1 Kings 20 War Between Ahab and the King of Syria

 1 Kings 20

War Between Ahab and the King of Syria

1- Then Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his forces together, and thirty-two kings, and horses and chariots were with him; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.

2- And he sent messengers to the city to Ahab king of Israel,

3- And he said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and the best of your children are mine.

4- And the king of Israel answered and said, As you have said, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.

5- And the messengers came again and said, Thus says Ben-hadad, saying, Although I sent to you, saying, You shall give me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;

 6- But tomorrow about this time I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants; and it will be that everything that is pleasing to you will be put into their hands and taken away.

7- Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, "Now consider and see how this man seeks evil; for he sent to me for my wives and children and for my silver and gold, and I did not refuse him."

8- And all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen to him or resist him."

9- So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, "Tell my lord the king, 'All that you first sent to ask of your servant I will do; but this I cannot do.' So the messengers went and returned to him with this answer.

10- And Ben-hadad sent to him, and said, So may the gods do to me, and more also: for the dust of Samaria shall not suffice to fill the hands of all the people that follow me.

11- But the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not one who girds himself boast as one who ungirds himself.

12- And it came to pass, when he heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in the tents, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves in array against the city.

13- And, behold, a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day, that thou mayest know that I am the LORD.

14- And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. And he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou.

15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.

16 And they went out at noon: and Ben-hadad was drinking and getting drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings, who helped him.

17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first: and Ben-hadad sent some, and they told him, saying, Men have come out of Samaria.

18 And he said, Even if they come out in peace, take them alive; and if they come out to battle, take them alive.

19 So the young men of the princes of the provinces went out of the city, and the army that followed them.

20- And they slew every man his own man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on horseback, and some horsemen.

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

22- Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, be strong, and observe, and see what thou dost; for within the space of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

23- For the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were too strong for us: but let us fight with them in the open field, and we shall see whether we are not too strong for them.

24- So do this: remove every man the king out of his place, and appoint captains in their stead.

25- Now number another army that has fallen against you, with horses like those horses and chariots like those chariots, and let us fight with them in the open field, and see if we are not stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.

26- And it came to pass after a year that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

27- And the children of Israel mustered them, and went up against them with provisions; and the children of Israel encamped opposite them, like two small flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the land.

28- And the man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says the Lord: Because the Syrians said, The Lord is a God of the mountains, and not a God of the valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great army into your hand, that you may know that I am the Lord.

29- And they camped seven days opposite each other. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the battle began, and the children of Israel smote the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

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