1 Kings 20 :: Hebrew Names Version (HNV)

War with Aram

1Ki 20:1Ben-Hadad the king of Aram gathered all his host together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Shomron, and fought against it.

1Ki 20:2

1Ki 20:2He sent messengers to Ach'av king of Yisra'el, into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-Hadad,

1Ki 20:3

1Ki 20:3Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.

1Ki 20:4

1Ki 20:4The king of Yisra'el answered, It is according to your saying, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have.

1Ki 20:5

1Ki 20:5The messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, I sent indeed to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;

1Ki 20:6

1Ki 20:6but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.

1Ki 20:7

1Ki 20:7Then the king of Yisra'el called all the Zakenim of the land, and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him.

1Ki 20:8

1Ki 20:8All the Zakenim and all the people said to him, Don't you listen, neither consent.

1Ki 20:9

1Ki 20:9Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do. The messengers departed, and brought him word again.

1Ki 20:10

1Ki 20:10Ben-Hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Shomron shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me.

1Ki 20:11

1Ki 20:11The king of Yisra'el answered, Tell him, Don't let him who girds on his armor boast himself as he who puts it off.

1Ki 20:12

1Ki 20:12It happened, when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves in array. They set themselves in array against the city.

Ahab Victorious

1Ki 20:13

1Ki 20:13Behold, a prophet came near to Ach'av king of Yisra'el, and said, Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

1Ki 20:14

1Ki 20:14Ach'av said, By whom? He said, Thus says the LORD, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You.

1Ki 20:15

1Ki 20:15Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he mustered all the people, even all the children of Yisra'el, being seven thousand.

1Ki 20:16

1Ki 20:16They went out at noon. But Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.

1Ki 20:17

1Ki 20:17The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Shomron.

1Ki 20:18

1Ki 20:18He said, Whether they are come out for shalom, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, taken them alive.

1Ki 20:19

1Ki 20:19So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.

1Ki 20:20

1Ki 20:20They killed everyone his man; and the Aram fled, and Yisra'el pursued them: and Ben-Hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.

1Ki 20:21

1Ki 20:21The king of Yisra'el went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Aram with a great slaughter.

1Ki 20:22

1Ki 20:22The prophet came near to the king of Yisra'el, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.

1Ki 20:23

1Ki 20:23The servants of the king of Aram said to him, Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

1Ki 20:24

1Ki 20:24Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their room;

1Ki 20:25

1Ki 20:25and number you an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. He listened to their voice, and did so.

Another Aramean War

1Ki 20:26

1Ki 20:26It happened at the return of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Aram, and went up to Afek, to fight against Yisra'el.

1Ki 20:27

1Ki 20:27The children of Yisra'el were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them: and the children of Yisra'el encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Aram filled the country.

1Ki 20:28

1Ki 20:28A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Yisra'el, and said, Thus says the LORD, Because the Aram have said, the LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

1Ki 20:29

1Ki 20:29They encamped one over against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Yisra'el killed of the Aram one hundred thousand footmen in one day.

1Ki 20:30

1Ki 20:30But the rest fled to Afek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben-Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

1Ki 20:31

1Ki 20:31His servants said to him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Yisra'el are merciful kings: let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Yisra'el: peradventure he will save your life.

1Ki 20:32

1Ki 20:32So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Yisra'el, and said, Your servant Ben-Hadad says, please let me live. He said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

1Ki 20:33

1Ki 20:33Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to catch whether it were his mind; and they said, Your brother Ben-Hadad. Then he said, Go you, bring him. Then Ben-Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

1Ki 20:34

1Ki 20:34Ben-Hadad said to him, The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you shall make streets for you in Dammesek, as my father made in Shomron. I, said Ach'av, will let you go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.

1Ki 20:35

1Ki 20:35A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of the LORD, Please strike me. The man refused to strike him.

1Ki 20:36

1Ki 20:36Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him.

1Ki 20:37

1Ki 20:37Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.

1Ki 20:38

1Ki 20:38So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.

1Ki 20:39

1Ki 20:39As the king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.

1Ki 20:40

1Ki 20:40As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Yisra'el said to him, So shall your judgment be; yourself have decided it.

1Ki 20:41

1Ki 20:41He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Yisra'el discerned him that he was of the prophets.

1Ki 20:42

1Ki 20:42He 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 your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.

1Ki 20:43

1Ki 20:43The king of Yisra'el went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Shomron.

The Hebrew Names Version is based off the World English Bible, an update of the American Standard Version of 1901. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.

Pericope

1 Kings Chapter 20 — Additional Translations: