Syria Fights Samaria

20 Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and war-wagons. And he went up against Samaria in battle. ² Then he sent men with news to the city of Ahab king of Israel, saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says. ³ ’Your silver and gold are mine. Your most beautiful wives and children are mine also.’” ⁴ The king of Israel answered, “It is as you say, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have.” ⁵ Then the men returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says. ‘I sent word to you saying, “You must give me your silver and gold and your wives and children.” ⁶ But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time. They will look through your house and the houses of your servants. And they will take away all that is of worth to you.’”

⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the leaders of the land. He said to them, “Look and see how this man is looking for trouble. He sent to me for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold. And I did not say no to him.” ⁸ Then all the leaders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or agree.” ⁹ So Ahab said to Benhadad’s men, “Tell my lord the king, ‘I will do all that you first asked of your servant, but this I cannot do.’” The men left and returned again with news for him. ¹⁰ Ben-hadad sent word to him saying, “May the gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough to fill the hands of all the people who follow me.” ¹¹ The king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not him who dresses in battle-clothes talk with pride like him who takes them off.’” ¹² When Ben-hadad heard these words, he was drinking with the kings in the tents. He said to his servants, “Go to your places.” So they went to their place of battle against the city. ¹³ Then a man who spoke for God came to Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says. ‘Have you seen all these many people? See, I will give them to you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” ¹⁴ Ahab said, “By whom?” So he told him, “The Lord says, ‘By the young servants of the leaders of the lands you rule.’” Then Ahab said, “Who will start the battle?” And he answered, “You.” ¹⁵ Then Ahab called together the young servants of the leaders of the nations, 232 men. And he called together all the people of Israel, 7,000 men.

¹⁶ They went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents with the thirty-two kings who helped him. ¹⁷ The young servants of the leaders of the lands went out first. Ben-hadad sent men out to get news, and they told him, “Men have come out from Samaria.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “If they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹ So the young servants of the leaders of the lands went out from the city, and the army which followed them. ²⁰ Each one killed his man. The Syrians ran away, and Israel went after them. And Ben-hadad king of Syria got away on a horse with horsemen. ²¹ The king of Israel went out and destroyed the horses and war-wagons. He killed many of the Syrians. ²² Then the man who spoke for God came to the king of Israel, and said to him, “Go and make yourself strong. Look and see what you have to do. For the first of next year the king of Syria will come to fight against you.”

The Syrians Lose Again

²³ Now the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Israel’s gods are gods of the mountains. So they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and for sure we will be stronger than they. ²⁴ And do this. Take each of the kings from his place, and put captains in their places. ²⁵ Gather together an army like the army you lost, horse for horse, and war-wagon for war-wagon. Then we will fight against Israel in the plain. For sure we will be stronger than they.” And Ben-hadad listened to them and did so.

²⁶ When the new year came, Benhadad called together the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ The people of Israel were called together and given what they needed, and went to meet them. The people of Israel gathered in front of them like two little flocks of goats. But the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸ Then a man who spoke for God came to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says. ‘The Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys.” So I will give all these many people to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” ²⁹ So they stayed beside each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle was fought. And the people of Israel killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ But the rest ran away into the city of Aphek. And the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. Ben-hadad ran away and came to a room in the city.

³¹ His servants said to him, “Now see, we have heard that the kings of the family of Israel are kings who show kindness. Let us dress in cloth made from hair and put ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. It might be that he will save your life.” ³² So they dressed in cloth made from hair and put ropes on their heads, and went to the king of Israel. They said to him, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘I beg you, let me live.’” Ahab said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” ³³ Now the men were watching for something special to happen. They were quick to catch his word, and said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” Then Ahab said, “Go and bring him.” So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab took him up into the war-wagon. ³⁴ Ben-hadad said to him, “I will return to you the cities which my father took from your father. And you will make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” Ahab said, “I will let you go with this agreement.” So he made an agreement with him and let him go.

A Man of God Speaks

³⁵ Now a certain son of the men who spoke for God said to another by the word of the Lord, “Hit me.” But the man would not hit him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he had left him, a lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, “Hit me.” And the man hit him, and hurt him. ³⁸ So the man of God left, and waited for the king by the way. He tied a cloth over his eyes so no one would know him. ³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out to the battle. A soldier turned and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Keep this man. If he is missing for any reason, you will pay for his life with your own. Or else you must pay a man’s weight in silver.’ ⁴⁰ But while your servant was doing things here and there, the man got away.” The king of Israel said to him, “So you must be punished. You yourself have decided it.” ⁴¹ In a hurry the man took the cloth away from his eyes. And the king of Israel saw that he was one of the men who speak for God. ⁴² The man said to him, “This is what the Lord says. ‘You have let the man go whom I had given to be destroyed. So you will pay for his life with your own. And your people will pay for his people.’” ⁴³ So the king of Israel went home sad and angry, and came to Samaria.

Naboth Is Killed in His Grape-Field

21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a field of grape-vines in Jezreel beside the family of Ahab king of Samaria. ² Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your grape-field. I want it for a vegetable garden because it is near my house. I will give you a better field for it. Or I will pay for it with money, if you like.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “May the Lord keep me from giving you what I have received from my fathers.” ⁴ Ahab went into his house sad and angry because of Naboth the Jezreelite saying to him, “I will not give you what I have received from my fathers.” And Ahab lay down on his bed and turned his face away and would not eat.

⁵ His wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why is your spirit so troubled that you are not eating food?” ⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite. I said to him, ‘Give me your grape-field for money. Or I will give you another field for it, if you like.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my grape-field.’” ⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now rule over Israel? Get up, eat food, and let your heart be filled with joy. I will give you the grape-field of Naboth the Jezreelite.” ⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and put the mark of his name on them. She sent letters to the leaders and the king’s sons who were living with Naboth in his city. ⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying, “Tell the people that it is a time when they should not eat. And put Naboth in front of the people. ¹⁰ Seat two men of no worth beside him. And have them speak against him, saying, ‘You spoke against God and the king.’ Then take him out and kill him with stones.”

¹¹ So the leaders and king’s sons who lived in Naboth’s city did just as Jezebel had written to them in the letters she had sent. ¹² They told the people that it was a time when they should not eat. And they put Naboth in front of the people. ¹³ Then the two men of no worth came in and sat beside him. These men spoke against Naboth in front of the people, saying, “Naboth spoke against God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and killed him with stones. ¹⁴ Then they sent news to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been killed with stones. He is dead.” ¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been killed with stones, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take the grape-field of Naboth the Jezreelite for your own, the field he would not sell to you. For Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down and take for his own the grape-field of Naboth the Jezreelite.

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Get ready and go down to Samaria to meet Ahab king of Israel. He is in Naboth’s grape-field. He has gone down to take it for his own. ¹⁹ And you will speak to him, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says, “Have you killed and also taken away?” And you will speak to him, saying, “This is what the Lord says, ‘The dogs will drink up your blood in the place where the dogs drank up the blood of Naboth.’”’” ²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O you who hate me?” Elijah answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is sinful in the eyes of the Lord. ²¹ See, I will bring trouble upon you. I will destroy you. I will kill every male of Ahab in Israel, both those who are servants and those who are free. ²² I will make your house like the family of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha the son of Ahijah. Because you have made Me angry, and have made Israel sin. ²³ And the Lord has spoken about Jezebel, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in the land of Jezreel.’ ²⁴ The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city. The birds of the air will eat anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the field.”

²⁵ There was no one who sold himself to do what is sinful in the eyes of the Lord like Ahab did. His wife Jezebel moved him to do it. ²⁶ He did what was hated by following false gods. He did all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord drove out in front of the people of Israel.

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and dressed in cloth made from hair, and would not eat. He lay dressed in cloth made from hair, and went about very sad. ²⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “Do you see how Ahab has got rid of his pride before Me? Because he has gotten rid of his pride, I will not bring trouble to him while he is alive. But I will bring trouble upon his house in his son’s days.”