1 Kings 20
20
War with Syria
1King Benhadad of Syria gathered all his troops, and supported by 32 other rulers with their horses and chariots, he marched up, laid siege to Samaria, and launched attacks against it. 2He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say, “King Benhadad demands that 3you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children.”
4“Tell my lord, King Benhadad, that I agree; he can have me and everything I own,” Ahab answered.
5Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: “I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children. 6Now, however, I will send my officers to search your palace and the homes of your officials, and to take everything they#20.6 Some ancient translations they; Hebrew you. consider valuable. They will be there about this time tomorrow.”
7King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, “You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed.”
8The leaders and the people answered, “Don't pay any attention to him; don't give in.”
9So Ahab replied to Benhadad's messengers, “Tell my lord the king that I agreed to his first demand, but I cannot agree to the second.”
The messengers left and then returned with another message 10from Benhadad: “I will bring enough men to destroy this city of yours and carry off the rubble in their hands. May the gods strike me dead if I don't!”
11King Ahab answered, “Tell King Benhadad that a real soldier does his boasting after a battle, not before it.”
12Benhadad received Ahab's answer as he and his allies, the other rulers, were drinking in their tents. He ordered his men to get ready to attack the city, so they moved into position.
13Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, “The LORD says, ‘Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”
14“Who will lead the attack?” Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, “The LORD says that the young soldiers under the command of the district governors are to do it.”
“Who will command the main force?” the king asked.
“You,” the prophet answered.
15So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of 7,000 men.
16The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his 32 allies were getting drunk in their tents. 17The young soldiers advanced first. Scouts sent out by Benhadad reported to him that a group of soldiers was coming out of Samaria. 18He ordered, “Take them alive, no matter whether they are coming to fight or to ask for peace.”
19The young soldiers led the attack, followed by the Israelite army, 20and each one killed the man he fought. The Syrians fled, with the Israelites in hot pursuit, but Benhadad escaped on horseback, accompanied by some of the cavalry. 21King Ahab took to the field, captured#20.21 One ancient translation captured; Hebrew destroyed. the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Syrians.
22Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, “Go back and build up your forces, and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring.”
The Second Syrian Attack
23King Benhadad's officials said to him, “The gods of Israel are mountain gods, and that is why the Israelites defeated us. But we will certainly defeat them if we fight them in the plains. 24Now, remove the 32 rulers from their commands and replace them with field commanders. 25Then call up an army as large as the one that deserted you, with the same number of horses and chariots. We will fight the Israelites in the plains, and this time we will defeat them.”
King Benhadad agreed and followed their advice. 26The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites. 27The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared with the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside.
28A prophet went to King Ahab and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the LORD.’ ”
29For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians. 30The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on 27,000 of them.
Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house. 31His officials went to him and said, “We have heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Give us permission to go to the king of Israel with sackcloth round our waists and ropes round our necks, and maybe he will spare your life.” 32So they wrapped sackcloth round their waists and ropes round their necks, went to Ahab and said, “Your servant Benhadad pleads with you for his life.”
Ahab answered, “Is he still alive? Good! He's like a brother to me!”
33Benhadad's officials were watching for a good sign, and when Ahab said “brother”, they took it up at once, and said, “As you say, Benhadad is your brother!”
“Bring him to me,” Ahab ordered. When Benhadad arrived, Ahab invited him to get in the chariot with him. 34Benhadad said to him, “I will restore to you the towns my father took from your father, and you may set up a commercial centre for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.”
Ahab replied, “On these terms, then, I will set you free.” He made a treaty with him and let him go.
A Prophet Condemns Ahab
35At the LORD's command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow-prophet to hit him. But he refused, 36#1 Kgs 13.24so he said to him, “Because you have disobeyed the LORD's command, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And as soon as he left, a lion came along and killed him.
37Then this same prophet went to another man and said, “Hit me!” This man did so; he hit him a hard blow and hurt him. 38The prophet bandaged his face with a cloth, to disguise himself, and went and stood by the road, waiting for the king of Israel to pass. 39As the king was passing by, the prophet called out to him and said, “Your Majesty, I was fighting in the battle when a soldier brought a captured enemy to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if he escapes, you will pay for it with your life or else pay a fine of 3,000 pieces of silver.’ 40But I got busy with other things, and the man escaped.”
The king answered, “You have pronounced your own sentence, and you will have to pay the penalty.”
41The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets. 42The prophet then said to the king, “This is the word of the LORD: ‘Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.’ ”
43The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
1 Kings 20
20
Ben-hadad’s wars with Ahab
1King Ben-hadad of Aram brought together all his army along with thirty-two kings plus horses and chariots. He went up, surrounded Samaria, and made war against it. 2He sent messengers to Ahab, Israel’s king, inside Samaria. 3The message said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your good-looking wives and children are mine.’”
4Israel’s king answered, “Whatever you say, my master, great king. I am yours and so is everything I have.”
5The messengers came back again: “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I sent you the message: Give me your silver and gold, your wives and your sons. 6However, at this time tomorrow I will send my officers to you, and they will search your palace and the houses of your officers. Everything that you find valuable they will seize and take away.’”
7Then Israel’s king called all the elders of the land and he said, “Please know and understand the evil this man wants to do! He demanded from me my wives and sons, and my silver and gold; and I didn’t refuse him.”
8All of the elders and the people said to him, “Don’t obey and don’t give in!”
9So the king said to Ben-hadad’s messengers, “Say to my master the king: ‘Everything that you first ordered your servant, I will do. But I can’t comply with this new command.’”
The messengers took this response to Ben-hadad, 10who sent back this reply: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if there is even a handful of dust left in Samaria for the armies under me!”
11Then Israel’s king replied, “The one who prepares for battle shouldn’t brag like one returning from battle.”
12When Ben-hadad heard this message, he and the other kings were drinking in their tents. Ben-hadad said to his officers, “Take your positions!” So they took up their positions against the city.
13Suddenly a prophet approached Israel’s King Ahab. He said, “This is what the LORD says: Do you see that great army? Today I am handing it over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
14Ahab said, “Who will do it?”
The prophet answered, “This is what the LORD says: The servants of the district officials will do it.”
“Who should start the battle?” Ahab asked.
“You should,” the prophet replied.
15So Ahab assembled the servants of the district officials. There were two hundred thirty-two of them. Next he assembled the entire Israelite army, seven thousand total. 16At noon they marched for battle. Meanwhile, Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings allied with him were getting drunk in their tents. 17The servants of the district officials were at the head of the march. Ben-hadad sent for information and was told, “Some men have marched out of Samaria.”
18He said, “If they have come out in peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive as well.” 19So the servants of the district governors with the army behind them marched out from the city. 20Each one struck down his opponent, so that the Arameans fled. Israel chased after them. Ben-hadad, Aram’s king, escaped with some horses and chariots. 21Israel’s king went out and attacked the horses and chariots. He attacked the Arameans with a fierce assault.
22The prophet came to Israel’s king and said to him, “Maintain your strength! Know and understand that at the turn of the coming year, Aram’s king will attack you again.”
23The officers of Aram’s king said to him, “Israel’s god is a god of the mountains. That’s why they were stronger than us. But if we fight them on the plains, we will certainly be stronger than they are. 24This is what you need to do: Remove the kings from their military posts and appoint officials in their place. 25Then raise another army like the one that was destroyed, with horses like those horses and chariots like those chariots. Then we will fight them on the plains, and we will certainly be stronger than they are.” The king took their advice and followed it.
26So in the spring of the year, Ben-hadad assembled the Arameans and marched up to Aphek to fight with Israel. 27Now the Israelites had already been assembled and provisioned, so they went to engage the Arameans. The Israelites camped before them like two small flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the land.
28Then the man of God came forward and said to Israel’s king, “This is what the LORD says: Because the Arameans said that the LORD is a god of the mountains but not a god of the valleys, I am handing this whole great army over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
29The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began. The Israelites attacked and destroyed one hundred thousand Aramean foot soldiers in a single day. 30Those who were left fled to Aphek, into the city where a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand more of them. But Ben-hadad escaped and hid in an inner room within the city.
31Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “Listen, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful kings. Allow us to put mourning clothes on our bodies and cords around our heads. We will then go to Israel’s king. Perhaps he will let you live.” 32So they put mourning clothes on their bodies and cords around their heads. They went to Israel’s king and said, “Ben-hadad is your slave. He begs, ‘Please let me live!’”
Israel’s king said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33Taking this as a good sign, Ben-hadad’s men quickly accepted this statement.#20.33 Heb uncertain “Yes, Ben-hadad is your brother!” they said.
“Go and get him,” the king ordered. So Ben-hadad came to him, and the king received him into his chariot.
34Ben-hadad said to the king, “I will return the towns that my father took from your father. Furthermore, you can set up markets for yourself in Damascus just as my father did in Samaria.”
The king replied,#20.34 Heb lacks The king replied. “On the basis of this covenant, I will let you go.” So he made a covenant with Ben-hadad and set him free.
35At the LORD’s command a certain man who belonged to a prophetic group said to his friend: “Please strike me.” But his friend refused to hit him. 36So he said to his friend, “Because you didn’t obey the LORD’s voice, a lion will attack you as soon as you leave me.” And as the friend left the prophet, a lion found him and attacked him. 37Then the prophet found another man and said, “Please strike me.” He hit the prophet, and the attack left a wound. 38The prophet went and stood before the king by the road. He disguised himself by putting a bandage over his eyes. 39When the king passed by, the prophet called out to the king, “Your servant was in the middle of the battle when someone brought a prisoner. ‘Guard this man,’ he said. ‘If he escapes it will be your life for his—that, or you will owe me a kikkar of silver.’ 40Your servant got busy doing this and that, and the prisoner disappeared.”
Israel’s king replied, “It appears you have decided your own fate.”
41The prophet quickly tore the bandage from over his eyes, and Israel’s king recognized him as one of the prophets. 42Then the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: Because you freed a man I condemned to die, it will be your life for his life, and your people for his people.”
43So Israel’s king went to his palace at Samaria, irritated and upset.
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