Ahab's Wars with Syria
1And Ben-Hadad king of Aram hath gathered all his force, and thirty and two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goeth up and layeth siege against Samaria, and fighteth with it,
2and sendeth messengers unto Ahab king of Israel, to the city,
3and saith to him, ‘Thus said Ben-Hadad, ‘Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy sons—the best—are mine.’
4And the king of Israel answereth and saith, ‘According to thy word, my lord, O king: I [am] thine, and all that I have.’
5And the messengers turn back and say, ‘Thus spake Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons, to me thou dost give;
6for if, at this time to-morrow, I send my servants unto thee then they have searched thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and it hath been, every desirable thing of thine eyes they place in their hand, and have taken away.’
7And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, ‘Know, I pray you, and see that evil this [one] is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.’
8And all the elders and all the people say unto him, ‘Do not hearken, nor consent.’
9And he saith to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, ‘Say to my lord the king, All that thou didst send for unto thy servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do;’ and the messengers go and take him back word.
10And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, ‘Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet.’
11And the king of Israel answereth and saith, ‘Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armour].’
12And it cometh to pass at the hearing of this word—and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the booths—that he saith unto his servants, ‘Set yourselves;’ and they set themselves against the city.
Ahab Defeats Ben-Hadad
13And lo, a certain prophet hath come nigh unto Ahab king of Israel, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, ‘Hast thou seen all this great multitude? lo, I am giving it into thy hand to-day, and thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.’
14And Ahab saith, ‘By whom?’ and he saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, By the young men of the heads of the provinces;’ and he saith, ‘Who doth direct the battle?’ and he saith, ‘Thou.’
15And he inspecteth the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred, two and thirty, and after them he hath inspecteth the whole of the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand,
16and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking—drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings, helping him.
17And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sendeth, and they declare to him, saying, ‘Men have come out of Samaria.’
18And he saith, ‘If for peace they have come out—catch them alive; and if for battle they have come out—alive catch them.’
19And these have gone out of the city—the young men of the heads of the provinces—and the force that [is] after them,
20and smite each his man, and Aram fleeth, and Israel pursueth them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapeth on a horse, and the horsemen;
21and the king of Israel goeth out, and smiteth the horses, and the charioteers, and hath smitten among the Aramaeans a great smiting.
22And the prophet cometh nigh unto the king of Israel, and saith to him, ‘Go, strengthen thyself, and know and see that which thou dost, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against thee.’
23And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, ‘Gods of hills [are] their gods, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain—are we not stronger than they?
24‘And this thing do thou: turn aside the kings each out of his place, and set captains in their stead;
25and thou, number to thee a force as the force that is fallen from thee, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?’ and he hearkeneth to their voice, and doth so.
Another War with Ben-Hadad
26And it cometh to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspecteth the Aramaeans, and goeth up to Aphek, to battle with Israel,
27and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Aramaeans have filled the land.
28And there cometh nigh a man of God, and speaketh unto the king of Israel, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Because that the Aramaeans have said, God of hills [is] Jehovah, and He [is] not God of valleys—I have given the whole of this great multitude into thy hand, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.’
29And they encamp one over-against another seven days, and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draweth near, and the sons of Israel smite Aram—a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30And those left flee to Aphek, unto the city, and the wall falleth on twenty and seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad hath fled, and cometh in unto the city, into the innermost part.
Ahab Spares Ben-Hadad
31And his servants say unto him, ‘Lo, we pray thee, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel—that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray thee, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he doth keep thee alive.’
32And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come in unto the king of Israel, and say, ‘Thy servant Ben-Hadad hath said, Let me live, I pray thee;’ and he saith, ‘Is he yet alive? he [is] my brother.’
33And the men observe diligently, and hasten, and catch it from him, and say, ‘Thy brother Ben-Hadad;’ and he saith, ‘Go ye in, bring him;’ and Ben-Hadad cometh out unto him, and he causeth him to come up on the chariot.
34And he saith unto him, ‘The cities that my father took from thy father, I give back, and streets thou dost make for thee in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria;’—‘and I, with a covenant, send thee away;’ and he maketh with him a covenant, and sendeth him away.
A Prophet Reproves Ahab
35And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of Jehovah, ‘Smite me, I pray thee;’ and the man refuseth to smite him,
36and he saith to him, ‘Because that thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, lo, thou art going from me, and the lion hath smitten thee;’ and he goeth from him, and the lion findeth him, and smiteth him.
37And he findeth another man, and saith, ‘Smite me, I pray thee;’ and the man smiteth him, smiting and wounding,
38and the prophet goeth and standeth for the king on the way, and disguiseth himself with ashes on his eyes.
39And it cometh to pass—the king is passing by—that he hath cried unto the king, and saith, ‘Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and lo, a man hath turned aside and bringeth in unto me a man, and saith, Keep this man; if he be at all missing, then hath thy life been for his life, or a talent of silver thou dost weigh out;
40and it cometh to pass, thy servant is working hither and thither, and he is not!’ and the king of Israel saith unto him, Right [is] thy judgment; thou hast determined [it].’
41And he hasteth and turneth aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerneth him, that he [is] of the prophets,
42and he saith unto him, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Because thou hast sent away the man I devoted, out of [thy] hand, even thy life hath been for his life, and thy people for his people;’
43and the king of Israel goeth unto his house, sulky and wroth, and cometh in to Samaria.
