Liber Primus Regum

I Regum, chapter 20, Vulgate and King James Version

Chapter 20 Vulgate

   1 Porro Benadad rex Syriae congregavit omnem exerci tum suum et triginta duos reges secum et equos et currus et ascendens pugnabat contra Samariam et obsidebat eam.
   2 Mittensque nuntios ad Achab regem Israel in civitatem
   3 ait: "Haec dicit Benadad: Argentum tuum et aurum tuum meum est, et uxores tuae et filii tui optimi mei sunt".
   4 Responditque rex Israel: "Iuxta verbum tuum, domine mi rex; tuus sum ego et omnia mea".
   5 Revertentesque nuntii dixerunt: "Haec dicit Benadad: Quia misi ad te dicens: "Argentum tuum et aurum tuum et uxores tuas et filios tuos dabis mihi",
   6 profecto cras hac eadem hora mittam servos meos ad te, et scrutabuntur domum tuam et domum servorum tuorum; et omne, quod oculis tuis pretiosum est, ponent in manibus suis et auferent".
   7 Vocavit autem rex Israel omnes seniores terrae et ait: "Animadvertite et videte quoniam insidietur nobis; misit enim ad me pro uxoribus meis et filiis et pro argento et auro, et non abnui".
   8 Dixeruntque omnes maiores natu et universus populus ad eum: "Non audias neque acquiescas illi".
   9 Respondit itaque nuntiis Benadad: "Dicite domino meo regi: Omnia, propter quae misisti ad me servum tuum initio, faciam; hanc autem rem facere non possum". Reversique nuntii rettulerunt ei.
   10 Qui remisit et ait: "Haec faciant mihi dii et haec addant, si suffecerit pulvis Samariae pugillis omnis populi, qui sequitur me".
   11 Et respondens rex Israel ait: "Dicite ei: Ne glorietur accinctus aeque ut discinctus".
   12 Factum est autem, cum audisset verbum istud, bibebat ipse et reges in umbraculis et ait servis suis: "Circumdate civitatem!". Et circumdederunt eam.
   13 Et ecce propheta unus accedens ad Achab regem Israel ait: "Haec dicit Dominus: Certe vidisti omnem multitudinem hanc nimiam. Ecce ego tradam eam in manu tua hodie, ut scias quia ego sum Dominus".
   14 Et ait Achab: "Per quem?". Dixitque ei: "Haec dicit Dominus: Per pedisequos principum provinciarum". Et ait: "Quis incipiet proeliari?". Et ille dixit: "Tu".
   15 Recensuit ergo pueros principum provinciarum et repperit numerum ducentorum triginta duorum; et post eos recensuit populum, omnes filios Israel, septem milia.
   16 Et egressi sunt meridie. Benadad autem bibebat temulentus in umbraculis ipse et reges triginta duo cum eo, qui ad auxilium eius venerant.
   17 Egressi sunt autem pueri principum provinciarum in prima fronte. Misit itaque Benadad, qui nuntiaverunt ei dicentes: "Viri egressi sunt de Samaria".
   18 At ille ait: "Sive pro pace veniunt, apprehendite eos vivos; sive ut proelientur, vivos eos capite".
   19 Egressi erant ergo ex urbe pueri principum provinciarum, ac reliquus exercitus sequebatur,
   20 et percussit unusquisque virum, qui contra se venerat; fugeruntque Syri, et persecutus est eos Israel. Fugit quoque Benadad rex Syriae in equo cum equitibus.
   21 Necnon egressus rex Israel percussit equos et currus et percussit Syriam plaga magna.
   22 Accedens autem propheta ad regem Israel dixit ei: "Vade et confortare et scito et vide quid facias; vertente enim anno rex Syriae ascendet contra te".
   23 Servi vero regis Syriae dixerunt ei: "Deus montium est Deus eorum, ideo superaverunt nos; sed pugnemus contra eos in campestribus et obtinebimus eos.
   24 Fac ergo hoc: Amove reges singulos a loco suo et pone principes pro eis;
   25 et instaura numerum militum, qui ceciderunt de tuis, et equos secundum equos pristinos et currus secundum currus, quos ante habuisti, et pugnabimus contra eos in campestribus: et videbis quod obtinebimus eos". Credidit consilio eorum et fecit ita.
   26 Igitur vertente anno recensuit Benadad Syros et ascendit in Aphec, ut pugnaret contra Israel.
   27 Porro filii Israel recensiti sunt et, acceptis cibariis, profecti ex adverso castraque metati sunt contra eos, quasi duo parvi greges caprarum; Syri autem repleverunt terram.
   28 Et accedens vir Dei dixit ad regem Israel: "Haec dicit Dominus: Quia dixerunt Syri: "Deus montium est Dominus et non est Deus vallium", dabo omnem multitudinem hanc grandem in manu tua, et scietis quia ego Dominus".
   29 Dirigebant septem diebus ex adverso hi atque illi acies, septima autem die commissum est bellum; percusseruntque filii Israel de Syris centum milia peditum in die una.
   30 Fugerunt autem, qui remanserant in Aphec, in civitatem, et cecidit murus super viginti septem milia hominum, qui remanserant. Porro Benadad fugiens ingressus est civitatem in cubiculum, quod erat intra cubiculum.
   31 Dixeruntque ei servi sui: "Ecce audivimus quod reges domus Israel clementes sint; ponamus itaque saccos in lumbis nostris et funiculos in capitibus nostris et egrediamur ad regem Israel; forsitan salvabit animam tuam".
   32 Accinxerunt saccis lumbos suos et posuerunt funes in capitibus suis veneruntque ad regem Israel et dixerunt: "Servus tuus Benadad dicit: "Vivat, oro te, anima mea" ". Et ille ait: "Si adhuc vivit, frater meus est".
   33 Quod acceperunt viri pro omine et festinantes rapuerunt verbum ex ore eius atque dixerunt: "Frater tuus Benadad". Et dixit eis: "Ite et adducite eum". Egressus est ergo ad eum Benadad, et levavit eum in currum suum.
   34 Qui dixit ei: "Civitates, quas tulit pater meus a patre tuo, reddam; et plateas fac tibi in Damasco, sicut fecit pater meus in Samaria". Achab: "Ego autem, inquit, foederatum te dimittam". Et pepigit ei foedus et dimisit eum.
   35 Tunc vir quidam de filiis prophetarum dixit ad socium suum in sermone Domini: "Percute me!". At ille noluit percutere.
   36 Cui ait: "Quia noluisti audire vocem Domini, ecce recedes a me, et percutiet te leo". Cumque paululum recessisset ab eo, invenit eum leo atque percussit.
   37 Sed et alterum inveniens virum dixit ad eum: "Percute me!". Qui percussit eum et vulneravit.
   38 Abiit ergo propheta et occurrit regi in via et mutavit aspectum ponens fasciam super oculos suos.
   39 Cumque rex transiret, clamavit ad regem et ait: "Servus tuus egressus est ad proeliandum comminus; cumque fugisset vir unus, adduxit eum quidam ad me et ait: "Custodi virum istum! Qui si lapsus fuerit, erit anima tua pro anima eius, aut talentum argenti appendes".
   40 Dum autem ego turbatus huc illucque me verterem, subito non comparuit". Et ait rex Israel ad eum: "Hoc est iudicium tuum, quod ipse decrevisti".
   41 At ille statim abstulit fasciam de oculis suis, et cognovit eum rex Israel quod esset de prophetis.
   42 Qui ait ad eum: "Haec dicit Dominus: Quia dimisisti de manu tua virum, quem morti devoveram, erit anima tua pro anima eius, et populus tuus pro populo eius".
   43 Reversus est igitur rex Israel in domum suam tristis et indignans venitque in Samariam.

Source: Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio, Sacrosanti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II, Ratione Habita, Iussu Pauli PP. VI Recognita, Auctoritate Ioannis Pauli PP. II Promulgata, Editio Typica Altera

King James Version

   1 And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.
   2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad,
   3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
   4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
   5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
   6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.
   7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
   8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
   9 Wherefore he said unto 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.
   10 And Ben-hadad 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.
   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.
   12 And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad 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.
   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.
   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.
   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.
   16 And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
   17 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 Samaria.
   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.
   19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
   20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.
   21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
   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.
   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.
   24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
   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.
   26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
   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.
   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.
   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.
   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 Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
   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.
   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 Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
   33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
   34 And Ben-hadad 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.
   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.
   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.
   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.
   38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
   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.
   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.
   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.
   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.
   43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.