1 Kings 20
1 And Ben-Hadad king of Syria assembled all his host; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
Ben-hadad, king of Aram, called up his entire army. Together with thirty-two kings and their assembled horses and chariots, he marched to besiege Samaria, to fight against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-Hadad:
He sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, in the city to tell him, “This is what Ben-hadad says:
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, the goodliest, are mine.
Your silver and gold belong to me now, and your best wives and children also belong to me!”
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.
“It's as you say, my lord the king,” the king of Israel replied. “I am yours, as well as everything that belongs to me.”
5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad saying: I sent to thee indeed, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
The messengers returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: I have sent you a message demanding you give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.
6 but to-morrow about this time I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thy sight, they shall put in their hand and take away.
But around this time tomorrow I'm going to send my men to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take and carry away everything you see as valuable.”
7 And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this [man] seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
The king of Israel called all the elders of the land and told them, “Look how this man is trying to cause trouble! When he demanded my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I didn't say no.”
8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not, nor consent.
All the elders and all the people present responded, “Don't listen to him. Don't agree to his demands.”
9 And he said to 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 cannot do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.
So the king told Ben-hadad's messengers, “Tell my lord the king: Everything you demanded at first your servant will do, but I cannot agree to this latest demand.” The messengers took the reply back to him.
10 And Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me!
Ben-hadad responded to him, “May the gods do as much to me and more if there remains enough dust in Samaria to give my subjects a handful each!”
11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him that girdeth on boast himself as he that putteth off!
The king of Israel replied, “Tell him this: A man putting on his armor should not brag like one who is taking it off.”
12 And it came to pass when he heard this word, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the tents, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves. And they set themselves against the city.
Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents. He immediately gave the order to his officers, “Get ready to attack!” So they prepared to attack the city.
13 And behold, a prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
At the same time a prophet came up to Ahab, king of Israel, and told him, “This is what the Lord says: You see this massive army? Just watch, because I will make you victorious today, and you will be convinced that I am the Lord.”
14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith Jehovah: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou.
“But who's going to do this?” Ahab asked. The prophet answered, “This is what the Lord says: It will be the young officers under the district commanders.” “And who's going to start the battle?” he asked. The prophet replied, “You are!”
15 And he numbered the servants of the princes 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.
So Ahab called up the 232 young officers of the district commanders, and assembled the 7,000 soldiers that made up Israel's army.
16 And they went out at noon; and Ben-Hadad drank himself drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.
They left at noon while Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings with him were busy getting drunk in their tents.
17 And the servants 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.
The young officers of the district commanders took the lead. The scouts Ben-hadad had sent out came and reported to him, “Enemy soldiers are advancing from 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.
“If they're coming in peace, take them alive,” he ordered. “If they're coming to attack, take them alive.”
19 And these servants of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army that followed them.
The young officers of the district commanders advanced from the city, followed by the army.
20 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
Each man killed his opponent, and the Arameans ran away. The Israelites chased them, but Ben-hadad, king of Aram, escaped on horseback with his cavalry.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
Then the king of Israel came out and attacked the horses and chariots. He inflicted a great defeat on the Arameans.
22 And the prophet drew near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen thyself, and understand, and see what thou shalt do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
Later on the prophet came to the king of Israel and told him, “Go and reinforce your defenses, and check what you need to do, because in the spring the king of Aram will come and attack you again.”
23 And 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 on the plateau, shall we not be stronger than they?
In the meantime the king of Aram's officers told him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains. That's why they could defeat us. But if we fight them in the lowlands, we can beat them.
24 And do this: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their stead;
You should do this: remove each of the kings from their positions and replace them with commanders.
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 on the plateau: shall we not be stronger than they? And he hearkened to their voice, and did so.
You also have to raise another army to replace the one you lost—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. Then we can fight them in the lowlands and we will definitely beat them.” Ben-hadad listened to their advice and did as they said.
26 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, that Ben-Hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
When spring came Ben-hadad called up the Aramean army and went to attack Israel at Aphek.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered and victualled, and they went against them; and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the land.
The Israelite army was also called up and provided with supplies. They went to confront the Arameans. But when the Israelites set up their camp opposite the enemy they looked like couple of flocks of goats in comparison with the Aramean army that filled the whole land.
28 And the man of God drew near, and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus saith Jehovah: Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the mountains, but he is not a god of the valleys, I will give all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
Then the man of God came to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: Because the Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is only a god of the mountains and not of the valleys,’ I will make you victorious over the whole of this massive army. Then you will be convinced that I am the Lord.”
29 And they encamped one over against the other seven days; and it came to pass that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel smote of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
The armies camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle took place. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day.
30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men of them that were left. And Ben-Hadad fled, and came into the city, [from] chamber to chamber.
The rest ran away to the town of Aphek, where a wall collapsed on 27,000 of those that remained. Ben-hadad also ran to the town and hid in an inside room.
31 And his servants said to 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; perhaps he will save thy life.
Ben-hadad's officers said to him, “Look, we've heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Let's surrender to the king of Israel, wearing sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads. Maybe he will let you live.”
32 And they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-Hadad says, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
So wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, they went and surrendered to the king of Israel, and told him, “Your servant Ben-hadad asks, ‘Please let me live.’” The king replied “Is he still alive? I think of him as my brother.”
33 And the men took it as a good omen, and hastened to catch what came from him, and they said, Thy brother Ben-Hadad. ...And he said, Go, bring him. And Ben-Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
The men thought this was a good sign and they immediately took the king at his word, saying, “Yes, Ben-hahad is your brother.” “Go and fetch him!” said the king. So Ben-hadad came out of hiding and surrendered to Ahab, who pulled him up into his chariot.
34 And [Ben-Hadad] said to him, The cities that my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thyself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I [said Ahab] will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
Ben-hadad said to him, “I will return the towns my father took from your father, and you can organize your own places for trade in Damascus, like my father did in Samaria.” “By making this agreement I set you free,” Ahab replied. He made a treaty with Ben-hadad and let him go.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him.
Following a message he received from the Lord, one of the sons of the prophets said to his colleague, “Please hit me.” But the man refused to hit him.
36 Then said he to him, Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, behold, when thou departest from me, the lion will slay thee. And when he had departed from him, the lion found him and slew him.
So the prophet told him, “Since you have not done what the Lord said, once you leave me a lion is going to kill you.” When the man left, a lion came and killed him.
37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him violently, and wounded [him].
The prophet found another man and said, “Please hit me!” So the man hit him, wounding him.
38 And the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with a sash over his eyes.
Then the prophet went and stood beside the road, waiting for the king. He had disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me and said, Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
As the king was passing by, he shouted out to the king: “Your servant had gone out fighting right in the middle of the battle, when all of a sudden a man came over with a prisoner and told me, ‘Guard this man! If for any reason he escapes, you will pay for his life with your life, or you will be fined a talent of silver.’
40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, So [is] thy judgment: thyself hast decided [it].
But while your servant was busy with other things, the man got away.” “So that will be your punishment then,” the king of Israel told him. “You have sentenced yourself.”
41 Then he hastily took the sash away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him, that he was of the prophets.
Then the prophet quickly took off the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets.
42 And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man that I had devoted to destruction, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: You have let go a man I had decided should die. Therefore you will pay for his life with your life, your people for his people.”
43 And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and came to Samaria.
The king of Israel went home to Samaria, sulking and infuriated.
