الإصحَاحُ
الْعِشْرُونَ

 

Chapter
20

1
And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were
thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and
besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

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

3
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the
goodliest, are mine.

4
And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy
saying, I am thine, and all that I have.

5
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying,
Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and
thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;

6
Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall
search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that
whatsoever is pleasant in thine 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, Mark, I
pray you, and see how this man 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.

8
And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor
consent.

9
Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All
that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing
I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

10
And Ben-hadad 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.

11
And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on
his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.

12
And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he
and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves
in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

13
And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith
the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it
into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

14
And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men
of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And
he answered, Thou.

15
Then 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, even all
the children of Israel, being seven thousand.

16
And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the
pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

17
And 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 of Samaria.

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

19
So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and
the army which followed them.

20
And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them:
and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.

21
And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew
the Syrians with a great slaughter.

22
And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself,
and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria
will come up against thee.

23
And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are 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.

24
And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put
captains in their rooms:

25
And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast 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. And he hearkened unto their voice, and
did so.

26
And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the
Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

27
And 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.

28
And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus
saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills,
but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great
multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

29
And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so 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.

30
But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty
and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into
the city, into an inner chamber.

31
And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the
house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our
loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure
he will save thy life.

32
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came
to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let
me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

33
Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and
did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go
ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up
into the chariot.

34
And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father,
I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father
made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So
he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

35
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the
word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.

36
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD,
behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as
soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

37
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote
him, so that in smiting he wounded him.

38
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised
himself with ashes upon his face.

39
And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy 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 thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

40
And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel
said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

41
And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel
discerned him that he was of the prophets.

42
And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy
hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go
for his life, and thy people for his people.

43
And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.