I Kings Chapter 20

I Kings Chapter 20
1 Then Ben-hadad the king of Aram
[Syria] assembled all his army, and two
and thirty kings with him, with horses,
and chariots, and went up and besieged
Samaria, and fought against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king
of Israel, into the city, 3 And said unto
him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver
and thy gold is mine: also thy women,
and thy fair children are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered, and
said, My lord king, according to thy
saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
5 And when the messengers came again,
they said, Thus commandeth Benhadad,
and saith, When I shall send unto thee,
and command, thou shalt deliver me thy
silver and thy gold, and thy women, and
thy children, 6 Or else I will send my
servants unto thee by tomorrow this
time: and they shall search thine house,
and the houses of thy servants: and
whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes,
they shall take it in their hands, and bring
it away. 7 Then the king of Israel sent for
all the elders of the land, and said, Take
heed, I pray you, and see how he 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 to him, Hearken not unto him, nor
consent.
9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers
of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All
that thou didst send for to thy servant at
the first time, that I will do, but this thing
I may not do. And the messengers
departed, and brought him an answer.
10 And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and
said, The gods do so to me and more
also, if the dust of Samaria be enough to
all the people that follow me, for every
man an handful.
11 And the king of Israel answered, and
said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth
his harness, boast himself, as he that
putteth it off. 12 And when he heard that
tidings, as he was with the kings
drinking in the pavilions, he said unto
his servants, Bring forth your engines,
and they set them 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, that thou mayest
know, that I am the Lord. 14 And Ahab
said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith
the Lord, By the servants of the princes
of the provinces. He said again, Who
shall order the battle? And he answered,
Thou.
15 Then he numbered the servants of the
princes of the provinces, and they were
two hundred, two and thirty: and after
them he numbered the whole people of
all the children of Israel, even seven
thousand. 16 And they went out at noon:
but Ben-hadad did drink till he was
drunken in the tents, both he and the
kings: for two and thirty kings helped
him. 17 So the servants of the princes of
the provinces went out first: and
Benhadad sent out, and they showed 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 to fight, take
them yet alive.
19 So they came out of the city, to wit,
the servants of the princes of the
provinces, and the host which followed
them.
20 And they slew every one his enemy:
and the Aramites [Syrians] fled, and
Israel pursued them: but Ben-hadad the
king of Aram escaped on an horse with
his horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and
smote the horses and chariots, and with a
great slaughter slew he the Aramites
[Syrians].
22 (For there had come a prophet to the
king of Israel, and had said unto him,
Go, be of good courage, and consider,
and take heed what thou doest: for when
the year is gone about, the king of Aram
[Syria] will come up against thee)
23 Then the servants of the king of Aram
[Syria] said unto him, Their gods are
gods of the mountains, and therefore they
overcame us: but let us fight against them
in the plain, and doubtless we shall
overcome them. 24 And this do, Take the
kings away, every one out of his place,
and place captains for them.
25 And number thyself an army, like the
army that thou hast lost, with such
horses, and such chariots, and we will
fight against them in the plain, and
doubtless we shall overcome them: and
he hearkened unto their voice, and did
so.
26 And after the year was gone about,
Ben-hadad numbered the Aramites
[Syrians], and went up to Aphek to fight
against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were
numbered, and were all assembled and
went against them, and the children of
Israel pitched before them, like two little
flocks of kids: but the Aramites
[Syrians] filled the country. 28 And
there came a man of God, and spake unto
the king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the
Lord, Because the Aramites [Syrians]
have said, The Lord is the God of the
mountains, and 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 in the seventh day the battle
was joined: and the children of Israel
slew of the Aramites [Syrians] an
hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek into the
city: and there fell a wall upon seven
and twenty thousand men that were left:
and Ben-hadad fled into the city, and
came into a secret chamber.
31 And his servants said unto him,
Behold now, we have heard say that the
kings of the house of Israel are merciful
kings: we pray thee, let us put sackcloth
about our loins, and ropes about our
heads, and go out to the king of Israel: it
may be that he will save thy life.
32 Then they girded sackcloth about
their loins, and put ropes about their
heads, and came to the king of Israel,
and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I
pray thee, let me live: and he said, Is he
yet alive? He is my brother. 33 Now the
men took diligent heed, if they could
catch anything of him, and made haste,
and said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. And
he said, Go, bring him. So Ben-hadad
came out unto him, and he caused him to
come up unto 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 did in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I
will let thee go with this covenant. So he
made a covenant with him, and let him
go.
35 Then a certain man of the children of
the prophets said unto his neighbor by
the commandment of the Lord, Smite me,
I pray thee. But 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. So when
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, and in smiting 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 when the king came by, he cried
unto the king, and said, Thy servant went
into the midst of the battle: and behold,
there went away a man, whom another
man brought unto me, and said, Keep this
man: if he be lost, and want, thy life
shall go for his life, or else thou shalt
pay a talent of silver. 40 And as thy
servant had here and there to do, he was
gone: And the king of Israel said unto
him, So shall thy judgment be: thou hast
given sentence. 41 And he hasted, and
took the ashes away from his face: and
the king of Israel knew him that he was
of the prophets:
42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the
Lord, Because thou hast let go out of
thine hands a man whom I appointed to
die, 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 in displeasure, and
came to Samaria.