1 Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and
there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up
and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. 2 He sent messengers to Ahab
king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben Hadad,
3 Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children,
even the best, are mine. 4 The king of Israel answered, It is according to
your saying, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have. 5 The
messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben Hadad, saying, I sent indeed
to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your
wives, and your children; 6 but I will send my servants to you tomorrow
about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your
servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall
put it in their hand, and take it away. 7 Then the king of Israel called
all the elders of the land, and said, Please notice how this man seeks
mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my
silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him. 8 All the elders and all
the people said to him, Don't you listen, neither consent. 9 Therefore he
said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did
send for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do.
The messengers departed, and brought him word again. 10 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 who follow me. 11 The king
of Israel answered, Tell him, Don't let him who girds on his armor
boast himself as he who puts it off. 12 It happened, 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.
They set themselves in array against the city. 13 Behold, a
prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Have
you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand
this day; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 14 Ahab said, By whom? He
said, Thus says Yahweh, By the young men of the princes of the provinces.
Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. 15 Then he
mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two
hundred and thirty-two: and after them he mustered all the people, even all
the children of Israel, being seven thousand. 16 They went out at noon.
But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings,
the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17 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 from Samaria. 18 He said, Whether they are
come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war,
taken them alive. 19 So these went out of the city, the young men of the
princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them. 20 They killed
everyone his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben
Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 The king of
Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians
with a great slaughter. 22 The prophet came near to the king of Israel,
and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for
at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.
23 The servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their god is a god 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. 24 Do this
thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in
their room; 25 and number you an army, like the army that you have 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. He listened to their
voice, and did so. 26 It happened at the return of the year, that Ben
Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 The children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went
against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little
flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. 28 A man of God came
near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Because the
Syrians have said, Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the
valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand,
and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 29 They encamped one over
against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle
was joined; and the children of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred
thousand footmen in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city;
and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled,
and came into the city, into an inner chamber. 31 His servants said to
him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are
merciful kings: let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on
our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save your
life. 32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on
their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Your servant Ben Hadad
says, please let me live. He said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
33 Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to catch whether it were
his mind; and they said, Your brother Ben Hadad. Then he said, Go you,
bring him. Then Ben Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up
into the chariot. 34 Ben Hadad said to 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. I, said Ahab, will let
you go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
35 A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the
word of Yahweh, Please strike me. The man refused to strike him. 36 Then
said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, behold, as
soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was
departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him. 37 Then he found
another man, and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and
wounding him. 38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the
way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. 39 As the king
passed by, he cried to 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 to
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. 40 As your
servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him,
So shall your judgment be; yourself have decided it. 41 He hurried, and
took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him
that he was of the prophets. 42 He said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Because
you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,
therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.
43 The king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to
Samaria.
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