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CHAPTER 20
1 Forsooth Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up against Samaria, and fought, and besieged it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city, and (they) said (to him), Benhadad saith these things,
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine, and thy wives, and thy best sons be mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered, By thy word, my lord the king, I am thine, and all my things be thine.
5 And the messengers turned again, and said, Benhadad, that sent us to thee, saith these things (again), Thou shalt give to me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons.
6 Therefore tomorrow, in this same hour, I shall send my servants to thee, and they shall seek (throughout) thine house, and the house of thy servants; and they shall put in their hands, and take away all thing that shall please them.
7 Forsooth the king of Israel called all the elder men of the land, and said, Perceive ye, and see, that he setteth treason to us; for he sent to me for my wives, and sons, and for (my) silver, and gold, and I forsook not. (And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Perceive ye, and see, that this man hath set treason for us; for he sent to me for my wives, and my sons, and my silver, and my gold, and I agreed to it all.)
8 And all the greater men in birth (or And all the men of great age, that is, the elders), and all the people said to him, Hear thou not, neither assent thou to him.
9 And he answered to the messengers of Benhadad, Say ye to my lord the king, I shall do all things, for which thou sentest in the beginning to me, thy servant; but I may not do this thing. And the messengers turned again, and told all things to him. (And so he answered to the messengers of Benhadad, and said, Say ye to my lord the king, I, thy servant, shall do all the things for which thou sentest to me at the beginning; but I cannot do this thing. And the messengers returned, and told all these things to Benhadad.)
10 Which sent again, and said, Gods do these things to me, and add these things too, (or And Benhadad sent them back again to Ahab, to say to him, The gods do these things to me, and add these things too), if the dust of Samaria shall suffice to the fist[ful] s of all the people that followeth me.
11 And the king of Israel answered, and said, Say ye to him, A girded man, that is, he that goeth to battle, have not glory evenly as a man ungirded, that is, as he that hath the victory, and hath put off his armours. (And Ahab, the king of Israel, answered, and said, Say ye to him, A girded man, that is, he who goeth to battle, hath not equal glory to an ungirded man, that is, he who already hath the victory, and hath put off his armour.)
12 And it was done, when Benhadad had heard this word, he drank, and also the kings, in shadowing places (or in a shady place in their tents); and he said to his servants, Compass ye the city. And they compassed it.
13 And lo! one prophet nighed to Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, The Lord God saith these things, Certainly thou hast seen all this multitude full great (or Certainly thou hast seen all this very great multitude); lo! I shall betake it into thine hand today, that thou know that I am the Lord.
14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said to Ahab, The Lord saith these things, By the squires, or the footmen, of the princes of (the) provinces. And Ahab said, Who shall begin to fight? And the prophet said, Thou.
15 Therefore he numbered the young men of the princes of [the] provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and two and thirty; and after them he numbered the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand. (And so he called for the young men who served the leaders of the provinces, and he found them to number two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he called for the people, yea, all the Israelites or the whole Israelite army, seven thousand of them.)
16 And they went out in midday. Forsooth Benhadad drank, and was drunken in his shadowing place, and (the) two and thirty kings with him, that came to the help of him. (And they went out at midday. And in a shady place in their tents, Benhadad drank, and became drunk, as did the thirty-two kings who were with him, who came to help him.)
17 And the young men of the princes of (the) provinces went out in the first front. Therefore Benhadad sent men, which told to him, and said, Men went out of Samaria, (or And Benhadad sent out men, who reported back to him, and said, Some men have come out of Samaria).
18 And he said, Whether they come for peace, take ye them quick; whether to fight, take ye them quick. [And he saith, Whether for peace they come, taketh them alive; whether that they fight, taketh them alive.]
19 Therefore the young men of the princes of (the) provinces went out, and the residue host followed (them);
20 and each smote the man that came against him. And (the) men of Syria fled, and Israel pursued them; also Benhadad, the king of Syria, fled on an horse with his knights.
21 Also the king of Israel went out, and smote (the) horses and chariots, and he smote Syria with a full great vengeance. (And the king of Israel went out, and struck down the horses and the chariots, and he struck down the Syrians with a very great slaughter.)
22 Forsooth a prophet nighed to the king of Israel, and said, Go thou, and be strengthened, and know, and see, what thou shalt do; for the king of Syria shall ascend against thee in the year following (or for the king of Syria shall also come against thee next year).
23 Soothly the servants of the king of Syria said to him, The Gods of hills be the Gods of the sons of Israel (or The gods of the hills be the gods of the Israelites), therefore they overcame us; but it is better that we fight against them in [the] field places, and we shall get them there.
24 Therefore do thou this word, or counsel; remove thou all [the] kings from thine host, and set thou princes for them; (And so do thou this thing, or follow thou this counsel; remove thou all the kings from thy army, and put thou other leaders in their place;)
25 and restore thou the number of knights, that felled of thine, and [the] horses after the former horses, and restore thou[the] chariots, by the chariots which thou haddest before; and we shall fight against them in [the] field places, and thou shalt see, that we shall get them. He believed to the counsel of them, and did so, (or He believed in their counsel, and did so).
26 Therefore after that the year had passed, Benhadad numbered men of Syria (or Benhadad called for the Syrians), and he went up into Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 Forsooth the sons of Israel were numbered; and when meats were taken, they went forth even against (them); and they, as two little flocks of goats, setted tents against men of Syria. Forsooth men of Syria filled the land. (And the Israelites were also called for; and when provisions were taken, they went forth opposite them; and they, as but two little flocks of goats, pitched their tents opposite the Syrians. And the Syrians filled the land.)
28 And one prophet of God nighed, and said to the king of Israel, The Lord God saith these things, For (the) men of Syria said, God of hills is the Lord of them, and he is not God of valleys, (or The god of the hills is their Lord, and he is not the god of the valleys), (and so) I shall give all this great multitude in(to) thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
29 And seven days these and they dressed battle arrays even against each other; and in the seventh day the battle was joined altogether, and the sons of Israel smote of the men of Syria an hundred thousand of footmen in one day. (And for seven days these and they directed battle arrays opposite each other; and then on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the Israelites struck down a hundred thousand Syrian footmen in one day.)
30 And they that (were) left fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall felled down upon seven and twenty thousand of (the) men that (were) left. Forsooth Benhadad fled, and entered into the city, into a closet that was within a closet;
31 and his servants said to him, [Lo!] We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel be merciful, therefore put we sackcloths in our loins, and cords in our heads, (or and so let us put sackcloths on our loins, and cords on our heads), and go we out to the king of Israel; in hap he shall save our lives.
32 They girded their loins with sackcloths, and put cords in their heads, and they came to the king of Israel, and said to him, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let my soul live. And he said, If Benhadad liveth yet, he is my brother. (And so they girded up their loins with sackcloths, and put cords on their heads, and they came to the king of Israel, and said to him, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And Ahab said, If Benhadad yet liveth, he is my brother, that is, I will make peace with him.)
33 Which thing the men of Syria took for a gracious word, and they ravished hastily the word of his mouth (or and they hastily took hold of the word of his mouth), and said, Thy brother Benhadad liveth. And Ahab said to them, Go ye, and bring ye him to me. Therefore Benhadad went out to him, and he raised up Benhadad into his chariot.
34 [The] Which Benhadad said to him, I shall yield the cities which my father took from thy father, and make thou streets to thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria; and I shall be bound to peace, and I shall depart from thee. Therefore Ahab made [a] bond of peace with him, and delivered him. (And Benhadad said to Ahab, I shall give back the cities which my father took from thy father, and then thou can make streets of commerce, or for trading, for thyself in Damascus, like my father made in Samaria. And Ahab said, On those terms I shall be bound in peace with thee, and then thou can depart from me. And so he made a covenant with him, and let him go.)
35 Then a man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow, in the word of the Lord (or by the word of the Lord), Smite thou me. And he would not smite (him).
36 To whom the prophet said, For thou wouldest not hear the voice of the Lord, lo! thou shalt go [away] from me, and a lion shall smite thee. And when he had gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
37 But also the prophet found another man, and he said to that man, Smite thou me. And he smote him, and wounded him.
38 Therefore the prophet went, and met the king in the way; and he changed with a cloth, that is, by (the) wrapping of a cloth, his mouth and eyes. (And so the prophet went, and met the king on the way; and he covered his mouth and his eyes with a cloth, that is, he disguised his face by wrapping it in a cloth.)
39 And when the king had passed (or And as the king passed by), he cried to the king, and said, Thy servant went out to fight anon, and when one man had fled, a man brought him to me, and said, Keep thou this man; and if he escapeth, thy life shall be for his life, either thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40 Soothly while I was troubled, and turned me hither and thither, suddenly he appeared not. And the king of Israel said to him, This is thy doom that thou [thyself] hast deemed. (And while I was troubled, and turned myself here and there, suddenly he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, This is thy judgement, or thy sentence, that thou thyself hast pronounced, or declared.)
41 And anon he removed the cloth, either binding, from his face, (or And at once he removed the cloth, or the wrapping, from his face), and the king of Israel knew him, that he was (one) of the prophets.
42 The which said to the king, The Lord saith these things, For thou deliveredest from thine hand a man worthy (of) death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
43 Therefore the king of Israel turned again into his house, and despised to hear God’s word, and came wroth into Samaria*Josephus saith that he killed the prophet.. (And so the king of Israel returned to his house, despising the word of God that he had heard, and came back angry to Samaria.)

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*CHAPTER 20:43 Josephus saith that he killed the prophet.

© 2001,2010,2011,2012,2013,2015 Terry Noble