3 Kings 20
20
1And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host. And there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.
2And, sending messengers to Achab king of Israel into the city,
3He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold is mine: and thy wives, and thy goodliest children are mine.
4And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord, O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
5And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children, thou shalt deliver up to me.
6To-morrow therefore at this same hour I will send my servants to thee: and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away.
7And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay.
8And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
9Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to me thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I cannot do.
10And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
11And the king of Israel answering said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
12And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it.
13And behold a prophet coming to Achab king of Israel said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord.
14And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.
15So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces: and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two. And he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.
16And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him.
17And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria.
18And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive.
19So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed.
20And every one slew the man that came against him. And the Syrians fled: and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad king of Syria fled away on horseback with his horsemen.
21But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22(And a prophet coming to the king of Israel said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
23But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills: therefore they have overcome us. But it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.
24Do thou therefore this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead.
25And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses according to the former horses, and chariots according to the chariots which thou hadst before. And we will fight against them in the plains: and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel and did so.
26Wherefore, at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, ancient up to Aphec, to fight against Israel.
27And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals went out on the other side, and camped over against them, like two little flocks of goats. But the Syrians filled the land.
28(And a man of God coming said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
29And both sides set their armies in array one against the other, seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men that were left. And Benadad fleeing went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
31And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. So let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives.
32So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant Benadad saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive he is my brother.
33The men took this for a sign: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him: and he lifted him up into his chariot.
34And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore. And do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria: and having made a league, I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
35Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his companion in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
36Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold, thou shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
37Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him, and wounded him.
38So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
39And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand. And when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man; and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40And whilst I in a hurry turned this way and that on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
41But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.
42And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
43And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear and raging came into Samaria.
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3 Kings 20: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.