1 Kings 20
20
1And Ben-Hadad king of Aram hath gathered all his force, and thirty and two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goeth up and layeth siege against Samaria, and fighteth with it,
2and sendeth messengers unto Ahab king of Israel, to the city,
3and saith to him, ‘Thus said Ben-Hadad, ‘Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy sons — the best — are mine.’
4And the king of Israel answereth and saith, ‘According to thy word, my lord, O king: I [am] thine, and all that I have.’
5And the messengers turn back and say, ‘Thus spake Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons, to me thou dost give;
6for if, at this time to-morrow, I send my servants unto thee then they have searched thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and it hath been, every desirable thing of thine eyes they place in their hand, and have taken away.’
7And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, ‘Know, I pray you, and see that evil this [one] is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.’
8And all the elders and all the people say unto him, ‘Do not hearken, nor consent.’
9And he saith to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, ‘Say to my lord the king, All that thou didst send for unto thy servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do;’ and the messengers go and take him back word.
10And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, ‘Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet.’
11And the king of Israel answereth and saith, ‘Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armour].’
12And it cometh to pass at the hearing of this word — and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the booths — that he saith unto his servants, ‘Set yourselves;’ and they set themselves against the city.
13And lo, a certain prophet hath come nigh unto Ahab king of Israel, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, ‘Hast thou seen all this great multitude? lo, I am giving it into thy hand to-day, and thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.’
14And Ahab saith, ‘By whom?’ and he saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, By the young men of the heads of the provinces;’ and he saith, ‘Who doth direct the battle?’ and he saith, ‘Thou.’
15And he inspecteth the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred, two and thirty, and after them he hath inspecteth the whole of the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand,
16and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking — drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings, helping him.
17And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sendeth, and they declare to him, saying, ‘Men have come out of Samaria.’
18And he saith, ‘If for peace they have come out — catch them alive; and if for battle they have come out — alive catch them.’
19And these have gone out of the city — the young men of the heads of the provinces — and the force that [is] after them,
20and smite each his man, and Aram fleeth, and Israel pursueth them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapeth on a horse, and the horsemen;
21and the king of Israel goeth out, and smiteth the horses, and the charioteers, and hath smitten among the Aramaeans a great smiting.
22And the prophet cometh nigh unto the king of Israel, and saith to him, ‘Go, strengthen thyself, and know and see that which thou dost, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against thee.’
23And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, ‘Gods of hills [are] their gods, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain — are we not stronger than they?
24‘And this thing do thou: turn aside the kings each out of his place, and set captains in their stead;
25and thou, number to thee a force as the force that is fallen from thee, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?’ and he hearkeneth to their voice, and doth so.
26And it cometh to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspecteth the Aramaeans, and goeth up to Aphek, to battle with Israel,
27and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Aramaeans have filled the land.
28And there cometh nigh a man of God, and speaketh unto the king of Israel, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Because that the Aramaeans have said, God of hills [is] Jehovah, and He [is] not God of valleys — I have given the whole of this great multitude into thy hand, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.’
29And they encamp one over-against another seven days, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draweth near, and the sons of Israel smite Aram — a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30And those left flee to Aphek, unto the city, and the wall falleth on twenty and seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad hath fled, and cometh in unto the city, into the innermost part.
31And his servants say unto him, ‘Lo, we pray thee, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel — that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray thee, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he doth keep thee alive.’
32And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come in unto the king of Israel, and say, ‘Thy servant Ben-Hadad hath said, Let me live, I pray thee;’ and he saith, ‘Is he yet alive? he [is] my brother.’
33And the men observe diligently, and hasten, and catch it from him, and say, ‘Thy brother Ben-Hadad;’ and he saith, ‘Go ye in, bring him;’ and Ben-Hadad cometh out unto him, and he causeth him to come up on the chariot.
34And he saith unto him, ‘The cities that my father took from thy father, I give back, and streets thou dost make for thee in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria;’ — ‘and I, with a covenant, send thee away;’ and he maketh with him a covenant, and sendeth him away.
35And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of Jehovah, ‘Smite me, I pray thee;’ and the man refuseth to smite him,
36and he saith to him, ‘Because that thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, lo, thou art going from me, and the lion hath smitten thee;’ and he goeth from him, and the lion findeth him, and smiteth him.
37And he findeth another man, and saith, ‘Smite me, I pray thee;’ and the man smiteth him, smiting and wounding,
38and the prophet goeth and standeth for the king on the way, and disguiseth himself with ashes on his eyes.
39And it cometh to pass — the king is passing by — that he hath cried unto the king, and saith, ‘Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and lo, a man hath turned aside and bringeth in unto me a man, and saith, Keep this man; if he be at all missing, then hath thy life been for his life, or a talent of silver thou dost weigh out;
40and it cometh to pass, thy servant is working hither and thither, and he is not!’ and the king of Israel saith unto him, Right [is] thy judgment; thou hast determined [it].’
41And he hasteth and turneth aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerneth him, that he [is] of the prophets,
42and he saith unto him, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Because thou hast sent away the man I devoted, out of [thy] hand, even thy life hath been for his life, and thy people for his people;’
43and the king of Israel goeth unto his house, sulky and wroth, and cometh in to Samaria.
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1 Kings 20: YLT98
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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 with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. 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.