1 Kings 20

Chapter 20.

20 ¹ Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered his whole army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots; he marched up, laid siege to Samaria, and attacked it. ² He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: ³ 'Your silver and your gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.'"

⁴ The king of Israel answered, "Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, and all that I have."

⁵ The messengers came back and said, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: 'I sent word to you that you must hand over your silver and gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your palace and the houses of your servants, and they will seize and carry off everything you treasure.'"

⁷ Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, "See clearly how this man is bent on trouble. When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him."

⁸ All the elders and all the people answered him, "Do not listen to him, and do not give in."

⁹ So he told Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king, 'Everything you demanded of your servant the first time I will do, but this demand I cannot meet.'" The messengers left and carried back his reply.

¹⁰ Then Ben-Hadad sent to him this word: "May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust is left of Samaria to give each of my followers a handful."

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: 'Let no one who straps on his armor boast like one who takes it off.'"

¹² Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in their pavilions, and he ordered his men, "Take your positions." So they took their positions against the city.

The Father Hands Ahab the Victory

¹³ Meanwhile a prophet came up to Ahab king of Israel and announced, "This is what our Father says: Do you see this whole vast army? Today I will give it into your hand, and you will know that I am your Father."

¹⁴ "By whom?" Ahab asked. The prophet replied, "This is what our Father says: By the young officers of the provincial commanders." "And who will start the battle?" he asked. "You will," he answered.

¹⁵ So Ahab mustered the young officers of the provincial commanders—two hundred thirty-two of them. After them he mustered the rest of the troops, all the sons of Israel—seven thousand in all. ¹⁶ They marched out at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings allied with him were in their pavilions getting drunk. ¹⁷ The young officers of the provincial commanders went out first. Now Ben-Hadad had sent out scouts, who reported to him, "Men are coming out of Samaria."

¹⁸ He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive."

¹⁹ The young officers of the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them, ²⁰ and each one struck down his opponent. The Arameans fled, with Israel in pursuit, but Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his cavalry. ²¹ The king of Israel advanced and overwhelmed the horses and chariots, inflicting heavy losses on the Arameans. ²² Afterward the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "Strengthen your position and consider carefully what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you again."

²³ Meanwhile the servants of the king of Aram advised him, "Their gods are gods of the hills; that is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plain, we will surely be stronger than they. ²⁴ Do this: remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. ²⁵ Then raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plain. Then surely we will be stronger than they." He agreed with them and did so.

The Father Wins the Valley Too

²⁶ The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ When the sons of Israel were also mustered and supplied, they marched out to meet them. The sons of Israel camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.

²⁸ Then the man of God came up and said to the king of Israel, "This is what our Father says: Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will give this whole vast army into your hand, and you will know that I am your Father."

²⁹ For seven days they camped facing each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The sons of Israel struck down a hundred thousand of the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ The rest fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. Ben-Hadad fled into the city and hid in an inner room.

Ahab Spares the King He Should Not

³¹ His servants said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel's royal house are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads; perhaps he will spare your life."

³² So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, they came to the king of Israel and pleaded, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" The king answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."

³³ The men took this as a good sign and were quick to seize on his word. "Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!" they said. "Go and bring him," the king said. So Ben-Hadad came out, and Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

³⁴ "I will return the cities my father took from your father," Ben-Hadad offered, "and you may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab said, "On the basis of this treaty I will set you free." So he made a treaty with him and let him go.

A Prophet Confronts the King

³⁵ By the word of our Father one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, "Strike me, please." But the man refused to strike him.

³⁶ So the prophet said, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of our Father, the moment you leave me a lion will kill you." And after the man went off, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷ The prophet found another man and said, "Strike me, please." So the man struck him and wounded him.

³⁸ Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, "Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and there a man came over to me with a captive and said, 'Guard this man. If he goes missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ But while your servant was busy here and there, the man slipped away." "That is your sentence," the king of Israel told him. "You have pronounced it yourself."

⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

⁴² He said to the king, "This is what our Father says: Because you have set free the man I had devoted to destruction, it will be your life for his life, and your people for his people."

⁴³ Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home and returned to Samaria.