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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Kings 20 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_kings/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_kings/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > 1 Kings 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_kings/19.htm" title="1 Kings 19">◄</a> 1 Kings 20 <a href="../1_kings/21.htm" title="1 Kings 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">War with Syria</h3><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.1" class="v11_20_1">1</span>King Benhadad of Syria gathered all his troops, and supported by thirty-two other rulers with their horses and chariots, he marched up, laid siege to Samaria, and launched attacks against it. </span><span class="v11_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.2" class="v11_20_2">2</span>He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say, “King Benhadad demands that </span><span class="v11_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.3" class="v11_20_3">3</span>you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.4" class="v11_20_4">4</span>“Tell my lord, King Benhadad, that I agree; he can have me and everything I own,” Ahab answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_5"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.5" class="v11_20_5">5</span>Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: “I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children. </span><span class="v11_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.6" class="v11_20_6">6</span>Now, however, I will send my officers to search your palace and the homes of your officials, and to take everything they<a href="#fn" id="link_1Kgs.20.6!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> consider valuable. They will be there about this time tomorrow.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.7" class="v11_20_7">7</span>King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, “You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.8" class="v11_20_8">8</span>The leaders and the people answered, “Don't pay any attention to him; don't give in.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_9"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.9" class="v11_20_9">9</span>So Ahab replied to Benhadad's messengers, “Tell my lord the king that I agreed to his first demand, but I cannot agree to the second.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_9">The messengers left and then returned with another message </span><span class="v11_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.10" class="v11_20_10">10</span>from Benhadad: “I will bring enough men to destroy this city of yours and carry off the rubble in their hands. May the gods strike me dead if I don't!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_11"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.11" class="v11_20_11">11</span>King Ahab answered, “Tell King Benhadad that a real soldier does his bragging <span class="it">after</span> a battle, not before it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.12" class="v11_20_12">12</span>Benhadad received Ahab's answer as he and his allies, the other rulers, were drinking in their tents. He ordered his men to get ready to attack the city, and so they moved into position.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.13" class="v11_20_13">13</span>Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, “The <span class="nd">Lord</span> says, ‘Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.’”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_14"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.14" class="v11_20_14">14</span>“Who will lead the attack?” Ahab asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_14">The prophet answered, “The <span class="nd">Lord</span> says that the young soldiers under the command of the district governors are to do it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_14">“Who will command the main force?” the king asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_14">“You,” the prophet answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_15"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.15" class="v11_20_15">15</span>So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.16" class="v11_20_16">16</span>The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his thirty-two allies were getting drunk in their tents. </span><span class="v11_20_17"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.17" class="v11_20_17">17</span>The young soldiers advanced first. Scouts sent out by Benhadad reported to him that a group of soldiers was coming out of Samaria. </span><span class="v11_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.18" class="v11_20_18">18</span>He ordered, “Take them alive, no matter whether they are coming to fight or to ask for peace.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.19" class="v11_20_19">19</span>The young soldiers led the attack, followed by the Israelite army, </span><span class="v11_20_20"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.20" class="v11_20_20">20</span>and each one killed the man he fought. The Syrians fled, with the Israelites in hot pursuit, but Benhadad escaped on horseback, accompanied by some of the cavalry. </span><span class="v11_20_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.21" class="v11_20_21">21</span>King Ahab took to the field, captured<a href="#fn" id="link_1Kgs.20.21!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Syrians.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.22" class="v11_20_22">22</span>Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, “Go back and build up your forces and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring.”</span></p><h3 class="s">The Second Syrian Attack</h3><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_23"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.23" class="v11_20_23">23</span>King Benhadad's officials said to him, “The gods of Israel are mountain gods, and that is why the Israelites defeated us. But we will certainly defeat them if we fight them in the plains. </span><span class="v11_20_24"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.24" class="v11_20_24">24</span>Now, remove the thirty-two rulers from their commands and replace them with field commanders. </span><span class="v11_20_25"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.25" class="v11_20_25">25</span>Then call up an army as large as the one that deserted you, with the same number of horses and chariots. We will fight the Israelites in the plains, and this time we will defeat them.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_25">King Benhadad agreed and followed their advice. </span><span class="v11_20_26"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.26" class="v11_20_26">26</span>The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites. </span><span class="v11_20_27"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.27" class="v11_20_27">27</span>The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared to the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_28"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.28" class="v11_20_28">28</span>A prophet went to King Ahab and said, “This is what the <span class="nd">Lord</span> says: ‘Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.’”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_29"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.29" class="v11_20_29">29</span>For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians. </span><span class="v11_20_30"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.30" class="v11_20_30">30</span>The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on twenty-seven thousand of them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_30">Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house. </span><span class="v11_20_31"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.31" class="v11_20_31">31</span>His officials went to him and said, “We have heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Give us permission to go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our necks, and maybe he will spare your life.” </span><span class="v11_20_32"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.32" class="v11_20_32">32</span>So they wrapped sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their necks, went to Ahab and said, “Your servant Benhadad pleads with you for his life.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_32">Ahab answered, “Is he still alive? Good! He's like a brother to me!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_33"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.33" class="v11_20_33">33</span>Benhadad's officials were watching for a good sign, and when Ahab said “brother,” they took it up at once, and said, “As you say, Benhadad is your brother!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_33">“Bring him to me,” Ahab ordered. When Benhadad arrived, Ahab invited him to get in the chariot with him. </span><span class="v11_20_34"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.34" class="v11_20_34">34</span>Benhadad said to him, “I will restore to you the towns my father took from your father, and you may set up a commercial center for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_34">Ahab replied, “On these terms, then, I will set you free.” He made a treaty with him and let him go.</span></p><h3 class="s">A Prophet Condemns Ahab</h3><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_35"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.35" class="v11_20_35">35</span>At the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow prophet to hit him. But he refused, </span><span class="v11_20_36"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.36" class="v11_20_36">36</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Kgs.20.36!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span>-</span></a> so he said to him, “Because you have disobeyed the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s command, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And as soon as he left, a lion came along and killed him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_37"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.37" class="v11_20_37">37</span>Then this same prophet went to another man and said, “Hit me!” This man did so; he hit him a hard blow and hurt him. </span><span class="v11_20_38"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.38" class="v11_20_38">38</span>The prophet bandaged his face with a cloth, to disguise himself, and went and stood by the road, waiting for the king of Israel to pass. </span><span class="v11_20_39"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.39" class="v11_20_39">39</span>As the king was passing by, the prophet called out to him and said, “Your Majesty, I was fighting in the battle when a soldier brought a captured enemy to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if he escapes, you will pay for it with your life or else pay a fine of three thousand pieces of silver.’ </span><span class="v11_20_40"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.40" class="v11_20_40">40</span>But I got busy with other things, and the man escaped.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_40">The king answered, “You have pronounced your own sentence, and you will have to pay the penalty.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_41"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.41" class="v11_20_41">41</span>The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets. </span><span class="v11_20_42"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.42" class="v11_20_42">42</span>The prophet then said to the king, “This is the word of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>: ‘Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.’”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v11_20_43"><span class="reftext" id="1Kgs.20.43" class="v11_20_43">43</span>The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.6: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some ancient translations </char><char style="fq" closed="false">they; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">you.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.21: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">captured; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">destroyed.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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