1 Kings 20:30–42

³⁰The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek,^e where the wall collapsed^f on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid^g in an inner room.

³¹His officials said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful.^h Let us go to the king of Israel with sackclothⁱ around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

³²Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: ‘Please let me live.’ ”

The king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. “Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!” they said.

“Go and get him,” the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

³⁴“I will return the cities^j my father took from your father,” Ben-Hadad^k offered. “You may set up your own market areas^l in Damascus,^m as my father did in Samaria.”

Ahab said, “On the basis of a treatyⁿ I will set you free.” So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

³⁵By the word of the Lord one of the company of the prophets^o said to his companion, “Strike me with your weapon,” but he refused.^p

³⁶So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a lion^q will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷The prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. ³⁹As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life,^r or you must pay a talent^b of silver.’ ⁴⁰While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.”

“That is your sentence,”^s the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.”

⁴¹Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴²He said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You^t have set free a man I had determined should die.^cu Therefore it is your life for his life,^v your people for his people.’ ”