Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 20"

1 Kings 20

New Century Version NCV

1 Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered together all his army. There were thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots who went with him and surrounded Samaria and attacked it.

2 The king sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel. This was his message: "Ben-Hadad says,

3 'Your silver and gold belong to me, as well as the best of your wives and children.'"

4 Ahab king of Israel answered, "My master and king, I agree to what you say. I and everything I have belong to you."

5 Then the messengers came to Ahab again. They said, "Ben-Hadad says, 'I told you before that you must give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children.

6 About this time tomorrow I will send my men, who will search everywhere in your palace and in the homes of your officers. Whatever they want they will take and carry off.'"

7 Then Ahab called a meeting of all the older leaders of his country. He said, "Ben-Hadad is looking for trouble. First he said I had to give him my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I have not refused him."

8 The older leaders and all the people said, "Don't listen to him or agree to this."

9 So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my master the king: 'I will do what you said at first, but I cannot allow this second command.'" And King Ben-Hadad's men carried the message back to him.

10 Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: "May the gods punish me terribly if I don't completely destroy Samaria. There won't be enough left for each of my men to get a handful of dust!"

11 Ahab answered, "Tell Ben-Hadad, 'The man who puts on his armor should not brag. It's the man who lives to take it off who has the right to brag.'"

12 Ben-Hadad was drinking in his tent with the other rulers when the message came from Ahab. Ben-Hadad commanded his men to prepare to attack the city, and they moved into place for battle.

13 At the same time a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel. The prophet said, "Ahab, the Lord says to you, 'Do you see that big army? I will hand it over to you today so you will know I am the Lord.'"

14 Ahab asked, "Who will you use to defeat them?" The prophet answered, "The Lord says, 'The young officers of the district governors will defeat them.'" Then the king asked, "Who will command the main army?" The prophet answered, "You will."

15 So Ahab gathered the young officers of the district governors, two hundred thirty-two of them. Then he called together the army of Israel, about seven thousand people in all.

16 They marched out at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two rulers helping him were getting drunk in their tents.

17 The young officers of the district governors attacked first. Ben-Hadad sent out scouts who told him that soldiers were coming from Samaria.

18 Ben-Hadad said, "They may be coming to fight, or they may be coming to ask for peace. In either case capture them alive."

19 The young officers of the district governors led the attack, followed by the army of Israel.

20 Each officer of Israel killed the man who came against him. The men from Aram ran away as Israel chased them, but Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with some of his horsemen.

21 Ahab king of Israel led the army and destroyed the Arameans' horses and chariots. King Ahab thoroughly defeated the Aramean army.

22 Then the prophet went to Ahab king of Israel and said, "The king of Aram will attack you again next spring. So go home now and strengthen your army and see what you need to do."

23 Meanwhile the officers of Ben-Hadad king of Aram said to him, "The gods of Israel are mountain gods. Since we fought in a mountain area, Israel won. Let's fight them on the flat land, and then we will win.

24 This is what you should do. Don't allow the thirty-two rulers to command the armies, but put other commanders in their places.

25 Gather an army like the one that was destroyed and as many horses and chariots as before. We will fight the Israelites on flat land, and then we will win." Ben-Hadad agreed with their advice and did what they said.

26 The next spring Ben-Hadad gathered the army of Aram and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

27 The Israelites also had prepared for war. They marched out to meet the Arameans and camped opposite them. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats, but the Arameans covered the area.

28 A man of God came to the king of Israel with this message: "The Lord says, 'The people of Aram say that I, the Lord, am a god of the mountains, not a god of the valleys. So I will allow you to defeat this huge army, and then you will know I am the Lord.'"

29 The armies were camped across from each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed one hundred thousand Aramean soldiers in one day.

30 The rest of them ran away to the city of Aphek, where a city wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of them. Ben-Hadad also ran away to the city and hid in a room.

31 His officers said to him, "We have heard that the kings of Israel are trustworthy. Let's dress in rough cloth to show our sadness, and wear ropes on our heads. Then we will go to the king of Israel, and perhaps he will let you live."

32 So they dressed in rough cloth and wore ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel. They said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" Ahab answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."

33 Ben-Hadad's men had wanted a sign from Ahab. So when Ahab called Ben-Hadad his brother, they quickly said, "Yes! Ben-Hadad is your brother." Ahab said, "Bring him to me." When Ben-Hadad came, Ahab asked him to join him in the chariot.

34 Ben-Hadad said to him, "Ahab, I will give you back the cities my father took from your father. And you may put shops in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab said, "If you agree to this, I will allow you to go free." So the two kings made a peace agreement. Then Ahab let Ben-Hadad go free.

35 One prophet from one of the groups of prophets told another, "Hit me!" He said this because the Lord had commanded it, but the other man refused.

36 The prophet said, "You did not obey the Lord's command, so a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." When the man left, a lion found him and killed him.

37 The prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me, please!" So the man hit him and hurt him.

38 The prophet wrapped his face in a cloth so no one could tell who he was. Then he went and waited by the road for the king.

39 As Ahab king of Israel passed by, the prophet called out to him. "I went to fight in the battle," the prophet said. "One of our men brought an enemy soldier to me. Our man said, 'Guard this man. If he runs away, you will have to give your life in his place. Or, you will have to pay a fine of seventy-five pounds of silver.'

40 But I was busy doing other things, so the man ran away." The king of Israel answered, "You have already said what the punishment is. You must do what the man said."

41 Then the prophet quickly took the cloth from his face. When the king of Israel saw him, he knew he was one of the prophets.

42 The prophet said to the king, "This is what the Lord says: 'You freed the man I said should die, so your life will be taken instead of his. The lives of your people will also be taken instead of the lives of his people.'"

43 Then King Ahab went back to his palace in Samaria, angry and upset.

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.