1 Kings 20
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q Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. r Thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on s Samaria and fought against it.
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And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, "Thus says Ben-hadad:
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'Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.'"
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And the king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have."
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The messengers came again and said, "Thus says Ben-hadad: 'I sent to you, saying, "Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children."
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Nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.'"
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Then the king of Israel called all the t elders of the land and said, u "Mark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him."
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And all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen or consent."
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So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, "Tell my lord the king, 'All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do.'" And the messengers departed and brought him word again.
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Ben-hadad sent to him and said, v "The gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people w who follow me."
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And the king of Israel answered, "Tell him, 'Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.'"
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When Ben-hadad heard this message as x he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, "Take your positions." And they took their positions against the city.
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And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, y I will give it into your hand this day, z and you shall know that I am the Lord."
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And Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts." Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You."
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Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. And after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.
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And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad x was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him.
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The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, "Men are coming out from Samaria."
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He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive."
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So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them.
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And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen.
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And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow.
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Then a the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for b in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you."
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And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and so 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: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places,
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and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they." And he listened to their voice and did so.
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b In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to c Aphek to fight against Israel.
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And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country.
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And a d man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because the Syrians have said, e "The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys," therefore f I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"
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And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.
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And the rest fled into the city of c Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. Ben-hadad also fled and entered g an inner chamber in the city.
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And his servants said to him, "Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us h put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life."
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So they h tied sackcloth around their waists and put ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-hadad says, 'Please, let me live.'" And he said, "Does he still live? He is my brother."
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Now the men were watching for a sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, "Yes, your brother Ben-hadad." Then he said, "Go and bring him." Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
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And Ben-hadad said to him, i "The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in j Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." And Ahab said, "I will let you go on these terms." So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
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And a certain man of k the sons of the prophets said to his fellow l at the command of the Lord, "Strike me, please." But the man refused to strike him.
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Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down." And as soon as he had departed from him, m a lion met him and struck him down.
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Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please." And the man struck him - struck him and wounded him.
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So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, n disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
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And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, o your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.'
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And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it."
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Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.
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And he said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore o your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.'"
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And the king of Israel p went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.
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Cross References
2 Kings 6:24
Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria.
2 Kings 8:7
Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, "The man of God has come here.
1 Kings 15:18
Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house and gave them into the hands of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying.
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Cross References
1 Kings 22:31
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.
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Cross References
1 Kings 16:24
He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
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Cross References
1 Kings 21:8
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.
1 Kings 21:11
And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them.
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Cross References
2 Kings 5:7
And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.
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Cross References
1 Kings 19:2
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.
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Cross References
Exodus 11:8
And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, 'Get out, you and all the people who follow you.' And after that I will go out." And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
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Cross References
1 Kings 16:9
But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:28
And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because the Syrians have said, "The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys," therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.'
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Cross References
1 Kings 18:36
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:12
When Ben-hadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, "Take your positions." And they took their positions against the city.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:13
And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 11:1
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:22
Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you.
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Cross References
2 Kings 13:17
And he said, "Open the window eastward," and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot," and he shot. And he said, "The Lord 's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.
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Cross References
1 Kings 17:18
And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:23
And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and so 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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Cross References
1 Kings 20:13
And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:26
In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
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Cross References
1 Kings 22:25
And Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
2 Kings 9:2
And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber.
2 Chronicles 18:24
And Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 3:31
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." And King David followed the bier.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:31
And his servants said to him, "Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.
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Cross References
1 Kings 15:20
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
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Cross References
1 Kings 11:24
And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus.
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Cross References
2 Kings 2:3
And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?" And he said, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet.
2 Kings 2:5
The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet.
2 Kings 2:7
Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.
2 Kings 2:15
Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
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Cross References
1 Kings 13:17 - 18
For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'
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Cross References
1 Kings 13:24
And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 28:8
So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, "Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.
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Cross References
2 Kings 10:24
Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, "The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.
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Cross References
1 Kings 20:39
And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.
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Cross References
1 Kings 21:4
And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.