1 Kings 20:1-12

Ahab Defeats the Syrians

20¹ And Ben-Hadad king of Aram hath gathered all his force, and thirty and two kings 'are' with him, and horse and chariot, and he goeth up and layeth siege against Samaria, and fighteth with it, ² and sendeth messengers unto Ahab king of Israel, to the city, ³ and saith to him, 'Thus said Ben-Hadad, 'Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy sons—the best—are mine.' ⁴ And the king of Israel answereth and saith, 'According to thy word, my lord, O king: I 'am' thine, and all that I have.' ⁵ And the messengers turn back and say, 'Thus spake Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons, to me thou dost give; ⁶ for if, at this time to-morrow, I send my servants unto thee then they have searched thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and it hath been, every desirable thing of thine eyes they place in their hand, and have taken away.' ⁷ And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, 'Know, I pray you, and see that evil this 'one' is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.' ⁸ And all the elders and all the people say unto him, 'Do not hearken, nor consent.' ⁹ And he saith to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, 'Say to my lord the king, All that thou didst send for unto thy servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do;' and the messengers go and take him back word. ¹⁰ And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, 'Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who 'are' at my feet.' ¹¹ And the king of Israel answereth and saith, 'Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing 'his armour'.'

¹² And it cometh to pass at the hearing of this word—and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the booths—that he saith unto his servants, 'Set yourselves;' and they set themselves against the city.