire huge army. Then you will know that I am Adonai.’”
29They remained in camp opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began; and the people of Isra’el killed 100,000 soldiers of Aram in a single day. 30The rest fled to Afek, into the city; and the wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-Hadad fled into the city and took refuge in an inside room. 31His servants said to him, “Here now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Isra’el are merciful kings. If it’s all right with you, let’s put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Isra’el. Maybe he will spare your life.” 32So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, went to the king of Isra’el and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’” And he answered, “He’s still alive? He is my brother.” 33The men took this as a promising indication and seized on it to say, “Yes, Ben-Hadad is your brother.” Then Ach’av said, “Go, and bring him here.” Ben-Hadad went out to him, and Ach’av had him climb up into his chariot. 34Ben-Hadad said to him, “I will return the cities my father took from your father. Also you can set up markets for trade in Dammesek, as my father did in Shomron.” “If you put this covenant in writing,” said Ach’av, “I will set you free.” So he made a covenant with him and set him free.
35One of the members of the prophets’ guild said to another one, by the word of Adonai, “Hit me!” But the man refused to hit him. 36Then he said to him, “Because you didn’t listen to the voice of Adonai, the moment you leave me, a lion will kill you.” No sooner had he left him than a lion found him and killed him. 37The prophet went to another man and said, “Hit me!” The man struck him a blow and wounded him. 38The prophet left and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39As the king passed by, he called out to the king and said, “Your servant was on his way into the thick of the fighting when someone turned, brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is missing, you will pay for his life with yours; or else you will pay sixty-six pounds of silver.’ 40But while your servant was busy with one thing and another, he disappeared.” The king of Isra’el said to him, “So that is your sentence; you have pronounced it on yourself.” 41Quickly he removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Isra’el recognized him as one of the prophets. 42Then he said to the king, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Because you have let escape the man I had given over to be destroyed, you will pay with your life for his life and with your people for his people.’” 43The king of Isra’el returned home to Shomron resentful and depressed.
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