1K 20:1And Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, as well as horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it.
1K 20:2And he sent messengers to the city to Ahab the king of Israel and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad,
1K 20:3Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.
1K 20:4And the king of Israel answered and said, As you say, O my lord the king, I and all that I have are yours.
1K 20:5And the messengers came again and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, I sent word to you, saying, You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children;
1K 20:6But tomorrow at this time I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and your servants’ houses; and whatever is pleasant in your sight, they will put in their hand and take away.
1K 20:7And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Look now, and see how this man seeks trouble; for he sent word to me for my wives and my children and my silver and my gold; and I did not deny him.
1K 20:8And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not listen to him, nor shall you give consent.
1K 20:9And he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed and brought word back to him.
1K 20:10And Ben-hadad sent word to him and said, The gods do so to me and even more, if the dust of Samaria will provide even a handful for all the people who follow me!
1K 20:11And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him who puts on his armor boast like him who takes it off.
1K 20:12And when he heard this word, as he and the kings in the tents were drinking, he said to his servants, Set yourselves in position. And they set themselves in position against the city.
1K 20:13Then at that moment a certain prophet approached Ahab the king of Israel and said, Thus says Jehovah, Have you seen all this great multitude? I am now delivering it into your hand today, and you will know that I am Jehovah.
1K 20:14And Ahab said, Through whom? And he said, Thus says Jehovah, Through the attendants of the leaders of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, You.
1K 20:15And he numbered the attendants of the leaders of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.
1K 20:16And they went out at noon; and Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.
1K 20:17And the attendants of the leaders of the provinces went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out men, and they told him, saying, Some men have come forth from Samaria.
1K 20:18And he said, If they have come forth for peace, take them alive; or if they have come forth for war, take them alive.
1K 20:19But these had come forth from the city, the attendants of the leaders of the provinces and the army that followed them.
1K 20:20And each man struck down his opponent; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. And Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
1K 20:21And the king of Israel went forth and struck down the horses and chariots, and he struck down the Syrians with a great slaughter.
1K 20:22And the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, Go; strengthen yourself, and consider and see what you should do; for at the turn of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.
1K 20:23And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the mountains; therefore they were stronger than we. But if we fight against them in the plain, we will surely be stronger than they.
1K 20:24So do this: Remove the kings, each from his place, and put governors in their places.
1K 20:25And you number an army, like the army that you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain. We will surely be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice and did so.
1K 20:26And at the turn of the year Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight with Israel.
1K 20:27And the children of Israel were numbered and supplied with food, and they went to meet them. And the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the land.
1K 20:28And the man of God approached and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus says Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a God of the mountains, but He is not a God of the valleys, I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand; and you will know that I am Jehovah.
1K 20:29And they camped, one army against the other, for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the children of Israel struck down a hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day.
1K 20:30And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on the twenty-seven thousand of them who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city, hiding from one room to another.
1K 20:31And his servants said to him, Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. We beg you, let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will preserve your life.
1K 20:32And they girded sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, I beg you, preserve my life. And he said, Is he still alive? He is my brother.
1K 20:33And the men were looking for some sign and quickly caught what came from him; and they said, Ben-hadad is your brother. And he said, Go and bring him. And Ben-hadad came forth to him, and he brought him up into the chariot.
1K 20:34And Ben-hadad said to him, The cities that my father took from your father I will restore; and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I, said Ahab, will send you away with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.
1K 20:35And a certain one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of Jehovah, Strike me. But the man refused to strike him.
1K 20:36Then he said to him, Because you have not listened to the voice of Jehovah, as soon as you depart from me, the lion will strike you down. And when he had departed from him, the lion found him and struck him down.
1K 20:37Then he found another man and said, Strike me. And the man struck him violently and wounded him.
1K 20:38And the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and he disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.
1K 20:39And when the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and then a man turned aside and brought another man to me and said, Guard this man; if he is missing at all, your life will be for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver.
1K 20:40And because your servant was doing things here and there, he got away. And the king of Israel said to him, So be your judgment; you have determined it yourself.
1K 20:41Then he quickly took the bandage away from over his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
1K 20:42And he said to him, Thus says Jehovah, Because you have released out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.
1K 20:43And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and he came to Samaria.
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