1 Kings 20
World English Bible
20 Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots. He went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. 2 He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, “Ben Hadad says, 3 ‘Your silver and your gold is mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.’”
4 The king of Israel answered, “It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.”
5 The messengers came again, and said, “Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent indeed to you, saying, “You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children; 6 but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they will search your house, and the houses of your servants; whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hand, and take it away.”’”
7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Please notice 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 didn’t deny him.”
8 All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen, and don’t consent.”
9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do.’”
The messengers departed, and brought him back the message. 10 Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
11 The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’”
12 When Ben Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, he said to his servants, “Prepare to attack!” So they prepared to attack the city.
13 Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.’”
14 Ahab said, “By whom?”
He said, “Yahweh says, ‘By the young men of the princes of the provinces.’”
Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?”
He answered, “You.”
15 Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two. After them, he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. 16 They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17 The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, “Men are coming out from Samaria.”
18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
19 So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them. 20 They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22 The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”
23 The servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. 24 Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place. 25 Muster an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are.”
He listened to their voice, and did so. 26 At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27 The children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats; but the Syrians filled the country. 28 A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys;” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”
29 They encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner room. 31 His servants said to him, “See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life.”
32 So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’”
He said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33 Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, “Your brother Ben Hadad.”
Then he said, “Go, bring him.”
Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34 Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.”
“I”, said Ahab, “will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
35 A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by Yahweh’s word, “Please strike me!”
The man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed Yahweh’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.
37 Then he found another man, and said, “Please strike me.”
The man struck him and wounded him. 38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. 39 As the king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over, and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent[a] of silver.’ 40 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 He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. 42 He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’”
43 The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 20:39 A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds
1 Kings 20
Christian Standard Bible
Victory over Ben-hadad
20 Now King Ben-hadad(A) of Aram assembled his entire army. Thirty-two kings,(B) along with horses and chariots, were with him. He marched up, besieged Samaria,(C) and fought against it. 2 He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel and said to him, “This is what Ben-hadad says: 3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine! And your best wives and children are mine as well!’” (D)
4 Then the king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”
5 The messengers then returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have sent messengers to you, saying, “You are to give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.” 6 But at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you,[a](E) and they will search your palace and your servants’ houses. They will lay their hands on and take away whatever is precious to you.’”
7 Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Recognize[b] that this one is only looking for trouble,(F) for he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn’t turn him down.”
8 All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen or agree.”
9 So he said to Ben-hadad’s messengers, “Say to my lord the king, ‘Everything you demanded of your servant the first time, I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” So the messengers left and took word back to him.
10 Then Ben-hadad sent messengers to him and said, “May the gods punish me and do so severely(G) if Samaria’s dust(H) amounts to a handful for each of the people who follow me.”
11 The king of Israel answered, “Say this: ‘Don’t let the one who puts on his armor boast(I) like the one who takes it off.’”
12 When Ben-hadad heard this response, while he and the kings were drinking(J) in their quarters,[c] he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they took their positions against the city.
13 A prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this whole huge army? Watch, I am handing it over to you today so that you may know that I am the Lord.’”(K)
14 Ahab asked, “By whom?”
And the prophet said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘By the young men of the provincial leaders.’”
Then he asked, “Who is to start the battle?” (L)
He said, “You.”
15 So Ahab mobilized the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232. After them he mobilized all the Israelite troops: 7,000.(M) 16 They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings(N) who were helping him were getting drunk in their quarters. 17 The young men of the provincial leaders marched out first. Then Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, saying, “Men are marching out of Samaria.”(O)
18 So he said, “If they have marched out in peace,(P) take them alive, and if they have marched out for battle, take them alive.”
19 The young men of the provincial leaders and the army behind them marched out from the city, 20 and each one struck down his opponent.(Q) So the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them,(R) but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. 21 Then the king of Israel marched out and attacked the cavalry and the chariots. He inflicted a severe slaughter on Aram.
22 The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and strengthen yourself, then consider carefully[d] what you should do, for in the spring(S) the king of Aram will attack you.”
23 Now the king of Aram’s servants said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hill country.(T) That’s why they were stronger than we were. Instead, we should fight with them on the plain; then we will certainly be stronger than they are. 24 Also do this: remove each king from his position and appoint captains in their place. 25 Raise another army for yourself like the army you lost—horse for horse, chariot for chariot—and let’s fight with them on the plain; and we will certainly be stronger than they are.” The king listened to them and did it.
26 In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek(U) to battle Israel. 27 The Israelites mobilized, gathered supplies, and went to fight them. The Israelites camped in front of them like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the landscape.(V)
28 Then the man of God(W) approached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,”(X) I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”(Y)
29 They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day,(Z) the battle took place, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. 30 The ones who remained fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on those twenty-seven thousand remaining men.
Ben-hadad also fled and went into an inner room(AA) in the city. 31 His servants said to him, “Consider this: we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let’s put sackcloth around our waists(AB) and ropes around our heads, and let’s go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
32 So they dressed with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’”
So he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33 Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, so they quickly picked up on this[e] and responded, “Yes, it is your brother Ben-hadad.”
Then he said, “Go and bring him.”
So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into the chariot. 34 Then Ben-hadad said to him, “I restore to you the cities that my father took from your father,(AC) and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.”(AD)
Ahab responded, “On the basis of this treaty, I release you.” So he made a treaty with him and released him.
Ahab Rebuked by the Lord
35 One of the sons of the prophets(AE) said to his fellow prophet by the word of the Lord, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him.
36 He told him, “Because you did not listen to the Lord, mark my words: When you leave me, a lion will kill you.”(AF) When he left him, a lion attacked and killed him.
37 The prophet found another man and said to him, “Strike me!” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. 38 Then the prophet went and waited for the king on the road. He disguised(AG) himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life,(AH) or you will weigh out seventy-five pounds[f] of silver.’ 40 But while your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.”
The king of Israel said to him, “That will be your sentence; you yourself have decided it.”(AI)
41 He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes. The king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. 42 The prophet said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you released from your hand the man I had set apart for destruction,(AJ) it will be your life in place of his life and your people in place of his people.’” 43 The king of Israel left for home resentful and angry,(AK) and he entered Samaria.
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