I Kings 20 · מלכים א

And Ben-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 Shomeron, and warred against it.

And he sent messengers to Aĥ᾽av king of Yisra᾽el, into the city,

and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

And the king of Yisra᾽el answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.

And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt give me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;

yet I will send my servants to thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that they shall put in their hand thy choicest possessions and take them.

Then the king of Yisra᾽el called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see 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 denied him not.

And all the elders and all the people said to him, Hearken not to him, nor consent.

Wherefore he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

And Ben-hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Shomeron shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

And the king of Yisra᾽el answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girds on his harness boast himself as he that takes it off.

And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the field huts, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

And, behold, there came a prophet to Aĥ᾽av king of Yisra᾽el, saying, Thus says the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

And Aĥ᾽av said, By whom? And he said, Thus says the Lord, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall open the battle? And he answered, Thou.

Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Yisra᾽el, who were seven thousand.

And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the field huts; he and the kings, the thirty two kings that helped him.

And the 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 of Shomeron.

And he said, if they are come out for peace, take them alive; and if they are come out for war, take them alive.

So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.

And they slew every one his man: and Aram fled; and Yisra᾽el pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

And the king of Yisra᾽el went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and smote Aram with a great slaughter.

And the prophet came to the king of Yisra᾽el, and said to him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against thee.

And the servants of the king of Aram said to him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger then we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put commanders in their places:

and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast 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. And he hearkened to their voice, and did so.

And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered Aram, and went up to Afeq, to fight against Yisra᾽el.

And the children of Yisra᾽el were numbered, and were supplied with stores, and went against them: and the children of Yisra᾽el pitched before them like two little flocks of goats; but Aram filled the countryside.

And there came a man of God, and spoke to the king of Yisra᾽el, and said, Thus says the Lord, because Aram have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that on the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Yisra᾽el smote of Aram a hundred thousand footmen in one day.

But the rest fled to Afeq, into the city; and there the wall fell upon the twenty seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Yisra᾽el are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Yisra᾽el: perhaps he will save thy life.

So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Yisra᾽el, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad says, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

And the men took it for a good sign, and hastily caught at his words; and they said, Thy brother, Ben-hadad. Then he said, go, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came out to him; and he caused him to ascend into his chariot.

And Ben-hadad said to him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thyself in Dammeseq, as my father made in Shomeron. Then said Aĥ᾽av, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour in the word of the Lord, Strike me, I pray thee. And the man refused to strike him.

Then he said to him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

Then he found another man, and said, Strike me, I pray thee. And the man struck him, so that in striking he wounded him.

So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with a veil over his face.

And as the king passed by, he cried to the king: and he said, Thy 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 thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Yisra᾽el said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast dedicated it.

And he hastened, and took the veil away from his face; and the king of Yisra᾽el recognized him that he was one of the prophets.

And he said to him, Thus says the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.

And the king of Yisra᾽el went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Shomeron.