1Kings:20:13-34
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And ,
look ,
a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel ,
and said ,
Thus says Yahweh ,
Have you seen all this great multitude ?
Look ,
I will deliver it into your hand this day ;
and you will know that I am Yahweh .
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And Ahab said ,
By whom ?
And he said ,
Thus says Yahweh ,
By the young men of the princes of the provinces .
Then he said ,
Who will begin the battle ?
And he answered ,
You .
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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 sons of Israel ,
being seven thousand .
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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 .
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And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first ;
and Ben-hadad sent out ,
and they told him ,
saying ,
Men have come out from Samaria .
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And he said ,
Whether they have come out for peace ,
take them alive ,
or whether they have come out for war ,
take them alive .
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So these went out of the city ,
the young men of the princes of the provinces ,
and the army which followed them .
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And they slew every one his man ;
and the Syrians fled ,
and Israel pursued them :
and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen .
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And the king of Israel went out ,
and struck the horses and chariots ,
and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter .
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And the prophet came near to the king of Israel ,
and said to him ,
Go ,
strengthen yourself ,
and consider ,
and see what you do ;
for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you .
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And the slaves 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 will be stronger than they .
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And do this thing :
take the kings away ,
every man out of his place ,
and put captains in their place ;
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and you number for yourself 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 will be stronger than they .
And he listened to their voice ,
and did so .
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And it came to pass at the return of the year ,
that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians ,
and went up to Aphek ,
to fight against Israel .
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And the sons of Israel were mustered ,
and were victualled ,
and went against them :
and the sons of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats ;
but the Syrians filled the country .
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And 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 I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand ,
and you (
note :){+}(:
note )
will know that I am Yahweh .
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And they encamped one opposite the other seven days .
And so it was ,
that in the seventh day the battle was joined ;
and the sons of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day .
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But the rest fled to Aphek ,
into the city ;
and the wall fell on twenty and seven thousand men who were left .
And Ben-hadad fled ,
and came into the city ,
into an inner chamber .
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And his slaves said to him ,
Look 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 :
perhaps he will save your life .
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So they girded sackcloth on their loins ,
and [
put ]
ropes on their heads ,
and came to the king of Israel ,
and said ,
Your slave Ben-hadad says ,
I pray you ,
let me live .
And he said ,
Is he yet alive ?
He is my brother .
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Now the men were using magic ,
and hurried to catch whether it was his mind ;
and they said ,
Your brother Ben-hadad .
Then he said ,
Go (
note :){+}(:
note ),
bring him .
Then Ben-hadad came forth to him ;
and he caused him to come up into the chariot .
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And [
Ben-hadad ]
said to him ,
The cities which my father took from your father I will restore ;
and you will make streets for yourself in Damascus ,
as my father made in Samaria .
And I , [
said Ahab ],
will let you go with this covenant .
So he made a covenant with him ,
and let him go .