1 Kings 20

¹And Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army together, and thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.

²And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, 'Thus says Ben-hadad:

³Your silver and your gold are mine; your wives also and your best children are mine.

⁴And the king of Israel answered and said, According to your word, my lord the king, I am yours, I and all that I have.

⁵And the messengers came again, and said, 'Thus says Ben-hadad, saying: Surely I sent to you, saying, You shall give me your silver and your gold, and your wives and your children;

⁶But surely about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and it shall be that everything desirable in your eyes they shall put in their hand and take.

⁷And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, 'Mark, please, and see how this man seeks trouble; for he sent to me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold, and I did not refuse him.'

⁸And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not listen, and do not consent.

⁹And he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, All that you sent to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I am not able to do. And the messengers went and brought him back word.

¹⁰And Ben-hadad sent to him and said, 'May 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.'

¹¹And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not the one who girds on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.

¹²And it came to pass, when he heard this word, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the booths, that he said to his servants, 'Take your positions.' And they took their positions against the city.

¹³And behold, a certain prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I am giving it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁴And Ahab said, 'By whom?' And he said, 'Thus says the LORD: By the young men of the officials of the provinces.' Then he said, 'Who shall begin the battle?' And he answered, 'You.'

¹⁵Then he mustered the young men of the officials of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.

¹⁶And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who were helping him.

¹⁷And the young men of the officials of the provinces went out first, and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, Men have come out from Samaria.

¹⁸And he said, 'Whether they have come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they have come out for war, take them alive.'

¹⁹And these went out from the city: the young men of the officials of the provinces, and the army that followed them.

²⁰And they struck down each his man; and the Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.

²¹And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and the chariots, and struck Aram with a great blow.

²²And the prophet drew near to the king of Israel and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and take note and see what you will do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against you.

²³Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, 'Their gods are gods of the mountains; that is why they were stronger than us. But let us fight against them in the plain — then surely we will be stronger than them.'

²⁴And this thing do: remove the kings, each from his place, and put governors in their place.

²⁵And you, muster for yourself an army like the army that fell from you, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. And let us fight them in the plain — then surely we will be stronger than them.' And he listened to their voice and did so.

²⁶And it came to pass at the turn of the year that Ben-hadad mustered Aram and went up to Aphek for battle with Israel.

²⁷And the sons of Israel were mustered and provisioned, and they went to meet them; and the sons of Israel camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while Aram filled the land.

²⁸And the man of God approached and said to the king of Israel and said: 'Thus says the Lord: Because Aram said, "The Lord is a God of the hills and not a God of the valleys," I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.'

²⁹And these camped opposite those for seven days; and on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel struck down Aram: a hundred thousand foot soldiers in a single day.

³⁰And the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men of the rest; and Ben-hadad fled and came into the city, into a chamber within a chamber.

³¹And his servants said to him, 'We have now heard that the kings of the house of Israel — that they are kings of loyal love. Let us put sackcloth on our waists and ropes on our heads, and let us go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.'

³²And they girded sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said: 'Your servant Ben-hadad says, Please let my life be spared.' And he said: 'Is he still alive? He is my brother.'

³³Now the men were watching for an omen and quickly seized upon the word from him and said: 'Ben-hadad is your brother.' And he said: 'Go and bring him.' And Ben-hadad came out to him, and he brought him up into the chariot.

³⁴And Ben-hadad said to him, 'The cities that my father took from your father I will return; and you may set up market quarters for yourself in Damascus, as my father set them up in Samaria.' And Ahab said, 'I will send you away with a covenant.' So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.

³⁵And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the Lord: 'Strike me, please.' But the man refused to strike him.

³⁶And he said to him, 'Because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD, behold, when you depart from me a lion will strike you.' And he went from beside him, and the lion found him and struck him.

³⁷And he found another man and said: 'Strike me, please.' And the man struck him, striking and wounding him.

³⁸And the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king, and he disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.

³⁹And it came to pass as the king was passing that he cried out to the king and 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: "Guard this man; if he is found missing at all, your life shall be in place of his life, or you shall pay a talent of silver."'

⁴⁰And while your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.' And the king of Israel said to him, 'So is your judgment; you yourself have determined it.'

⁴¹And he quickly removed the bandage from over his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was one of the prophets.

⁴²And he said to him, 'Thus says the LORD: Because you have released the man devoted to my destruction from your hand, your life will be in place of his life, and your people in place of his people.'

⁴³And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and came to Samaria.