The First Book of Kings (WEB)
20: 1Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and there were thirty-two kings
with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
20:2He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad,
20:3Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.
20:4The king of Israel answered, It is according to your saying, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all
that I have. 20:5The messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed
to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;
20:6but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house,
and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall
put it in their hand, and take it away. 20:7Then 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. 20:8All the elders and all the
people said to him, Don't you listen, neither consent. 20:9Therefore he said to the messengers of
Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send for to your servant at the first I will do;
but this thing I may not do. The messengers departed, and brought him word again. 20:10Ben-hadad
sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for
handfuls for all the people who follow me. 20:11The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Don't let him
who girds on his armor boast himself as he who puts it off. 20:12It happened, when Ben-hadad heard
this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants,
Set yourselves in array. They set themselves in array against the city. 20:13Behold, a prophet came
near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Have you seen all this great multitude?
behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 20:14Ahab
said, By whom? He said, Thus says Yahweh, By the young men of the princes of the provinces.
Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. 20:15Then he mustered the young men
of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he
mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. 20:16They 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. 20:17The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and
Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria. 20:18He said,
Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, taken
them alive. 20:19So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the
army which followed them. 20:20They killed everyone his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel
pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 20:21The king of
Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.
20:22The 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.
20:23The 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 us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than
they. 20:24Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their
room; 20:25and number you an army, like the army that you have 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.
He listened to their voice, and did so. 20:26It happened at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad
mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 20:27The children of Israel were
mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped
before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. 20:28A man of God came
near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Because the Syrians have said,
Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great
multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 20:29They encamped one over
against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the
children of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one day. 20:30But 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 chamber. 20:31His servants said to him, See
now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray you,
put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure
he will save your life. 20:32So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put 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 yet alive? he is my brother. 20:33Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to catch whether it
were his mind; and they said, Your brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go you, bring him. Then
Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 20:34Ben-hadad said
to him, The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you shall make streets
for you 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. 20:35A certain man of the sons of the
prophets said to his fellow by the word of Yahweh, Please strike me. The man refused to strike
him. 20:36Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, behold, as soon
as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was departed from him, a lion
found him, and killed him. 20:37Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man
struck him, smiting and wounding him. 20:38So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the
way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. 20:39As the king passed by, he cried to
the king; and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned
aside, and brought a man to me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then
shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver. 20:40As your servant was busy
here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be; yourself
have decided it. 20:41He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel
discerned him that he was of the prophets. 20:42He said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Because you
have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall
go for his life, and your people for his people. 20:43The king of Israel went to his house heavy and
displeased, and came to Samaria.
World English Bible