1st Kings 20:11-32

¹¹And 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.

¹²And it was done, when Benhadad had heard this word, he drank, and also the kings, in shadowing places; and he said to his servants, Encompass ye the city. And they encompassed it.

¹³And 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; lo! I shall betake it into thine hand today, that thou know that I am the Lord.

¹⁴And Ahab said, By whom? And he said to Ahab, The Lord saith these things, By the squires, or the footmen, of the princes of provinces. And Ahab said, Who shall begin to fight? And the prophet said, Thou.

¹⁵Therefore he numbered the chil-dren or servants 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.

¹⁶And they went out in midday. Forsooth Benhadad drank, and was drunken in his shadowing place, and two and thirty kings with him, that came to the help of him.

¹⁷And the children of the princes of provinces went out in the first front. Therefore Benhadad sent men, which told to him, and said, Men went out of Samaria.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹Therefore the children of the princes of provinces went out, and the residue host pursued or followed;

²⁰and each smote the man that came against him. And men of Syria fled, and Israel pursued them; also Benhadad, the king of Syria, fled on an horse with his knights.

²¹Also the king of Israel went out, and smote horses and chariots, and he smote Syria with a full great vengeance.

²²Forsooth a prophet nighed to the king of Israel, and said, Go thou, and be comforted, and know, and see, what thou shalt do; for the king of Syria shall ascend or go up against thee in the year pursuing or following.

²³Soothly the servants of the king of Syria said to him, The Gods of hills be the Gods of the sons of Israel, therefore they overcame us; but it is better that we fight against them in the field places, and we shall get them there.

²⁴Therefore do thou this word, or counsel; remove thou all the kings from thine host, and set thou or put princes for them;

²⁵and restore thou the number of knights, that felled or fell 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.

²⁶Therefore after that the year had passed, Benhadad numbered men of Syria, and he went up into Aphek, to fight against Israel.

²⁷Forsooth the sons of Israel were numbered; and when meats were taken, they went forth even against; and they, as two little flocks of goats, setted tents against men of Syria. Forsooth men of Syria filled the land.

²⁸And one prophet of God nighed, and said to the king of Israel, The Lord God saith these things, For men of Syria said, God of hills is the Lord of them, and he is not God of valleys, I shall give all this great multitude in thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

²⁹And 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.

³⁰And they that were left fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall felled or fell down upon seven and twenty thousand of men that were left. Forsooth Benhadad fled, and entered into the city, into a closet that was within a bed-closet;

³¹and 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, and go we out to the king of Israel; in hap he shall save our lives.

³²They 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.