1 Kings 20

¹ And Ben-Hadad king of Aram has gathered all his force, and thirty and two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goes up and lays siege against Samaria, and fights with it, ² and sends messengers unto Ahab king of Israel, to the city, ³ and said to him, "Thus said Ben-Hadad, Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your sons - the best - are mine." ⁴ And the king of Israel answers and said, "According to your word, my lord, O king: I [am] your, and all that I have." ⁵ And the messengers turn back and say, "Thus spoke Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto you, saying, Your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your sons, to me you do give; ⁶ for if, at this time to-morrow, I send my servants unto you then they have searched your house, and the houses of your servants, and it has been, every desirable thing of your eyes they place in their hand, and have taken away." ⁷ And the king of Israel calls to all the elders of the land, and said, "Know, I pray you, and see that evil this [one] is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him." ⁸ And all the elders and all the people say unto him, "Do not hearken, nor consent." ⁹ And he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, "Say to my lord the king, All that you did send for unto your servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do"; and the messengers go and take him back word. ¹⁰ And Ben-Hadad sends unto him, and said, "Thus do the elohims to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet." ¹¹ And the king of Israel answers and said, "Speak you: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armor]." ¹² And it comes to pass at the hearing of this word - and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the booths - that he said unto his servants, "Set yourselves"; and they set themselves against the city. ¹³ And lo, a certain prophet has come nigh unto Ahab king of Israel, and said, "Thus said Yahweh, Have you seen all this great multitude? lo, I am giving it into your hand to-day, and you have known that I [am] Yahweh." ¹⁴ And Ahab said, "By whom?" and he said, "Thus said Yahweh, By the young men of the heads of the provinces"; and he said, "Who does direct the battle?" and he said, "You." ¹⁵ And he inspects the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred, two and thirty, and after them he inspects the whole of the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand, ¹⁶ and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking - drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings, helping him. ¹⁷ And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sends, and they declare to him, saying, "Men have come out of Samaria." ¹⁸ And he said, "If for peace they have come out - catch them alive; and if for battle they have come out - alive catch them." ¹⁹ And these have gone out of the city - the young men of the heads of the provinces - and the force that [is] after them, ²⁰ and smite each his man, and Aram flees, and Israel pursues them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapes on a horse, and the horsemen; ²¹ and the king of Israel goes out, and smites the horses, and the charioteers, and has smitten among the Arameans a great smiting. ²² And the prophet comes nigh unto the king of Israel, and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself, and know and see that which you do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against you." ²³ And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, "Elohims of hills [are] their elohims, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain - are we not stronger than they? ²⁴ And this thing do you: turn aside the kings each out of his place, and set captains in their stead; ²⁵ and you, number to you a force as the force that is fallen from you, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?" and he hearkens to their voice, and does so. ²⁶ And it comes to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspects the Arameans, and goes up to Aphek, to battle with Israel, ²⁷ and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Arameans have filled the land. ²⁸ And there comes nigh a man of Elohim, and speaks unto the king of Israel, and said, "Thus said Yahweh, Because that the Arameans have said, Elohim of hills [is] Yahweh, and He [is] not Elohim of valleys - I have given the whole of this great multitude into your hand, and you have known that I [am] Yahweh." ²⁹ And they encamp one over-against another seven days, and it comes to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draws near, and the sons of Israel smite Aram - a hundred thousand footmen in one day. ³⁰ And those left flee to Aphek, unto the city, and the wall falls on twenty and seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad has fled, and comes in unto the city, into the innermost part. ³¹ And his servants say unto him, "Lo, we pray you, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel - that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray you, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he does keep you alive." ³² And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come in unto the king of Israel, and say, "Your servant Ben-Hadad has said, Let me live, I pray you"; and he said, "Is he yet alive? he [is] my brother." ³³ And the men observe diligently, and hasten, and catch it from him, and say, "Your brother Ben-Hadad"; and he said, "Go you in, bring him"; and Ben-Hadad comes out unto him, and he causes him to come up on the chariot. ³⁴ And he said unto him, "The cities that my father took from your father, I give back, and streets you do make for you in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria; and I, with a covenant, send you away"; and he makes with him a covenant, and sends him away. ³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor by the word of Yahweh, "Smite me, I pray you"; and the man refuses to smite him, ³⁶ and he said to him, "Because that you have not hearkened to the voice of Yahweh, lo, you are going from me, and the lion has smitten you"; and he goes from him, and the lion finds him, and smites him. ³⁷ And he finds another man, and said, "Smite me, I pray you"; and the man smites him, smiting and wounding, ³⁸ and the prophet goes and stands for the king on the way, and disguises himself with ashes on his eyes. ³⁹ And it comes to pass - the king is passing by - that he has cried unto the king, and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and lo, a man has turned aside and brings in unto me a man, and said, Keep this man; if he be at all missing, then has your life been for his life, or a talent of silver you do weigh out; ⁴⁰ and it comes to pass, your servant is working hither and thither, and he is not!" and the king of Israel said unto him, Right [is] your judgment; you have determined [it]." ⁴¹ And he hastes and turns aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerns him, that he [is] of the prophets, ⁴² and he said unto him, "Thus said Yahweh, Because you have sent away the man I devoted, out of [your] hand, even your life has been for his life, and your people for his people; ⁴³ and the king of Israel goes unto his house, sulky and wroth, and comes in to Samaria.