Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 20"

1 Kings 20

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Aram rallied his whole army; with him were thirty-two kings, besides horses and chariots. Then he marched on Shomron and laid siege to it.

2 He sent messengers inside the city to Ach'av king of Isra'el

3 to say to him, "Here is the message from Ben-Hadad: 'Your silver and gold are mine, also your wives and your best children are mine.'"

4 The king of Isra'el answered, "Just as you say, my lord, king; I am yours, along with everything I own."

5 The messengers returned and said, "Here is Ben-Hadad's response: 'I sent you a message to hand over your silver, gold, wives and children to me.

6 But I am going to send my servants to you tomorrow around this time; they will ransack your house and the houses of your servants; and whatever they see that they like they will seize and remove.'"

7 Then the king of Isra'el summoned all the leaders of the land and said, "Please take notice! Do you see how this man is trying to make trouble? First he demanded my wives, children, silver and gold; and I denied him nothing."

8 All the leaders and all the people said to him, "Don't listen, and don't agree."

9 So he said to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king, 'I will do all that you asked of me the first time, but this I cannot do." The messengers left and brought word back to him.

10 Ben-Hadad then sent this message to him: "May the gods do terrible things to me and worse ones as well if there's enough dust in Shomron to give each of my followers a handful!"

11 The king of Isra'el answered, "Tell him: 'He who is putting on his armor shouldn't boast as if he were taking it off!'"

12 It happened that Ben-Hadad received this message when he was drinking, he and his kings, in the field-barracks. He ordered his servants: "Take up your battle positions!" So they got ready to attack the city.

13 At that moment a prophet approached Ach'av king of Isra'el and said, "Here is what ADONAI says: 'Have you seen this vast army? I am going to give you victory over them today. Then you will know that I am ADONAI!'"

14 Ach'av asked, "Who will defeat them?" He answered, "This is what ADONAI says: 'The young men who serve the district governors.'" He asked, "Who will start the fighting?" and he answered, "You will."

15 He counted the district governors' young men; there were 232. After that, he counted all the people, all the people of Isra'el; there were 7,000.

16 They set out at noon. Ben-Hadad was drinking himself senseless in the field-barracks, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who were his allies.

17 The district governors' men went out first. Ben-Hadad sent for information, and they reported, "Men have come out from Shomron."

18 He said, "Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive."

19 So the district governors' men left the city, followed by the army;

20 and each one killed his man. Aram fled, and Isra'el pursued them. Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of the cavalry.

21 The king of Isra'el went out and attacked the horses and chariots, inflicting a massive defeat on Aram.

22 Afterwards, the prophet approached the king of Isra'el and said to him, "Go, regroup your forces, and think carefully what to do, for next year at this time the king of Aram will renew his attack."

23 Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their God is a God of the hills; that's why they were stronger than we were. But if we fight them on level ground, we will certainly be stronger than they are.

24 Also do this: remove all the kings from their commands, and put professional officers in their place.

25 Then recruit an army as big as the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will attack them on level ground, and we will certainly be stronger than they." He heeded what they said and acted accordingly.

26 At the same time the following year, Ben-Hadad mustered the army of Aram and went up to Afek to attack Isra'el.

27 The army of Isra'el, already mobilized and supplied, went to meet them; but the army of Isra'el, encamped opposite them, looked like two herds of goats; while Aram filled the land.

28 At this point, a man of God approached and said to the king of Isra'el, "Here is what ADONAI says: 'Because Aram said that ADONAI is a God of the hills but not a God of the valleys, I will hand over to you this entire huge army. Then you will know that I am ADONAI.'"

29 They remained in camp opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began; and the people of Isra'el killed 100,000 soldiers of Aram in a single day.

30 The rest fled to Afek, into the city; and the wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-Hadad fled into the city and took refuge in an inside room.

31 His servants said to him, "Here now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Isra'el are merciful kings. If it's all right with you, let's put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Isra'el. Maybe he will spare your life."

32 So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, went to the king of Isra'el and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please spare my life.'" And he answered, "He's still alive? He is my brother."

33 The men took this as a promising indication and seized on it to say, "Yes, Ben-Hadad is your brother." Then Ach'av said, "Go, and bring him here." Ben-Hadad went out to him, and Ach'av had him climb up into his chariot.

34 Ben-Hadad said to him, "I will return the cities my father took from your father. Also you can set up markets for trade in Dammesek, as my father did in Shomron." "If you put this covenant in writing," said Ach'av, "I will set you free." So he made a covenant with him and set him free.

35 One of the members of the prophets' guild said to another one, by the word of ADONAI, "Hit me!" But the man refused to hit him.

36 Then he said to him, "Because you didn't listen to the voice of ADONAI, the moment you leave me, a lion will kill you." No sooner had he left him than a lion found him and killed him.

37 The prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me!" The man struck him a blow and wounded him.

38 The prophet left and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.

39 As the king passed by, he called out to the king and said, "Your servant was on his way into the thick of the fighting when someone turned, brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man! If he is missing, you will pay for his life with yours; or else you will pay sixty-six pounds of silver.'

40 But while your servant was busy with one thing and another, he disappeared." The king of Isra'el said to him, "So that is your sentence; you have pronounced it on yourself."

41 Quickly he removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Isra'el recognized him as one of the prophets.

42 Then he said to the king, "Here is what ADONAI says: 'Because you have let escape the man I had given over to be destroyed, you will pay with your life for his life and with your people for his people.'"

43 The king of Isra'el returned home to Shomron resentful and depressed.

New Living Translation NLT

1 About that time King Ben-hadad of Aram mobilized his army, supported by the chariots and horses of thirty-two allied kings. They went to besiege Samaria, the capital of Israel, and launched attacks against it.

2 Ben-hadad sent messengers into the city to relay this message to King Ahab of Israel: “This is what Ben-hadad says:

3 ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and so are your wives and the best of your children!’”

4 “All right, my lord the king,” Israel’s king replied. “All that I have is yours!”

5 Soon Ben-hadad’s messengers returned again and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have already demanded that you give me your silver, gold, wives, and children.

6 But about this time tomorrow I will send my officials to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take away everything you consider valuable!’”

7 Then Ahab summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, “Look how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed with his demand that I give him my wives and children and silver and gold.”

8 “Don’t give in to any more demands,” all the elders and the people advised.

9 So Ahab told the messengers from Ben-hadad, “Say this to my lord the king: ‘I will give you everything you asked for the first time, but I cannot accept this last demand of yours.’” So the messengers returned to Ben-hadad with that response.

10 Then Ben-hadad sent this message to Ahab: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if there remains enough dust from Samaria to provide even a handful for each of my soldiers.”

11 The king of Israel sent back this answer: “A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.”

12 Ahab’s reply reached Ben-hadad and the other kings as they were drinking in their tents. “Prepare to attack!” Ben-hadad commanded his officers. So they prepared to attack the city.

13 Then a certain prophet came to see King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This is what the LORD says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD .”

14 Ahab asked, “How will he do it?” And the prophet replied, “This is what the LORD says: The troops of the provincial commanders will do it.” “Should we attack first?” Ahab asked. “Yes,” the prophet answered.

15 So Ahab mustered the troops of the 232 provincial commanders. Then he called out the rest of the army of Israel, some 7,000 men.

16 About noontime, as Ben-hadad and the thirty-two allied kings were still in their tents drinking themselves into a stupor,

17 the troops of the provincial commanders marched out of the city as the first contingent. As they approached, Ben-hadad’s scouts reported to him, “Some troops are coming from Samaria.”

18 “Take them alive,” Ben-hadad commanded, “whether they have come for peace or for war.”

19 But Ahab’s provincial commanders and the entire army had now come out to fight.

20 Each Israelite soldier killed his Aramean opponent, and suddenly the entire Aramean army panicked and fled. The Israelites chased them, but King Ben-hadad and a few of his charioteers escaped on horses.

21 However, the king of Israel destroyed the other horses and chariots and slaughtered the Arameans.

22 Afterward the prophet said to King Ahab, “Get ready for another attack. Begin making plans now, for the king of Aram will come back next spring. ”

23 After their defeat, Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “The Israelite gods are gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains.

24 Only this time replace the kings with field commanders!

25 Recruit another army like the one you lost. Give us the same number of horses, chariots, and men, and we will fight against them on the plains. There’s no doubt that we will beat them.” So King Ben-hadad did as they suggested.

26 The following spring he called up the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek.

27 Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and marched out for battle. But the Israelite army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast Aramean forces that filled the countryside!

28 Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: The Arameans have said, ‘The LORD is a god of the hills and not of the plains.’ So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am the LORD .”

29 The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.

30 The rest fled into the town of Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad fled into the town and hid in a secret room.

31 Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “Sir, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. So let’s humble ourselves by wearing burlap around our waists and putting ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel. Then perhaps he will let you live.”

32 So they put on burlap and ropes, and they went to the king of Israel and begged, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’” The king of Israel responded, “Is he still alive? He is my brother!”

33 The men took this as a good sign and quickly picked up on his words. “Yes,” they said, “your brother Ben-hadad!” “Go and get him,” the king of Israel told them. And when Ben-hadad arrived, Ahab invited him up into his chariot.

34 Ben-hadad told him, “I will give back the towns my father took from your father, and you may establish places of trade in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” Then Ahab said, “I will release you under these conditions.” So they made a new treaty, and Ben-hadad was set free.

35 Meanwhile, the LORD instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another man, “Hit me!” But the man refused to hit the prophet.

36 Then the prophet told him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And when he had gone, a lion did attack and kill him.

37 Then the prophet turned to another man and said, “Hit me!” So he struck the prophet and wounded him.

38 The prophet placed a bandage over his eyes to disguise himself and then waited beside the road for the king.

39 As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Sir, I was in the thick of battle, and suddenly a man brought me a prisoner. He said, ‘Guard this man; if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay a fine of seventy-five pounds of silver!’

40 But while I was busy doing something else, the prisoner disappeared!” “Well, it’s your own fault,” the king replied. “You have brought the judgment on yourself.”

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

42 The prophet said to him, “This is what the LORD says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed, now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people.”

43 So the king of Israel went home to Samaria angry and sullen.