1 Kings 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.
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 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. 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 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.
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.