1Kings:20
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And Benhadad 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 .
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And he sent messengers to Ahab #
Ach #
ab #
king of Israel into the city ,
and said unto him ,
Thus saith Benhadad Ben-Hadad #,
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Thy silver and thy gold is mine ;
thy wives also and thy children ,
even the goodliest ,
are mine .
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And the king of Israel answered and said ,
My lord ,
O king ,
according to thy saying ,
I am thine ,
and all that I have .
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And the messengers came again ,
and said ,
Thus speaketh Benhadad 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 ;
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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 .
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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 .
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And all the elders and all the people said unto him ,
Hearken not unto him ,
nor consent .
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Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad 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 .
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And Benhadad 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 .
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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 .
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And it came to pass ,
when Benhadad 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 .
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And ,
behold ,
there came a prophet unto Ahab #
Ach #
ab #
king of Israel Yisra #
el #,
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 .
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And Ahab #
Ach #
ab #
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 .
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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 Yisra #
el #,
being seven thousand .
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And they went out at noon .
But Benhadad 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 ri #
shown #;
and Benhadad Ben-Hadad #
sent out ,
and they told him ,
saying ,
There are men come out of Samaria .
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And he said ,
Whether they be come out for peace ,
take them alive ;
or whether they be come out for war ,
take them alive .
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So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city ,
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 Benhadad Ben-Hadad #
the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen .
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And te king of Israel went out ,
and smote the horses and chariots ,
and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter .
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And the prophet came to the king of Israel Yisra #
el #,
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 .
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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 .
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And do this thing ,
Take the kings away ,
every man out of his place ,
and put captains in their rooms :
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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 .
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And it came to pass at the return of the year ,
that Benhadad Ben-Hadad #
numbered the Syrians ,
and went up to Aphek ,
to fight against Israel Yisra #
el #.
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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 .
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And there came a man of God ,
and spake unto the king of Israel Yisra #
el #,
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 .
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And they pitched one #
el-leh #
over against the other #
el-leh #
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 .
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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 Benhadad Ben-Hadad #
fled ,
and came into the city ,
into an inner chamber .
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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 ro #
sh #,
and go out to the king of Israel Yisra #
el #:
peradventure he will save thy life .
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So they girded sackcloth on their loins ,
and put ropes on their heads ro #
sh #,
and came to the king of Israel Yisra #
el #,
and said ,
Thy servant Benhadad Ben-Hadad #
saith ,
I pray thee ,
let me live .
And he said ,
Is he yet alive ?
he is my brother .
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Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him ,
and did hastily catch it :
and they said ,
Thy brother Benhadad Ben-Hadad #.
Then he said ,
Go ye ,
bring him .
Then Benhadad Ben-Hadad #
came forth to him ;
and he caused him to come up into the chariot .
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And Benhadad 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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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Then he found another man ,
and said ,
Smite me ,
I pray thee .
And the man smote him ,
so that in smiting he wounded him .
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So the prophet departed ,
and waited for the king by the way ,
and disguised himself with ashes upon his face .
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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 .
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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 .
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And he hasted ,
and took the ashes away from his face ;
and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets .
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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 .
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And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased za #
eph #,
and came to Samaria .