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
Syria Attacks Israel
1King Benhadad of Syria#20.1 King Benhadad of Syria: This is probably not the same Benhadad mentioned in 15.18-21. called his army together. He was joined by 32 other kings with their horses and chariots, and together they marched to Samaria and attacked. 2Benhadad sent a messenger to tell King Ahab of Israel, 3“Ahab, give me your silver and gold, your wives,#20.3 wives: Having more than one wife was allowed in those times. and your strongest sons!”
4“Your Majesty,” Ahab replied, “everything I have is yours, including me.”
5Later, Benhadad sent another messenger to say to Ahab, “I already told you to give me your silver and gold, your wives, and your children. 6But tomorrow at this time, I will send my officials into your city to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will take everything else that you#20.6 you: Hebrew; three ancient translations “they.” own.”
7Ahab called a meeting with the leaders of Israel and said, “Benhadad is causing real trouble. He told me to give him my wives and children, as well as my silver and gold. And I agreed.”
8“Don't listen to him!” they answered. “You don't have to do what he says.”
9So Ahab sent someone to tell Benhadad, “Your Majesty, I'll give you my silver and gold, and even my wives and children. But I won't let you have anything else.”
When Benhadad got his answer, 10he replied, “I'll completely destroy Samaria! There won't even be enough of it left for my soldiers to carry back in their hands. If I don't do it, I pray that the gods will punish me terribly.”
11Ahab then answered, “Benhadad, don't brag before the fighting even begins. Wait and see if you live through it.”
12Meanwhile, Benhadad and the other kings had been drinking in their tents. But when Ahab's reply came, he ordered his soldiers to prepare to attack Samaria, and they all got ready.
13At that very moment, a prophet ran up to Ahab and said, “You can see that Benhadad's army is very strong. But the Lord has promised to help you defeat them today. Then you will know that the Lord is in control.”
14“Who will fight the battle?” Ahab asked.
The prophet answered, “The young bodyguards who serve the district officials.”
“But who will lead them into battle?” Ahab asked.
“You will!” the prophet replied.
15So Ahab called together the 232 young soldiers and the 7,000 troops in Israel's army, and he got them ready to fight the Syrians.
Israel Defeats the Syrians
16-17At noon, King Ahab and his Israelite army marched out of Samaria, with the young soldiers in front.
King Benhadad of Syria and the 32 kings with him were drunk when the scouts he had sent out ran up to his tent, shouting, “We just now saw soldiers marching out of Samaria!”
18“Take them alive!” Benhadad ordered. “I don't care if they have come out to fight or to surrender.”
19The young soldiers led Israel's troops into battle, 20and each of them attacked and killed an enemy soldier. The rest of the Syrian army turned and ran, and the Israelites went after them. Benhadad and some others escaped on horses, 21but Ahab and his soldiers followed them and captured#20.21 captured: One ancient translation; Hebrew “attacked.” their horses and chariots.
Ahab and Israel's army crushed the Syrians.
22Later, the prophet#20.22 the prophet: See verse 13. went back and warned Ahab, “Benhadad will attack you again next spring. Build up your troops and make sure you have some good plans.”
Syria Attacks Israel Again
23Meanwhile, Benhadad's officials went to him and explained:
Israel's gods are mountain gods. We fought Israel's army in the hills, and that's why they defeated us. But if we fight them on flat land, there's no way we can lose.
24Here's what you should do. First, get rid of those 32 kings and put army commanders in their places. 25Then get more soldiers, horses, and chariots, so your army will be as strong as it was before. We'll fight Israel's army on flat land and wipe them out.
Benhadad agreed and did what they suggested.
26In the spring, Benhadad got his army together, and they marched to the town of Aphek to attack Israel. 27The Israelites also prepared to fight. They marched out to meet the Syrians, and the two armies camped across from each other. The Syrians covered the whole area, but the Israelites looked like two little flocks of goats.
28The prophet went to Ahab and said, “The Syrians think the Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys. So he has promised to help you defeat their powerful army. Then you will know that the Lord is in control.”
29For seven days the two armies stayed in their camps, facing each other. Then on the seventh day the fighting broke out, and before sunset the Israelites had killed 100,000 Syrian troops. 30The rest of the Syrian army ran back to Aphek, but the town wall fell and crushed 27,000 of them.
Benhadad also escaped to Aphek and hid in the back room of a house. 31His officials said, “Your Majesty, we've heard that Israel's kings keep their agreements. We will wrap sackcloth around our waists, put ropes around our heads, and ask Ahab to let you live.”
32They dressed in sackcloth and put ropes on their heads, then they went to Ahab and said, “Your servant Benhadad asks you to let him live.”
“Is he still alive?” Ahab asked. “Benhadad is like a brother to me.”
33Benhadad's officials were trying to figure out what Ahab was thinking, and when he said “brother,” they quickly replied, “You're right! You and Benhadad are like brothers.”
“Go get him,” Ahab said.
When Benhadad came out, Ahab had him climb up into his chariot.
34Benhadad said, “I'll give back the towns my father took from your father. And you can have shops in Damascus, just as my father had in Samaria.”
Ahab replied, “If you do these things, I'll let you go free.” Then they signed a peace treaty, and Ahab let Benhadad go.
A Prophet Condemns Ahab
35About this time the Lord commanded a prophet to say to a friend, “Hit me!” But the friend refused, 36#1 K 13.24. and the prophet told him, “You disobeyed the Lord, and as soon as you walk away, a lion will kill you.” The friend left, and suddenly a lion killed him.
37The prophet found someone else and said, “Hit me!” So this man beat him up.
38The prophet left and put a bandage over his face to disguise himself. Then he went and stood beside the road, waiting for Ahab to pass by.
39When Ahab went by, the prophet shouted, “Your Majesty, right in the heat of battle, someone brought a prisoner to me and told me to guard him. He said if the prisoner got away, I would either be killed or forced to pay 3,000 pieces of silver. 40But I got busy doing other things, and the prisoner escaped.”
Ahab answered, “You will be punished just as you have said.”
41The man quickly tore the bandage off his face, and Ahab saw that he was one of the prophets. 42The prophet said, “The Lord told you to kill Benhadad, but you let him go. Now you will die in his place, and your people will die in place of his people.”
43Ahab went back to Samaria, angry and depressed.
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