1 Kings 21

1 And the son of Hadad gathered his whole army and went up and laid siege to Samaria — he and thirty-two kings with him, and all his horses and chariots. And they went up and laid siege to Samaria and made war on it. [a] 2 And he sent to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, 3 and he said to him, “This is what the son of Hadad says: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your children are mine.” [c] 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, “As you have said, my lord king: I am yours, and all that is mine.”

5 And the messengers came back and said, “This is what the son of Hadad says: I sent to you and said, You will give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children. [d] 6 For at this hour tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants; and whatever is desirable to their eyes, they will lay their hands on it and take it.”

7 And the king of Israel called all the elders and said, “Know now and see that this man is looking for harm. He has sent to me about my wives and about my sons and about my daughters, and I did not keep back my silver and my gold from him.” 8 And the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen, and do not agree.” 9 And he said to the messengers of the son of Hadad, “Say to your master: Everything you sent to your servant about at the first, I will do; but this thing I cannot do.” And the men set out and carried the answer back to him.

10 And the son of Hadad sent back to him, saying, “May God do so to me, and more, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for the foxes — for all the people, for the foot soldiers I have.” [e] 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, “Let that be enough. Let the bent man not boast like the man who stands straight.” [f] 12 And when he brought him back this word, he was drinking, he and all the kings with him, in the tents. And he said to his servants, “Build a siege mound.” And they set a siege mound against the city.

13 And look — one prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: Have you seen all this great crowd? Look, I am giving it into your hands today, and you will know that I am the Lord.” [g] 14 And Ahab said, “By what means?” And he said, “This is what the Lord says: By the young men of the rulers of the districts.” And Ahab said, “Who will begin the battle?” And he said, “You.” 15 And Ahab counted the young men of the rulers of the districts, and they were two hundred and thirty. And after that he counted the people, every fighting man — sixty thousand. [h] 16 And he went out at midday. And the son of Hadad was drinking himself drunk at Succoth, he and the kings — thirty-two kings, his allies. [i]

17 And the young men of the rulers of the districts went out first. And they sent and reported to the king of Aram, saying, “Men have come out from Samaria.” 18 And he said to them, “If they are coming out for peace, take them alive; and if for war, take them alive. 19 And do not let the young men of the rulers of the districts come out of the city.” And the army behind them [j] 20 struck, each man the one next to him, and each man struck a second time the one next to him. And Aram fled, and Israel chased them. And the son of Hadad, king of Aram, escaped on a horseman’s horse. 21 And the king of Israel went out and took all the horses and the chariots, and struck a great blow in Aram. 22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Be strong, and know and see what you will do; for at the turn of the year the son of Hadad king of Aram is coming up against you.”

23 And the servants of the king of Aram said, “The God of Israel is a God of mountains and not a God of valleys; that is why he has been stronger than we are. But if we fight them on level ground, we will surely be stronger than they are. 24 And do this thing: send the kings away, each to his own place, and put governors in their place; [k] 25 and we will exchange for you an army like the army that fell away from you, and horses like the horses, and chariots like the chariots. And we will fight them on level ground, and we will be stronger than they are.” And he listened to their voice and did so.

26 And at the turn of the year the son of Hadad reviewed Aram and went up to Aphek to make war on Israel. 27 And the children of Israel were counted and came out to meet them; and Israel camped facing them like two flocks of goats, while Aram filled the land. 28 And the man of God came and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: Because Aram has said, The Lord the God of Israel is a God of mountains, and he is not a God of valleys — I will give this great army into your hand, and you will know that I am the Lord.” 29 And they camped facing each other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle drew near, and Israel struck Aram — a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. 30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And the son of Hadad fled and went into the bedchamber, into an inner room.

31 And he said to his servants, “I know that the kings of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us put sackcloth on our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will let us live.” 32 And they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, and they said to the king of Israel, “Your servant the son of Hadad says: Please let me live.” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 33 And the men took it for an omen; and they hurried and caught the word out of his mouth and said, “Your brother, the son of Hadad.” And he said, “Go in and bring him out.” And the son of Hadad came out to him, and they brought him up to him into the chariot. [l] 34 And he said to him, “The cities that my father took from your father I will give back to you, and you may set up streets of your own in Damascus, as my father set them up in Samaria; and I will send you away under a covenant.” And he made a covenant with him and sent him away. [m]

35 And a man, one of the sons of the prophets, said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, “Strike me, please.” And the man would not strike him. 36 And he said to him, “Because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord — look, as you go away from me, a lion will strike you.” And he went away from him, and a lion found him and struck him. 37 And he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him — struck him and wounded him. 38 And the prophet went and stood before the king of Israel on the road, and bound his eyes with a bandage.

39 And as the king was passing by, the man cried out to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the ranks of the battle, and look — a man brought another man to me and said to me, Guard this man; and if he slips away and escapes, then your life will go for his life, or you will weigh out seventy-five pounds of silver. [n] 40 And it happened that your servant looked this way and that, and the man was gone.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Look — the ambushes as well! At my own side you have done murder.” [o] 41 And he hurried and took the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel knew him — that he was one of the prophets. 42 And he said to him, “This is what the Lord says: Because you let go out of your hand a man marked for destruction, your life will go for his life, and your people for his people.” [p] 43 And the king of Israel went away troubled and downcast, and came to Samaria.