Book 11 : 1 KINGS - Chapter 020
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And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city,
and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad
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Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy
children, even the goodliest, are mine
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And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king,
according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have
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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
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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
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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
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And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken
not unto him, nor consent
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them
alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive
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So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of
the city, and the army which followed them
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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
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And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and
chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter
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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
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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
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And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his
place, and put captains in their rooms
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him
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So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way,
and disguised himself with ashes upon his face
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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
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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
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And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the
king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets
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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
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And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased,
and came to Samaria
Book 11 : 1 KINGS - Chapter 020
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