1 Kings 20

20^*And ^aBen-hadad 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 ^bSamaria, and warred against it. ²And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, ³Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. ⁴And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. ⁵And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; ⁶Yet 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. ⁷Then ^cthe king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, ^dMark, 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. ⁸And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. ⁹Wherefore 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 I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. ¹⁰And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods ^edo so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that ^†follow me. ¹¹And ^cthe king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his ^fharness boast himself as he that putteth it off. ¹²And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this ^†message, as he was ^gdrinking, 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.

¹³And, behold, there ^†came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, ^hI will deliver it into thine hand this day; and ⁱthou shalt know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴And 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. ¹⁵Then 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. ¹⁶And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was ^kdrinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. ¹⁷And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. ¹⁸And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. ¹⁹So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. ²⁰And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. ²¹And ^cthe king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

²²And ^lthe prophet came to ^cthe king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at ^mthe return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. ²³And 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 ⁿthe plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. ²⁴And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms: ²⁵And 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 ⁿthe 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 Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to ^oAphek, ^†to fight against Israel. ²⁷And 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. ²⁸And there came ^pa man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, ^qThe Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore ^rwill I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. ²⁹And 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. ³⁰But the rest fled to ^oAphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, ^||into an inner chamber. ³¹And 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, ^sput sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to ^cthe king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. ³²So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to ^cthe 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. ³³Now the men ^tdid diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴And Ben-hadad said unto him, ^uThe cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in ^wDamascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. ^xSo he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

³⁵And a certain man of ^ythe sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour ^zin the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. ³⁶Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, ^aa lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. ³⁷Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, ^†so that in smiting he wounded him. ³⁸So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and ^bdisguised himself with ashes upon his face. ³⁹And 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 ^cshall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt ^†pay a talent of silver. ⁴⁰And as thy servant was busy here and there, ^†he was gone. And ^dthe king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. ⁴¹And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and ^dthe king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. ⁴²And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, ^eBecause 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. ⁴³And ^dthe king of Israel went ^fto his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.