1 Kings 20
The Voice
Elijah and Elisha are not the only prophets demonstrating God’s will in Israel. At all times, but especially during wars, kings seek the advice of prophets and men of God. The messages delivered may not always guarantee God’s favor, but the words are always reliable and true.
20 Meanwhile, Ben-hadad, Aram’s king, gathered his entire army to lay siege to Samaria. He was accompanied by 32 other kings as well as a large group of horses and chariots. He waged war against Samaria. 2 Ben-hadad then instructed his messengers to travel to see Ahab, Israel’s king, inside the city.
Messengers (to Ahab): This is a message from Ben-hadad: 3 “All of your treasures—your silver and your gold—belong to me. Your finest wives and healthiest children belong to me as well.”
Ahab’s Response: 4 It is exactly as you say, my lord and king. My life and everything that belongs to me are in your possession.
5 The messengers came back to Ahab and gave him a new message.
Messengers: This is the reply from Ben-hadad to your submission: “Did I or did I not tell you to give me all your treasures—your silver and gold and your finest wives and healthiest children? None of it belongs to you. It’s all mine. 6 Now I am sending some of my servants to do a search of your house and the houses of your servants. They will be there in about 24 hours, and they will take everything that catches their eyes.”
7 Israel’s king gathered up all the elders of Israel and explained the situation to them.
Ahab: I need your help figuring out what to do. King Ben-hadad is trying to cause problems. He demanded that my finest wives and healthiest children and all my silver and gold become his possession, and I submitted to his wish.
Elders and Israelites: 8 Don’t do what he says. Ignore him.
9 Ahab then gave a new message for the messengers to take back to Ben-hadad.
Ahab’s Message: Tell my lord the king, “Everything you asked at the beginning I will do, but I cannot do this new thing you ask of me; it is too much.”
The messengers left and gave Ahab’s message to Ben-hadad.
Ben-hadad’s Response: 10 I will forfeit my life to the gods (to do whatever they please with me) if I leave even enough of the dirt on the ground of Samaria to support those who serve and follow me.
Ahab: 11 Give Ben-hadad this message: “It is foolish for a man who is putting on armor to brag like a man who has won a battle and is taking off his armor.”
12 When Ben-hadad received this message, he was drinking with other kings in the camp. He gave urgent instructions to his servants: “Get the army ready immediately. I’ve had enough of Ahab.” The army prepared for battle against the city. 13 About this time, a prophet entered into the presence of Ahab, who was Israel’s king.
Prophet: This is the Eternal’s message: “Have you laid eyes upon the great army that has risen up against you? They look like an impossible opponent, but observe what is about to take place. I am going to give you victory over them on this day. Then you will know that I am the Eternal One.”
Ahab: 14 I can’t comprehend how such a victory could occur. Their army is massive. How is this going to happen?
Prophet: This is the Eternal’s message: “The young officers of the provincial leaders will do it for you.”
Ahab: Who is going to begin the fight and lead us into battle?
Prophet: You are.
15 Ahab then gathered up all the young officers of the provincial leaders, and there were 232 in all. Then he gathered together everyone else, including the Israelites. There were 7,000 in all. 16 They set out at noon. While they did this, Ben-hadad was drinking alcohol excessively in the camp with the other 32 kings who served him. 17 The young officers of the provincial leaders approached first. When a patrol of scouts Ben-hadad had sent out came back, they reported to him.
Scouts: Men have traveled here from Samaria.
Ben-hadad: 18 I don’t care whether they come in peace or with motives of war. Take them all as captives, and keep them alive!
19 The young officers of the provincial leaders had left the city with their army following them. 20 They proceeded to crush each man they faced. All the Arameans ran for their lives, and the Israelites went after them. Ben-hadad, Aram’s king, escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen. 21 Israel’s king pursued the Arameans, defeating their horses and chariots, crushing many Arameans.
22 The prophet approached Israel’s king.
Prophet: Go, and keep yourself fit because at the end of the year, Aram’s king is going to come back and wage war against you. Prepare for what is to come.
Ben-hadad’s Servants: 23 When we fought them in the mountains, they won because their gods are the mountain gods. But if we fight them on flat land, then we are sure to win. 24 Therefore evacuate the royal leaders, place all the civilian military leaders in place of the ineffectual royalty, 25 and assemble an army exactly like the one you lost. Replace every lost horse with a new horse and every lost chariot with a new chariot. We will battle on flat land, and we are sure to win because we will be stronger than they will be.
Ben-hadad listened to his servants and did everything they said to do, dismissing the royal leaders and rebuilding the army.
26 In the spring of the year, Ben-hadad assembled the Arameans and waged war against Israel at Aphek. 27 All the Israelites assembled and prepared and went out to meet the Arameans for battle. The camp of the Israelites looked like two tiny herds of goats compared to the Aramean army which filled the entire land. 28 A man of God approached Israel’s king.
Man of God: This is the Eternal’s message: “The Arameans have proclaimed that the Eternal is only a mountain god and not a god of the flat land; therefore I am going to give you a great victory over them. Then you will know that I am the Eternal One.”
Just as the prophets of Baal in Israel think that only their god controls the rain, the Arameans think that the Lord is only a god of the mountains. Among their pagan neighbors, where different gods control different things, it is unthinkable that there can be one God who controls everything, such as climate and land. It is exactly this misconception that God is aiming to debunk through Israel’s victories. He is the One; He controls all.
29 They camped out across from each other for seven days; and when the seventh day arrived, the battle began. The Israelites crushed 100,000 Aramean warriors in a single day. 30 All those who escaped ran into the city of Aphek. A great wall collapsed on them and killed 27,000 men. Ben-hadad escaped to the city and hid himself in a secret chamber.
Ben-hadad’s Servants: 31 The kings of Israel have a reputation for being merciful. Allow us to dress ourselves appropriately for surrender: We will put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads; then we will go to meet Israel’s king and hopefully salvage your life.
32 The servants dressed accordingly. They put sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads; then they approached Israel’s king.
Ben-hadad’s Servants: This is a message from Ben-hadad who proclaims he is in your service: “I beg you to leave my life untouched.”
Ahab: Ben-hadad is not yet dead? I thought he had surely been killed. He is my brother.
33 The servants watched carefully and perceived this to be a sign, and they replied with surprise.
Ben-hadad’s Servants: Yes, that’s right. Your brother, Ben-hadad.
Ahab: Bring Ben-hadad to me.
Ben-hadad came out of the city to Israel’s king, and Ahab allowed him to come up into the royal chariot.
Ben-hadad (to Ahab): 34 I will return all the cities that my father took from your father. Lay your own streets in Damascus, so you may market your goods there, just like the ones my father laid in Samaria.
Ahab: Under this covenant, I will release you.
So Ahab and Ben-hadad entered into a covenant with one another; then Ahab released Ben-hadad.
Remember that God has given Ben-hadad to Ahab. By orchestrating Ahab’s victory, the Lord reduces the power of the Arameans, whom He has used to discipline Israel, and now trusts Israel to keep Aram in check. Unfortunately, Ahab is easily bribed, tempted by Ben-hadad’s offer of land and trade opportunities in exchange for his freedom. Once again it is a prophet who shows Ahab his error in abandoning God’s plan by physically demonstrating how Ahab abused God.
35 By the word of the Eternal, one of the prophets’ sons made a request to another man.
Prophet’s Son: Hit me.
Man: No.
Prophet’s Son: 36 Because you have denied a command of the Eternal, you will be killed by a lion the moment you leave my presence.
Sure enough, the moment the man walked away, a lion killed him.
Prophet’s Son (to another man): 37 Hit me.
This man did as he was asked, and he bruised the prophet’s son. 38 The prophet left and waited on the side of the road for the king to come by. The prophet bandaged his eyes with a cloth, so that the king would not recognize him. 39 As soon as the king was near, the prophet shouted.
Prophet: Your servant entered into the heart of war, and someone gave a man over to my possession and said, “You are the guard of this man. If he escapes, then your life will replace his life. Or you may pay 75 pounds of silver instead.” 40 Your servant became busy with other work—doing this and doing that—and meanwhile, the prisoner disappeared.
Ahab: You have decided upon your own judgment, and so it shall be.
41 The prophet then removed the cloth from his eyes, and Israel’s king recognized him as one of the prophets.
Prophet: 42 This is the Eternal’s message: “You have allowed the man whom I was going to kill to escape. Your life will replace his life, and your people will take the place of his people.”
43 Israel’s king, frustrated and bad-tempered, returned to his house in Samaria.
1 Kings 20
King James Version
20 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.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
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.
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;
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.
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.
8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
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.
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.
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.
12 And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
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.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
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.
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.
24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
34 And Ben-hadad 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.
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.
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.
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.
38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
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.
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.
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.
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.
43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.