Chapter 20

And Ben-hadad the king of Syria collected all his army: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said to him, Thus saith Ben-hadad,

Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the most comely, are mine.

And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.

And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent to thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver to me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;

Yet I will send my servants to thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in thy eyes, they shall take it in their hand, and carry it away.

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 to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not.

And all the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not to him, nor consent.

Wherefore he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, 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.

And Ben-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 that follow me.

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.

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 to his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

And behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

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.

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.

And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

And the 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 of Samaria.

And he said, Whether they have come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they have come out for war, take them alive.

So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.

And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said to 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.

And the servants of the king of Syria said to 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.

And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:

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 to their voice, and did so.

And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

And there came a man of God, and spoke to 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 thy hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

And they encamped 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 a hundred thousand footmen in one day.

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 Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

And his servants said to 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: it may be he will save thy life.

So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

Now the men diligently observed whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

And Ben-hadad said to 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.

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.

Then said he to him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou hast departed from me, a lion will slay thee. And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.

So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.

And as the king passed by, he cried to 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 to me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he shall be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.

And he said to 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.

And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.