1 Kings 20
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22
1 And Benhadad the king of
Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings
with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and
warred against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of
Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine;
thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and
said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that
I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said,
Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou
shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to
morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy
servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes,
they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.
7 Then the king of Israel called all the
elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man
seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for
my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
8 And all the elders and all the people
said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of
Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at
the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed,
and brought him word again.
10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said,
The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for
handfuls for all the people that follow me.
11 And the king of Israel answered and
said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast
himself as he that putteth it off.
12 And it came to pass, when Benhadad
heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the
pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And
they set themselves in array against the city.
13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto
Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great
multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt
know that I am the LORD.
14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said,
Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the
provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.
15 Then he numbered the young men of the
princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after
them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being
seven thousand.
16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad
was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty
and two kings that helped him.
17 And the young men of the princes of the
provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying,
There are men come out of Samaria.
18 And he said, Whether they be come out
for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them
alive.
19 So these young men of the princes of
the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
20 And they slew every one his man: and
the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria
escaped on an horse with the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and
smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 And the prophet came to
the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see
what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up
against thee.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria
said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were
stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we
shall be stronger than they.
24 And do this thing, Take the kings away,
every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
25 And number thee an army, like the army
that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight
against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And
he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
26 And it came to pass at the return of
the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight
against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were
numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of
Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians
filled the country.
28 And there came a man of God, and spake
unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have
said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the
valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and
ye shall know that I am the LORD.
29 And they pitched one over against the
other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was
joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand
footmen in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the
city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that
were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
31 And his servants said unto
him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are
merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon
our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their
loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and
said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is
he yet alive? he is my brother.
33 Now the men did diligently observe
whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it:
and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then
Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
34 And Benhadad said unto him, The
cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt
make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said
Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with
him, and sent him away.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the
prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man refused to smite him.
36 Then said he unto him, Because thou
hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from
me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion
found him, and slew him.
37 Then he found another man, and said,
Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
38 So the prophet departed, and waited for
the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried
unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle;
and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this
man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else
thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40 And as thy servant was busy here and
there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy
judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away
from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the
prophets.
42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the
LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to
utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for
his people.
43 And the king of Israel went to his
house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.
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