1KI-20:1 And Benhadad 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 Samaria, and
warred against it.
1KI-20:2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the
city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
1KI-20:3 Thy silver and thy gold [is] mine; thy wives also and
thy children, [even] the goodliest, [are] mine.
1KI-20:4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O
king, according to thy saying, I [am] thine, and all that I have.
1KI-20:5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh
Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou
shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and
thy children;
1KI-20:6 Yet 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.
1KI-20:7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the
land, and said, Mark, 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.
1KI-20:8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him,
Hearken not [unto him], nor consent.
1KI-20:9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, 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.
1KI-20:10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so
unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for
handfuls for all the people that follow me.
1KI-20:11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him],
Let not him that girdeth on [his harness] boast himself as he
that putteth it off.
1KI-20:12 And it came to pass, when [Benhadad] heard this
message, as he [was] drinking, 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.
1KI-20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of
Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this
great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this
day; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD.
1KI-20:14 And 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.
1KI-20:15 Then 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.
1KI-20:16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad [was] drinking
himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and
two kings that helped him.
1KI-20:17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went
out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying,
There are men come out of Samaria.
1KI-20:18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take
them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
1KI-20:19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces
came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
1KI-20:20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled;
and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped
on an horse with the horsemen.
1KI-20:21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses
and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
1KI-20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said
unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou
doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come
up against thee.
1KI-20:23 And 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 the plain, and surely
we shall be stronger than they.
1KI-20:24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out
of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
1KI-20:25 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 in the plain, [and] surely we shall be
stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did
so.
1KI-20:26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that
Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight
against Israel.
1KI-20:27 And 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.
1KI-20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king
of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians
have said, The LORD [is] God of the hills, but he [is] not God
of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great
multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I [am] the
LORD.
1KI-20:29 And 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.
1KI-20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and [there]
a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men [that
were] left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an
inner chamber.
1KI-20:31 And 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, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon
our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he
will save thy life.
1KI-20:32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and [put]
ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said,
Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he
said, [Is] he yet alive? he [is] my brother.
1KI-20:33 Now the men did diligently observe whether [any thing
would come] from him, and did hastily catch [it]: and they said,
Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then
Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into
the chariot.
1KI-20:34 And [Benhadad] said unto him, The cities, which my
father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make
streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then
[said Ahab], I will send thee away with this covenant. So he
made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
1KI-20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said
unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray
thee. And the man refused to smite him.
1KI-20:36 Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed
the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from
me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from
him, a lion found him, and slew him.
1KI-20:37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray
thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded [him].
1KI-20:38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by
the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
1KI-20:39 And 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 shall thy
life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
1KI-20:40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was
gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So [shall] thy
judgment [be]; thyself hast decided [it].
1KI-20:41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face;
and the king of Israel discerned him that he [was] of the
prophets.
1KI-20:42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because
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.
1KI-20:43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and
displeased, and came to Samaria.
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