1 Kings 20

1And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. 2And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus says Benhadad, 3your silver and your gold mine; your wives also and your children, the goodliest, mine. 4And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to your saying, I your, and all that I have. 5And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto you, saying, you shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children; 6Yet I will send my servants unto you to morrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, whatsoever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put in their hand, and take away. 7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this 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. 8And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not , nor consent. 9therefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you didst send for to your servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. 10And 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. 11And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell , Let not him that girdeth on boast himself as he that putteth it off. 12And it came to pass, when heard this message, as he drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set . And they set against the city. 13And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus says the Yahuah, Hast you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I the Yahuah. 14And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus says the Yahuah, by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, you. 15Then 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, all the children of Israel, seven thousand. 16And they went out at noon. But Benhadad drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 17And 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. 18And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. 19So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. 20And 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. 21And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what you doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you. 23And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods 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. 24And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms: 25And number you an army, like the army that you hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. 26And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27And 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. 28And there came a man of Elohim, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Yahuah, Because the Syrians have said, The Yahuah Elohim of the hills, but he not Elohim of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and ye shall know that I the Yahuah. 29And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And 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. 30But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. 31And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel merciful kings: let us, I pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save your life. 32So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, your servant Benhadad says, I pray you, let me live. And he said, he yet alive? he my brother. 33Now the men did diligently observe whether from him, and did hastily catch : and they said, your 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. 34And said unto 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. Then , I will send you away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. 35And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Yahuah, Smite me, I pray you. And the man refused to smite him. 36Then said he unto him, Because you hast not obeyed the voice of the Yahuah, behold, as soon as you art departed from me, a lion shall slay you. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 37Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray you. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded . 38So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 39And as the king passed by, he cried unto 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 unto 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. 40And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So your judgment ; thyself hast decided . 41And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he of the prophets. 42And he said unto him, Thus says the Yahuah, Because you hast let go out of hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people. 43And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.