1 Kings 20

About 1 Kings 1 Kings follows Solomon's reign and temple, then the split of the kingdom and the prophet Elijah.

And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.Selected1 Kings 20:1Ask

And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,Selected1 Kings 20:2Ask

Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.Selected1 Kings 20:3Ask

And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.Selected1 Kings 20:4Ask

And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;Selected1 Kings 20:5Ask

Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.Selected1 Kings 20:6Ask

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.Selected1 Kings 20:7Ask

And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.Selected1 Kings 20:8Ask

Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.Selected1 Kings 20:9Ask

And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.Selected1 Kings 20:10Ask

And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.Selected1 Kings 20:11Ask

And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.Selected1 Kings 20:12Ask

And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.Selected1 Kings 20:13Ask

And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.Selected1 Kings 20:14Ask

Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.Selected1 Kings 20:15Ask

And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.Selected1 Kings 20:16Ask

And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.Selected1 Kings 20:17Ask

And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.Selected1 Kings 20:18Ask

So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.Selected1 Kings 20:19Ask

And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.Selected1 Kings 20:20Ask

And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.Selected1 Kings 20:21Ask

And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.Selected1 Kings 20:22Ask

And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods 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.Selected1 Kings 20:23Ask

And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:Selected1 Kings 20:24Ask

And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast 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. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.Selected1 Kings 20:25Ask

And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.Selected1 Kings 20:26Ask

And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.Selected1 Kings 20:27Ask

And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.Selected1 Kings 20:28Ask

And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.Selected1 Kings 20:29Ask

But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.Selected1 Kings 20:30Ask

And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.Selected1 Kings 20:31Ask

So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.Selected1 Kings 20:32Ask

Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.Selected1 Kings 20:33Ask

And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.Selected1 Kings 20:34Ask

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.Selected1 Kings 20:35Ask

Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.Selected1 Kings 20:36Ask

Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.Selected1 Kings 20:37Ask

So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.Selected1 Kings 20:38Ask

And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.Selected1 Kings 20:39Ask

And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.Selected1 Kings 20:40Ask

And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.Selected1 Kings 20:41Ask

And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.Selected1 Kings 20:42Ask

And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.Selected1 Kings 20:43Ask

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1 Kings 20

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