1 Kings 20
1 And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.
And Nabuthai the Jezraelite had a vineyard, near the threshing floor of Achaab king of Samaria.
2 And, sending messengers to Achab king of Israel into the city,
And Achaab spoke to Nabuthai, saying, Give me your vineyard, and I will have it for a garden of herbs, for it [is] near my house: and I will give you another vineyard better than it; or if it please you, I will give you money, the price of this your vineyard, and I will have it for a garden of herbs.
3 He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold is mine: and thy wives, and thy goodliest children are mine.
And Nabuthai said to Achaab, My God forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.
4 And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
And the spirit of Achaab was troubled, and he lay down upon his bed, and covered his face, and ate no bread.
5 And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children thou shalt deliver up to me.
And Jezabel his wife went in to him, and spoke to him, [saying], Why [is] your spirit troubled, and [why] do you eat no bread?
6 Tomorrow therefore at this same hour I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away.
And he said to her, Because I spoke to Nabuthai the Jezraelite, saying, Give me your vineyard for money; or if you will, I will give you another vineyard for it: and he said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.
7 And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay.
And Jezabel his wife said to him, Do you now thus act the king over Israel? arise, and eat bread, and be your own [master], and I will give you the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite.
8 And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
And she wrote a letter in the name of Achaab, and sealed it with his seal, and sent the letter to the elders, and to the freemen who lived with Nabuthai.
9 Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to me thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I cannot do.
And it was written in the letters, saying, Keep a fast, and set Naboth in a chief place amongst the people.
10 And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
And set two men, sons of transgressors, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, He blessed God and the king: and let them lead him forth, and stone him, and let them die.
11 And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
And the men of his city, the elders, and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezabel sent to them, and as it had been written in the letters which she sent to them.
12 And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it.
And they proclaimed a fast, and set Nebuthai in a chief place amongst the people.
13 And behold a prophet coming to Achab king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude, behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord.
And two men, sons of transgressors, came in, and sat opposite him, and bore witness against him, saying, You have blessed God and the king. And they led him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, and he died.
14 And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.
And they sent to Jezabel, saying, Nabuthai is stoned, and is dead.
15 So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand:
And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard [it], that she said to Achaab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite, who would not sell it to you: for Nebuthai is not alive, for he is dead.
16 And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him.
And it came to pass, when Achaab heard that Nabuthai the Jezraelite was dead, that he tore his garments, and put on sackcloth. And it came to pass afterward, that Achaab arose and went down to the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite, to take possession of it.
17 And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria.
And the Lord spoke to Eliu the Thesbite, saying,
18 And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive.
Arise, and go down to meet Achaab king of Israel, who is in Samaria, for he [is] in the vineyard of Nabuthai, for he has gone down there to take possession of it.
19 So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed:
And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, Forasmuch as you have slain and taken possession, therefore thus says the Lord, In every place where the swine and the dogs have licked the blood of Nabuthai, there shall the dogs lick your blood; and the harlots shall wash themselves in your blood.
20 And every one slew the man that came against him: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad king of Syria fled away on horseback with his horsemen.
And Achaab said to Eliu, Hast you found me, mine enemy? and he said, I have found [you]: because you have wickedly sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger;
21 But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
behold, I bring evil upon you: and I will kindle a fire after you, and I will utterly destroy every male of Achaab, and him that is shut up and him that is left in Israel.
22 (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
And I will make your house as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and as the house of Baasa son of Achia, because of the provocations wherewith you have provoked [me], and caused Israel to sin.
23 But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.
And the Lord spoke of Jezabel, saying, The dogs shall devour her within the fortification of Jezrael.
24 Do thou therefore this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead:
Him that is dead of Achaab in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that is dead of him in the field shall the birds of the sky eat.
25 And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses according to the former horses, and chariots according to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel and did so.
But Achaab [did] wickedly, in that he sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his wife Jezabel led him astray.
26 Wherefore at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, ancient up to Aphec, to fight against Israel.
And he did very abominably in following after the abominations, according to all that the Amorite did, whom the Lord utterly destroyed from before the children of Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals went out on the other side, and camped over against them, like two little hocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land.
And because of the word, Achaab was pierced with sorrow before the Lord, and he both went weeping, and tore his garment, and girded sackcloth upon his body, and fasted; he put on sackcloth also in the day that he struck Nabuthai the Jezraelite, and went his way.
28 (And a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
And the word of the Lord came by the hand of his servant Eliu concerning Achaab, and the Lord said,
29 And both sides set their armies in array one against the other seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
Hast you seen how Achaab has been pricked [to the heart] before me? I will not bring on the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring on the evil.
30 And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And Benadad fleeing went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
And the son of Ader gathered all his forces, and went up and besieged Samaria, [he] and thirty-two kings with him, and all [his] horse and chariots: and they went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
31 And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful: so let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives.
And he sent into the city to Achaab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says the son of Ader,
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant Benadad saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive he is my brother.
Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your children are mine.
33 The men took this for a sign: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up into his chariot.
And the king of Israel answered and said, As you have said, my lord, O king, I am your, and all mine [also].
34 And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria, and having made a league I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus says the son of Ader, I sent to you, saying, You shall give me your silver and your gold, and your wives and your children.
35 Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his companion in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
For at this time to-morrow I will send my servants to you, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants, and it shall be that all the desirable objects of their eyes on which they shall lay their hands, they shall even take [them].
36 Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold then shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Take notice now and consider, that this man seeks mischief: for he has sent to me concerning my wives, and concerning my sons, an concerning my daughters: I have not kept back from him my silver and my gold.
37 Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him, and wounded him.
And the elders and all the people said to him, Listen not, and consent not.
38 So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
And he said to the messengers of the son of Ader, Say to your master, All things that you have sent to your servant about at first I will do; but this thing I shall not be able to do. And the men departed, and carried back the answer to him.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
And the son of Ader sent to him, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for foxes to all the people, even my infantry.
40 And whilst I in a hurry turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
And the king of Israel answered and said, Let it be sufficient; let not the humpbacked boast as he that is upright.
41 But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.
And it came to pass when he returned him this answer, he and all the kings with him were drinking in tents: and he said to his servants, Form a trench. And they made a trench against the city.
42 And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a mall worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
And, behold, a prophet came to Achaab king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Hast you seen this great multitude? behold, I give it this day into your hands; and you shall know that I [am] the Lord.
43 And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.
And Achaab said, Whereby? And he said, Thus says the Lord, by the young men of the heads of the districts. And Achaab said, Who shall begin the battle? and he said, You.
