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chapter 20
1
And
Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and
thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought
against Samaria, and besieged it.
2 And, sending messengers to Achab king of Israel into
the city,
3 He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold
is mine: and thy wives, and thy goodliest children are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered: According to thy
word, my lord 0 king, I am thine, and all that I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith
Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and
thy children thou shalt deliver up to me.
6 To morrow therefore at this same hour I will send my
servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy
servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take
away.
7 And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the
land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me
for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not
nay.
8 And all the ancients, and all the people said to him:
Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
9 Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell
my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to me thy servant at first, I
will do: but this thing I cannot do.
10 And the messengers returning brought him word. And
he sent again and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more
may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the
people that follow me.
11 And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him:
Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
12 And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word,
that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants:
Beset the city. And they beset it.
13 And behold a prophet coming to Achab king of Israel,
said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great
multitude, behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayest
know that I am the Lord.
14 And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus
saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said:
Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.
15 So he mustered the servants of the princes of the
provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he
mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand:
16 And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking
himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were
come to help him.
17 And the servants of the princes of the provinces
went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come
out of Samaria.
18 And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them
alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive.
19 So the servants of the princes of the provinces went
out, and the rest of the army followed:
20 And every one slew the man that came against him:
and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad king of Syria
fled away on horseback with his horsemen.
21 But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses
and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to
him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next
year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
23 But the servants of the king of Syria said to him:
Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is
better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome
them.
24 Do thou therefore this thing: Remove all the kings
from thy army, and put captains in their stead:
25 And make up the number of soldiers that have been
slain of thine, and horses according to the former horses, and chariots according
to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the
plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their
counsel and did so.
26 Wherefore at the return of the year, p Benadad
mustered the Syrians, ancient up to Aphec, to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking
victuals went out on the other side, and camped over against them, like two
little hocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land.
28 (And a man of God coming, said to the king of
Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of
the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great
multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
29 And both sides set their armies in array one against
the other seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the
children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30 And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city:
and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And
Benadad fleeing went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
31 And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard
that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful: so let us put sackcloth on
our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he
will save our lives.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put
ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy
servant Benadad saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he
be yet alive he is my brother.
33 The men took this for a sign: and in haste caught
the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them:
Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up
into his chariot.
34 And he said to him: The cities which my father took
from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as
my father made in Samaria, and having made a league I will depart from thee. So
he made a league with him, and let him go.
35 Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said
to his companion in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
36 Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not
hearken to the word of the Lord, behold then shalt depart from me, and a lion
shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and
slew him.
37 Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike
me. And he struck him, and wounded him.
38 So the prophet went, and met the king in the way,
and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and
said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was
run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip
away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40 And whilst I in a hurry turned this way and that, on
a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy
judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
41 But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face,
and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.
42 And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because
thou hast let go out of thy hand a mall worthy of death, thy life shall be for
his life, and thy people for his people.
43 And the king of Israel returned to his house,
slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.
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