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Chapter 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
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. |
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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.
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| 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. |
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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 neighbor 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. |
