1 Kings 20:11-32

¹¹And the King of Israel answered, and sayd, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth his harneis, boast himselfe, as he that putteth it off.

¹²And when he heard that tidings, as he was with the Kings drinking in the pauilions, he sayd vnto his seruants, Bring forth your engines, and they set them against the citie.

¹³And beholde, there came a Prophet vnto Ahab King of Israel, saying, Thus sayeth the Lord, Hast thou seene all this great multitude? beholde, I will deliuer it into thine hande this day, that thou mayest knowe, that I am the Lord.

¹⁴And Ahab sayd, By whome? And he sayde, Thus sayth the Lord, By the seruants of the princes of the prouinces. He sayde againe, Who shall order the battel? And he answered, Thou.

¹⁵Then he nombred the seruantes of the princes of the prouinces, and they were two hundreth, two and thirtie: and after them he nombred the whole people of all the children of Israel, euen seuen thousand.

¹⁶And they went out at noone: but Ben-hadad did drinke till he was drunken in the tentes, both he and the Kings: for two and thirtie Kings helped him.

¹⁷So the seruants of the princes of the prouinces went out first: and Ben-hadad sent out, and they shewed him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

¹⁸And he sayde, Whether they be come out for peace, take them aliue: or whether they bee come out to fight, take them yet aliue.

¹⁹So they came out of the citie, to wit, the seruants of the princes of the prouinces, and the hoste which followed them.

²⁰And they slew euery one his enemie: and the Aramites fled, and Israel pursued them: but Ben-hadad ye King of Aram escaped on an horse with his horsemen.

²¹And the King of Israel went out, and smote the horses and charets, and with a great slaughter slew he the Aramites.

²²(For there had come a Prophet to the King of Israel, and had sayd vnto him, Goe, be of good courage, and consider, and take heede what thou doest: for when the yeere is gone about, the King of Aram wil come vp against thee)

²³Then the seruants of the King of Aram said vnto him, Their gods are gods of the moutaines, and therefore they ouercame vs: but let vs fight against them in the playne, and doubtlesse we shall ouercome them.

²⁴And this doe, Take the Kings away, euery one out of his place, and place captaines for them.

²⁵And nomber thy selfe an armie, like the armie that thou hast lost, with such horses, and such charets, and we wil fight against them in the plaine, and doubtlesse we shall ouercome them: and he hearkened vnto their voyce, and did so.

²⁶And after the yeere was gone about, Ben-hadad nombred the Aramites, and went vp to Aphek to fight against Israel.

²⁷And the children of Israel were nombred, and were all assembled and went against them, and the children of Israel pitched before them, like two litle flockes of kiddes: but the Aramites filled the countrey.

²⁸And there came a man of God, and spake vnto the King of Israel, saying, Thus sayeth the Lord, Because the Aramites haue sayd, The Lord is the God of the mountaines, and not God of the valleis, therefore will I deliuer all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

²⁹And they pitched one ouer against the other seuen dayes, and in the seuenth day the battel was ioyned: and the children of Israel slew of the Aramites an hundreth thousand footemen in one day.

³⁰But the rest fled to Aphek into the citie: and there fel a wall vpon seuen and twentie thousand men that were left: and Ben-hadad fled into the citie, and came into a secret chamber.

³¹And his seruants sayd vnto him, Beholde nowe, we haue heard say that the Kings of the house of Israel are mercifull Kings: we pray thee, let vs put sacke cloth about our loynes, and ropes about our heads, and goe out to the King of Israel: it may be that he will saue thy life.

³²Then they gyrded sackecloth about their loynes, and put ropes about their heads, and came to the King of Israel, and sayd, Thy seruant Ben-hadad sayth, I pray thee, let me liue: and he sayd, Is he yet aliue? he is my brother.