The King James Version of the Bible
Part 123
2258 words | Chapter 123
t 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.
20:10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me,
and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for
all the people that follow me.
20:11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him
that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
20:12 And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he
was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his
servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array
against the city.
20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel,
saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude?
behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt
know that I am the LORD.
20:14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even
by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who
shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.
20:15 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, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
20:16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself
drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings
that helped him.
20:17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out
first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men
come out of Samaria.
20:18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them
alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
20:19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of
the city, and the army which followed them.
20:20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and
Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an
horse with the horsemen.
20:21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and
chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him,
Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the
return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods
are gods 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.
20:24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his
place, and put captains in their rooms: 20:25 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 unto their voice, and
did so.
20:26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad
numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
20:27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present,
and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them
like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel,
and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians 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 thine hand, and ye shall know
that I am the LORD.
20:29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so
it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the
children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in
one day.
20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell
upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad
fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
20:31 And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that
the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray
thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out
to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
20:32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their
heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad
saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is
my brother.
20:33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come
from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother
Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to
him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
20:34 And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took
from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee
in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send
thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent
him away.
20:35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his
neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man
refused to smite him.
20:36 Then said he unto 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.
20:37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And
the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
20:38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and
disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
20:39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto 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 unto 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.
20:40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the
king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast
decided it.
20:41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the
king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
20:42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let
go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction,
therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his
people.
20:43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased,
and came to Samaria.
21:1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the
Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of
Ahab king of Samaria.
21:2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I
may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house:
and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem
good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
21:3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should
give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
21:4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the
word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I
will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down
upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
21:5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy
spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? 21:6 And he said unto her,
Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me
thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee
another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my
vineyard.
21:7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the
kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry:
I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
21:8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his
seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were
in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
21:9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set
Naboth on high among the people: 21:10 And set two men, sons of
Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst
blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him,
that he may die.
21:11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were
the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as
it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
21:12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
21:13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before
him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth,
in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and
the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him
with stones, that he died.
21:14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is
dead.
21:15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned,
and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the
vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for
money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
21:16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that
Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to
take possession of it.
21:17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
21:18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria:
behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to
possess it.
21:19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast
thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him,
saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood
of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
21:20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And
he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work
evil in the sight of the LORD.
21:21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy
posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the
wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, 21:22 And will make
thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the
house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou
hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.
21:23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat
Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
21:24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him
that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to
work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife
stirred up.
21:26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all
things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children
of Israel.
21:27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent
his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in
sackcloth, and went softly.
21:28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
21:29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he
humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but
in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.
22:1 And they continued three years without war between Syria and
Israel.
22:2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king
of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
22:3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that
Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the
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