1 Kings 20
Bin Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. 2He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says Bin Hadad, 3Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine. 4The king of Israel answered, Just as you say, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have. 5The messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Bin Hadad, saying, Indeed I sent to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children; 6but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. 7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him. 8All the elders and all the people said to him, Don't listen to him, neither consent. 9Therefore he said to the messengers of Bin Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do. The messengers departed, and brought him word again. 10Bin Hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give a handful to each of the men who follow me. 11The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Do not let him who puts on his armour boast like one who takes it off. 12Bin Hadad heard this message as he and the kings were drinking in his tent. Then he said to his servants, Prepare to attack! They got ready to attack the city. 13Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says Allah, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am Allah. 14Ahab said, By whom? He said, Thus says Allah, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. 15Then 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 Bani-Israel, being seven thousand. 16They went out at noon. But Bin Hadad was drinking himself drunk in his tent, he and the thirty-two kings who allied with him. 17The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Bin Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, Men are coming out of Samaria. 18He said, If they have come out for peace, take them alive, and if they have come out for war, take them alive. 19So these young princes of the provinces went out of Samaria, with the army which followed them. 20Each one killed his man; so the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Bin Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21The king of Israel went out, and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and take note, and see what you should do; for at the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you. 23The servants 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 shall be stronger than they. 24Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their places; 25and muster 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 shall be stronger than they. He listened to their voice, and did so. 26It happened at the spring of the year, that Bin Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27Bani-Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them: and Bani-Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. 28A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says Allah, Because the Syrians have said, Allah 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 shall know that I am Allah. 29They encamped one over against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and Bani-Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day. 30But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Bin Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. 31His servants said to him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our wastes, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will spare your life. 32So they wore sackcloth on their wastes, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Your servant Bin Hadad says, please let me live. He said, Is he still alive? He is my brother. 33Now the men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. They said, Yes, your brother Bin Hadad. Then the king said, Go, bring him. Then Bin Hadad came forth to him; and Ahab had him to come up into the chariot. 34Bin Hadad said to him, The cities which my father took from your father I will restore to you; and you shall set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. Then Ahab said, I will let you go with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him, and let him go. 35A certain man of the company of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of Allah, Please strike me. The man refused to strike him. 36Then he said to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Allah, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him. 37Then the prophet found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him. 38So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. 39As the king passed by, he cried out to the king; and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, Guard this man: if by any means he is missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver. 40While your servant was busy here and there, he escaped. The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it. 41The prophet hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. 42The prophet said to him, Thus says Allah, Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people. 43The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.