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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Kings 20 :: Bible in Basic English (BBE)

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:1 - Now Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got all his army together, and thirty-two kings with him, and horses and carriages of war; he went up and made war on Samaria, shutting it in.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:2 - And he sent representatives into the town to Ahab, king of Israel;

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:3 - And they said to him, Ben-hadad says, Your silver and your gold are mine; and your wives and children are mine.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:4 - And the king of Israel sent him an answer saying, As you say, my lord king, I am yours with all I have.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:5 - Then the representatives came back again, and said, These are the words of Ben-hadad: I sent to you saying, Give up to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children;

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:6 - But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, to make a search through your house and the houses of your people, and everything which is pleasing in your eyes they will take away in their hands.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:7 - Then the king of Israel sent for all the responsible men of the land, and said, Now will you take note and see the evil purpose of this man: he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I did not keep them back.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:8 - And all the responsible men and the people said to him, Do not give attention to him or do what he says.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:9 - So he said to the representatives of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, All the orders you sent the first time I will do; but this thing I may not do. And the representatives went back with this answer.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:10 - Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if there is enough of the dust of Samaria for all the people at my feet to take some in their hands.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:11 - And the king of Israel said in answer, Say to him, The time for loud talk is not when a man is putting on his arms, but when he is taking them off.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:12 - Now when this answer was given to Ben-hadad, he was drinking with the kings in the tents, and he said to his men, Take up your positions. So they put themselves in position for attacking the town.

Ahab Victorious

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:13 - Then a prophet came up to Ahab, king of Israel, and said, The Lord says, Have you seen all this great army? See, I will give it into your hands today, and you will see that I am the Lord.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:14 - And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, The Lord says, By the servants of the chiefs who are over the divisions of the land. Then he said, By whom is the fighting to be started? And he made answer, By you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:15 - Then he got together the servants of all the chiefs who were over the divisions of the land, two hundred and thirty-two of them; and after them, he got together all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:16 - And in the middle of the day they went out. But Ben-hadad was drinking in the tents with the thirty-two kings who were helping him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:17 - And the servants of the chiefs who were over the divisions of the land went forward first; and when Ben-hadad sent out, they gave him the news, saying, Men have come out from Samaria.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:18 - And he said, If they have come out for peace, take them living, and if they have come out for war, take them living.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:19 - So the servants of the chiefs of the divisions of the land went out of the town, with the army coming after them.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:20 - And every one of them put his man to death, and the Aramaeans went in flight with Israel after them; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got away safely on a horse with his horsemen.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:21 - And the king of Israel went out and took the horses and the war-carriages, and made great destruction among the Aramaeans.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:22 - Then the prophet came up to the king of Israel, and said to him, Now make yourself strong, and take care what you do, or a year from now the king of Aram will come up against you again.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:23 - Then the king of Aram's servants said to him, Their god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we: but if we make an attack on them in the lowlands, we will certainly be stronger than they.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:24

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:24 - This is what you have to do: take away the kings from their positions, and put captains in their places;

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:25

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:25 - And get together another army like the one which came to destruction, horse for horse, and carriage for carriage; and let us make war on them in the lowlands, and certainly we will be stronger than they. And he gave ear to what they said, and did so.

Another Aramean War

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:26

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:26 - So, a year later, Ben-hadad got the Aramaeans together and went up to Aphek to make war on Israel.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:27

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:27 - And the children of Israel got themselves together, and food was made ready and they went against them; the tents of the children of Israel were like two little flocks of goats before them, but all the country was full of the Aramaeans.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:28

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:28 - And a man of God came up and said to the king of Israel, The Lord says, Because the Aramaeans have said, The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys; I will give all this great army into your hands, and you will see that I am the Lord.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:29

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:29 - Now the two armies kept their positions facing one another for seven days. And on the seventh day the fight was started; and the children of Israel put to the sword a hundred thousand Aramaean footmen in one day.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:30 - But the rest went in flight to Aphek, into the town, where a wall came down on the twenty-seven thousand who were still living. And Ben-hadad went in flight into the town, into an inner room.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:31

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:31 - Then his servants said to him, It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel; it may be that he will give you your life.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:32

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:32 - So they put on haircloth, and cords on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, Let me now keep my life. And he said, Is he still living? he is my brother.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:33

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:33 - Now the men took it as a sign, and quickly took up his words; and they said, Ben-hadad is your brother. Then he said, Go and get him. So Ben-hadad came out to him and he made him get up into his carriage.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:34

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:34 - And Ben-hadad said to him, The towns my father took from your father I will give back; and you may make streets for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria. And as for me, at the price of this agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him go.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:35

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:35 - And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour by the word of the Lord, Give me a wound. But the man would not.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:36

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:36 - Then he said to him, Because you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, straight away when you have gone from me a lion will put you to death. And when he had gone, straight away a lion came rushing at him and put him to death.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:37

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:37 - Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:38

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:38 - So the prophet went away, and pulling his head-band over his eyes to keep his face covered, took his place by the road waiting for the king.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:39

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:39 - And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:40

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:40 - But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:41

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:41 - Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:42

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:42 - And he said to him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Ki 20:43

Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 20:43 - Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.
BBE

The Bible in Basic English was translated by Professor Samuel Henry Hooke (1874-1968)
This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.

Pericope

Pericope taken from the NASB95 and has been graciously provided by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.
All rights reserved.

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1 Kings Chapter 20 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras