The Bible - read online Recovery Version

1 Kings 20 :1 20:1 And ^aBen-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, as well as horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it.

1 Kings 20 :2 20:2 And he sent messengers to the city to Ahab the king of Israel and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad,

1 Kings 20 :3 20:3 Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.

1 Kings 20 :4 20:4 And the king of Israel answered and said, As you say, O my lord the king, I and all that I have are yours.

1 Kings 20 :5 20:5 And the messengers came again and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, I sent word to you, saying, You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children;

1 Kings 20 :6 20:6 But tomorrow at this time I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and your servants’ houses; and whatever is pleasant in your sight, they will put in their hand and take away.

1 Kings 20 :7 20:7 And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Look now, and see how this man seeks trouble; for he sent word to me for my wives and my children and my silver and my gold; and I did not deny him.

1 Kings 20 :8 20:8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not listen to him, nor shall you give consent.

1 Kings 20 :9 20:9 And he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed and brought word back to him.

1 Kings 20 :10 20:10 And Ben-hadad sent word to him and said, The gods do so to me and even more, if the dust of Samaria will provide even a handful for all the people who follow me!

1 Kings 20 :11 20:11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him who puts on his armor boast like him who takes it off.

1 Kings 20 :12 20:12 And when he heard this word, as he and the kings in the tents were drinking, he said to his servants, Set yourselves in position. And they set themselves in position against the city.

1 Kings 20 :13 20:13 Then at that moment a certain prophet approached Ahab the king of Israel and said, Thus says Jehovah, Have you seen all this great multitude? I am now ^adelivering it into your hand today, and you will know that I am Jehovah.

1 Kings 20 :14 20:14 And Ahab said, Through whom? And he said, Thus says Jehovah, Through the attendants of the leaders of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, You.

1 Kings 20 :15 20:15 And he numbered the attendants of the leaders 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.

1 Kings 20 :16 20:16 And they went out at noon; and Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.

1 Kings 20 :17 20:17 And the attendants of the leaders of the provinces went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out men, and they told him, saying, Some men have come forth from Samaria.

1 Kings 20 :18 20:18 And he said, If they have come forth for peace, take them alive; or if they have come forth for war, take them alive.

1 Kings 20 :19 20:19 But these had come forth from the city, the attendants of the leaders of the provinces and the army that followed them.

1 Kings 20 :20 20:20 And each man struck down his ¹opponent; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. And Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

1 Kings 20 :21 20:21 And the king of Israel went forth and struck down the horses and chariots, and he struck down the Syrians with a great slaughter.

1 Kings 20 :22 20:22 And the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, Go; strengthen yourself, and consider and see what you should do; for at the ^areturn of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.

1 Kings 20 :23 20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the ^amountains; therefore they were stronger than we. But if we fight against them in the plain, we will surely be stronger than they.

1 Kings 20 :24 20:24 So do this: Remove the kings, each from his place, and put governors in their places.

1 Kings 20 :25 20:25 And you number an army, like the army that you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain. We will surely be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice and did so.

1 Kings 20 :26 20:26 And at the return of the year Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight with Israel.

1 Kings 20 :27 20:27 And the children of Israel were numbered and supplied with food, and they went to meet them. And the children of Israel encamped before them like ^atwo little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the land.

1 Kings 20 :28 20:28 And the man of God approached and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus says Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, ^aJehovah is a God of the mountains, but He is not a God of the valleys, I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand; and you will know that I am Jehovah.

1 Kings 20 :29 20:29 And they camped, one army against the other, for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the children of Israel struck down a hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day.

1 Kings 20 :30 20:30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on the twenty-seven thousand of them who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city, hiding from one room to another.

1 Kings 20 :31 20:31 And his servants said to him, Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. We beg you, let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will preserve your life.

1 Kings 20 :32 20:32 And they girded ^asackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, I beg you, preserve my life. And he said, Is he still alive? He is my brother.

1 Kings 20 :33 20:33 And the men were looking for some sign and quickly caught what came from him; and they said, Ben-hadad is your brother. And he said, Go and bring him. And Ben-hadad came forth to him, and he brought him up into the chariot.

1 Kings 20 :34 20:34 And Ben-hadad said to him, The ^acities that my father took from your father I will restore; and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I, said Ahab, will send you away with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

1 Kings 20 :35 20:35 And a certain one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of Jehovah, Strike me. But the man refused to strike him.

1 Kings 20 :36 20:36 Then he said to him, Because you have not listened to the voice of Jehovah, as soon as you depart from me, the ^alion will strike you down. And when he had departed from him, the lion found him and struck him down.

1 Kings 20 :37 20:37 Then he found another man and said, Strike me. And the man struck him violently and wounded him.

1 Kings 20 :38 20:38 And the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and he disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.

1 Kings 20 :39 20:39 And when the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and then a man turned aside and brought another man to me and said, Guard this man; if he is missing at all, your life will be for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver.

1 Kings 20 :40 20:40 And because your servant was doing things here and there, he got away. And the king of Israel said to him, So be your judgment; you have determined it yourself.

1 Kings 20 :41 20:41 Then he quickly took the bandage away from over his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.

1 Kings 20 :42 20:42 And he said to him, Thus says Jehovah, Because you have released out of your hand the man whom I had ^adevoted to destruction, your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.

1 Kings 20 :43 20:43 And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and he came to Samaria.