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1 Kings 20
- 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 Ben-hadad 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 Ben-hadad 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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