1Kings:20:13-34
Seeker Overlay ON
*
And behold ,
a certain prophet came near to Ahab the king of Israel ,
and said ,
So says Jehovah ,
Have you seen all this great multitude ?
Behold I am going to give it into your hand today ,
and you shall know that I am Jehovah .
*
And Ahab said ,
By whom ?
And he said ,
So says Jehovah ,
by the young men of the rulers of the provinces .
Then he said ,
Who shall begin the battle ?
And he answered ,
You .
*
Then he numbered the young men of the rulers of the provinces ,
and they were two hundred and thirty two ;
and after them he numbered all the people ,
even all the sons of Israel ,
being seven thousand .
*
And they went out at noon ,
and Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths ,
he and the kings ,
the thirty two kings helping him .
*
And the young men of the rulers of the provinces went out at first ;
and Ben-hadad sent ,
and they told him ,
saying ,
Men have come out of Samaria .
*
And he said ,
If they have come out for peace ,
seize them alive ;
and if they have come to battle ,
seize them alive .
*
And these went out of the city ,
the young men of the rulers of the provinces ,
and the army which followed them .
*
And each struck his man ,
and Syria fled ,
and Israel pursued them ;
and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse ,
also the horsemen .
*
And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses ,
and the chariots ,
and struck the Syrians with a great blow .
*
And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him ,
Go ,
make yourself strong ,
and look and see what you do ;
for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you .
*
And the king of Syria '
s servants said to him ,
Their god is a god of the hills ;
on account of this they were stronger than we ;
but let us fight against them in the plain ,
and surely ,
we shall be stronger than they ,
*
And do this thing :
take away the kings ,
each out of his place ,
and set commanders in their place .
*
And number to yourself an army like the army that was lost from you ,
even horse for horse and chariot for chariot ;
and we shall fight with them in the plain .
Are we not stronger than they ?
And he listened to their voice and did so .
*
And it happened at the turn of the year ,
Ben-hadad called up the Syrians ,
and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel .
*
And the sons of Israel were called up ,
and were fed .
And they went to meet them .
And the sons of Israel camped before them ,
like two flocks of goats .
And the Syrians filled the land .
*
And a man of God came near to the king of Israel and said ,
So says Jehovah ,
Because the Syrians have said ,
Jehovah is God of the hills and not God of the valleys ,
therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand ,
and you shall know that I am Jehovah .
*
And they pitched ,
these against those ,
seven days .
And it happened in the seventh day ,
the battle came up .
And the sons of Israel struck Syria ,
a hundred thousand footmen in one day .
*
And those remaining fled to Aphek ,
to the city .
And the wall fell on twenty seven thousand of those left .
And Ben-hadad fled ,
and came into the city ,
into an inner room .
*
And his servants said to him ,
Behold now ,
we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings .
Please let us put sackcloth on our loins ,
and ropes on our heads ,
and we shall go to the king of Israel .
It may be he will keep alive your life .
*
And they girded sackcloth on their loins ,
and ropes on their heads .
And they came in to the king of Israel and said ,
Your servant Ben-hadad has said ,
Please let me live .
And he said ,
Is he yet alive ?
He is my brother .
*
And the men keenly observed ,
and quickly caught it from him ,
and said ,
Your brother ,
Ben-hadad .
And he said ,
Go ,
bring him .
And Ben-hadad came out to him .
And he took him up on the chariot .
*
And he said to him ,
The cities that my father took from your father ,
I give back .
And you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus ,
as my father did in Samaria .
Then I will let you go with a covenant .
And he cut a covenant with him and sent him away .