1 After this, Benadad king of Syria mustered his whole army, with thirty-two princes at its head, mustered all his horses and chariots, and would take Samaria by siege. 2 Achab, king of Israel, was within the city; 3 and to him Benadad sent messengers demanding the surrender of his silver and gold, his wives, too, and all the likeliest of his sons. 4 My lord king, answered Achab, I accept thy terms; all that I have is at thy disposal. 5 But now the messengers came back to him with a fresh demand from Benadad, Silver and gold, wives and sons, thou must hand over to me; 6 and meanwhile, at this time tomorrow, envoys of mine shall visit thee, to search thy palace and thy courtiers’ houses; to these thou must give up all they have a mind to carry away with them.
1 Porro Benadad rex Syriæ congregavit omnem exercitum suum, et triginta duos reges secum, et equos, et currus: et ascendens pugnabat contra Samariam, et obsidebat eam. 2 Mittensque nuntios ad Achab regem Israël in civitatem, 3 ait: Hæc dicit Benadad: Argentum tuum, et aurum tuum meum est: et uxores tuæ, et filii tui optimi, mei sunt. 4 Responditque rex Israël: Juxta verbum tuum, domine mi rex, tuus sum ego, et omnia mea. 5 Revertentesque nuntii, dixerunt: Hæc dicit Benadad, qui misit nos ad te: Argentum tuum, et aurum tuum, et uxores tuas, et filios tuos, dabis mihi. 6 Cras igitur hac eadem hora mittam servos meos ad te, et scrutabuntur domum tuam, et domum servorum tuorum: et omne quod eis placuerit, ponent in manibus suis, et auferent.
7 Thereupon the king of Israel summoned all the elders of his land; Mark well, he said, how craftily this man deals with us; this is my reward for consenting to give up wives and sons, silver and gold, at his demand. 8 Elders and people had but one thought; there must be no listening to Benadad, no granting his will. 9 Achab, then, thus answered Benadad’s messengers, Tell my lord the king, I am thy servant, and ready to carry out that first demand of thine; but this I cannot grant. 10 And he, when the answer was reported to him, sent them back with this message, May the gods punish me as I deserve, and more than I deserve, if I do not beat Samaria to dust! I have more than enough warriors here at my back to carry it away in handfuls. 11 To that, the king of Israel made reply, Boast he may who ungirds, not he who girds for battle. 12 This taunt came to the ears of Benadad when he sat drinking with his princes in his royal pavilions. Besiege me the city, he told his men, and besiege it they did.
7 Vocavit autem rex Israël omnes seniores terræ, 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 majores natu, et universus populus, ad eum: Non audias, neque acquiescas illi. 9 Respondit itaque nuntiis Benadad: Dicite domino meo regi: Omnia propter quæ misisti ad me servum tuum in initio, faciam: hanc autem rem facere non possum. 10 Reversique nuntii retulerunt ei. Qui remisit, et ait: Hæc faciant mihi dii, et hæc addant, si suffecerit pulvis Samariæ pugillis omnis populi qui sequitur me. 11 Et respondens rex Israël, ait: Dicite ei: Ne glorietur, accinctus æque ut discinctus. 12 Factum est autem cum audisset Benadad verbum istud, bibebat ipse et reges in umbraculis: et ait servis suis: Circumdate civitatem. Et circumdederunt eam.
13 And now a prophet came with a message from the Lord to Achab, king of Israel: Thou canst see for thyself what a great multitude of warriors is here; over all that multitude I mean to give thee victory this day, and prove to thee that I am the Lord. 14 Victory? said Achab. And who shall win it for us? Whereupon the prophet gave him this answer from the Lord, It shall be the lackeys the chiefs have brought with them. And when Achab asked who should lead them, he told him, Thou thyself. 15 So he took count of the lackeys the chiefs had in their retinue, and found there were two hundred and thirty-two of these; then he took count of his army, the whole army of Israel, seven thousand strong. 16 When it was high noon, they sallied out from the city, while Benadad still drank deep in his pavilion, with the princes that had come to aid him; 17 and the lackeys marched at their head. Benadad, when his scouts told him that a sally was being made from Samaria, 18 gave orders that the men should be taken alive, came they out peaceably or for battle. 19 So on they went, the lackeys in the van, and the rest of the army at their heels, 20 and none but slew the first enemy he met; so that the Syrians were routed, and Israel went in pursuit of them. Benadad king of Syria escaped on horse-back among his cavalry, 21 and still horse and chariot fell before the king of Israel’s sally, till he won a great victory over the men of Syria. 22 But the prophet sought him out again and warned him, Go back and strengthen thy forces; take good heed what thou art doing; in this next year the king of Syria will be marching against thee.
13 Et ecce propheta unus accedens ad Achab regem Israël, ait ei: Hæc 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: Hæc dicit Dominus: Per pedissequos principum provinciarum. Et ait: Quis incipiet præliari? Et ille dixit: Tu. 15 Recensuit ergo pueros principum provinciarum, et reperit numerum ducentorum triginta duorum: et recensuit post eos populum, omnes filios Israël, septem millia. 16 Et egressi sunt meridie. Benadad autem bibebat temulentus in umbraculo suo, et reges triginta duo cum eo, qui ad auxilium ejus venerant. 17 Egressi sunt autem pueri principum provinciarum in prima fronte. Misit itaque Benadad: qui nuntiaverunt ei, dicentes: Viri egressi sunt de Samaria. 18 Et ille ait: Sive pro pace veniunt, apprehendite eos vivos: sive ut prælientur, vivos eos capite. 19 Egressi sunt ergo pueri principum provinciarum, ac reliquus exercitus sequebatur: 20 et percussit unusquisque virum qui contra se veniebat: fugeruntque Syri, et persecutus est eos Israël. Fugit quoque Benadad rex Syriæ in equo cum equitibus suis. 21 Necnon egressus rex Israël percussit equos et currus, et percussit Syriam plaga magna. 22 Accedens autem propheta ad regem Israël, dixit ei: Vade, et confortare, et scito, et vide quid facias: sequenti enim anno rex Syriæ ascendet contra te.
23 In Syria, the king’s advisers told him, If the Israelites have defeated us, that is because their gods are gods of the hills; best to offer them battle on the low-lying ground, where we shall have them at our mercy. 24 Meanwhile, something remains to be done; remove the princes, one and all, from their posts, and appoint commanders of thy own in place of them. 25 Then fill up the gaps in the ranks of thy army, muster as many horses and chariots as thou hadst of old, and we will fight them in the plains; see if we do not get the mastery of them. Benadad was won over by their advice, and took it; 26 when a year had passed, he marshalled the Syrian forces and led them out to Aphec, where he offered Israel battle. 27 The men of Israel marshalled their forces too, provided themselves with food for the march and went out to meet the enemy. Where they lay encamped opposite, they seemed like two little herds of goats, while the Syrians swarmed over the country-side.
23 Servi vero regis Syriæ dixerunt ei: Dii montium sunt dii eorum, ideo superaverunt nos: sed melius est ut pugnemus contra eos in campestribus, et obtinebimus eos. 24 Tu ergo verbum hoc fac: amove reges singulos ab exercitu tuo, 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 postquam annus transierat, recensuit Benadad Syros, et ascendit in Aphec ut pugnaret contra Israël. 27 Porro filii Israël recensiti sunt, et acceptis cibariis profecti ex adverso, castraque metati sunt contra eos, quasi duo parvi greges caprarum: Syri autem repleverunt terram.
28 To the king of Israel God sent out one of his servants with this message: Thus says the Lord, Thinks Syria that I am God of the hills, and not of the valleys too? Over all this great array I will give thee victory; such proof you shall have that I am the Lord. 29 So, for seven days, the armies stood threatening one another, and on the seventh battle was joined; on that one day the men of Israel routed a hundred thousand Syrians that fought on foot. 30 Those who survived took refuge in the city of Aphec, where the wall fell on them, twenty-seven thousand in number. As for Benadad, when he made his way into the city he took refuge in an inner room; 31 and there his courtiers told him, This is the tale we have heard about the kings of Israel, that they are merciful men. Let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and give ourselves up to the king of Israel; it may be he will spare our lives. 32 So, with sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads, they betook themselves to the king of Israel; Thy servant Benadad, they told him, pleads for his life. And Achab answered, Lives he yet, he is my brother. 33 Whereupon, seizing from his lips that word of welcome augury, they cried, Benadad! He is thy brother! So Achab bade them fetch him; and when Benadad came out, would have him mount his own chariot. 34 And now Benadad promised, I will give thee back the cities my father took from thine, and thou shalt have streets in Damascus, as my father had in Samaria, and I will go home at peace with thee. So Achab made peace with him, and let him go his way.
28 (Et accedens unus vir Dei, dixit ad regem Israël: Hæc 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 sum Dominus.) 29 Dirigebantque septem diebus ex adverso hi atque illi acies, septima autem die commissum est bellum: percusseruntque filii Israël de Syris centum millia peditum in die una. 30 Fugerunt autem qui remanserant in Aphec, in civitatem: et cecidit murus super viginti septem millia 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 Israël clementes sint: ponamus itaque saccos in lumbis nostris, et funiculos in capitibus nostris, et egrediamur ad regem Israël: forsitan salvabit animas nostras. 32 Accinxerunt saccis lumbos suos, et posuerunt funiculos in capitibus suis, veneruntque ad regem Israël, et dixerunt ei: 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 ejus, atque dixerunt: Frater tuus Benadad. Et dixit eis: Ite, et adducite eum ad me. 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, et ego fœderatus recedam a te. Pepigit ergo fœdus, et dimisit eum.
35 But now the Lord sent his inspiration to a disciple in the schools of the prophets. He bade one of his fellow disciples strike him a blow, and when he refused, 36 told him, Thou shalt be punished for disobeying the Lord’s voice thus. Thou shalt be mauled by a lion, said he; and they had barely parted when his fellow disciple met a lion, and was mauled by it. 37 Meanwhile, his fellow disciple sought out another; Strike me a blow, he asked of him, and strike he did, leaving a wound on him. 38 So the prophet went out to meet the king on the open road, first smearing his face and eyes with dust; 39 and as the king passed, he cried out to him, My lord, a word with thee! I was lately in the thick of the battle, and one brought a fugitive to me, bidding me mount guard over him; did he slip through my hands, it was my life for his, or else I must pay a talent of silver. 40 And then, as I looked this way and that in the press, all at once he was gone. Why then, said the king of Israel, thou must pay the forfeit that was named. 41 With that, he wiped the dust from his face, so that the king of Israel knew him for one of the prophets; 42 and he gave him this message from the Lord, And thou, hast thou not let a man worthy of death slip through thy hands? Thy life shall pay for his life, thy people for his people. 43 A sullen man was the king of Israel and an ill man to cross when he reached his home in Samaria.
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 aspersione pulveris os et oculos suos. 39 Cumque rex transisset, clamavit ad regem, et ait: Servus tuus egressus est ad præliandum cominus: cumque fugisset vir unus, adduxit eum quidam ad me, et ait: Custodi virum istum: qui si lapsus fuerit, erit anima tua pro anima ejus, aut talentum argenti appendes. 40 Dum autem ego turbatus huc illucque me verterem, subito non comparuit. Et ait rex Israël ad eum: Hoc est judicium tuum, quod ipse decrevisti. 41 At ille statim abstersit pulverem de facie sua, et cognovit eum rex Israël, quod esset de prophetis. 42 Qui ait ad eum: Hæc dicit Dominus: Quia dimisisti virum dignum morte de manu tua, erit anima tua pro anima ejus, et populus tuus pro populo ejus. 43 Reversus est igitur rex Israël in domum suam, audire contemnens, et furibundus venit in Samariam.
