Nun

Samekh

Ayin

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad Again

^26 (A)In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to ^(B)Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸ And a ^(C)man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, ^(D)“The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore ^(E)I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’” ²⁹ And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ And the rest fled into the city of ^(F)Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.

Ben-hadad also fled and entered ^(G)an inner chamber in the city. 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 ^(H)put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.” ³² So they ^(I)tied sackcloth around their waists and put ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please, let me live.’” And he said, “Does he still live? He is my brother.” ³³ Now the men were watching for a sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” Then he said, “Go and bring him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴ And Ben-hadad said to him, ^(J)“The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in ^(K)Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” And Ahab said, “I will let you go on these terms.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad's Release

³⁵ And a certain man of ^(L)the sons of the prophets said to his fellow ^(M)at the command of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.” And as soon as he had departed from him, ^(N)a lion met him and struck him down. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, ^(O)disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, ^(P)your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent^[a] of silver.’ ⁴⁰ And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.” ⁴¹ Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴² And he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,^[b] therefore ^(Q)your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” ⁴³ And the king of Israel ^(R)went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.

Saul Ravages the Church

8 And ^(A)Saul ^(B)approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ^(C)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³ But ^(D)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(E)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴ Now ^(F)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. ^5 (G)Philip went down to the city^[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ^6 (H)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^(I)and saw the signs that he did. ⁷ For ^(J)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So ^(K)there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

⁹ But there was a man named Simon, ^(L)who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^(M)saying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰ They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^(N)“This man is the power of God that is called ^(O)Great.” ¹¹ And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^(P)amazed them with his magic. ¹² But when ^(Q)they believed Philip as he preached good news ^(R)about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^(S)they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^(T)seeing signs and ^(U)great miracles^[b] performed, ^(V)he was amazed.

¹⁴ Now when ^(W)the apostles at Jerusalem heard that ^(X)Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them ^(Y)that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ for ^(Z)he had not yet ^(AA)fallen on any of them, but ^(AB)they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(AC)they laid their hands on them and ^(AD)they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, ^(AE)“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God ^(AF)with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for ^(AG)your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, ^(AH)if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in ^(AI)the gall^[c] of bitterness and in ^(AJ)the bond of iniquity.” ²⁴ And Simon answered, ^(AK)“Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵ Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, ^(AL)preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.