1 Kings 20

Ben-hadad, king of Syria, and thirty-two kings, besiege Samaria, 1 Kings 20:1 . He sends an insulting message to Ahab; and insists on pillaging the whole city, 1 Kings 20:2-7 . The elders of Israel counsel the king not to submit to such shameful conditions, 1 Kings 20:8 . He sends a refusal to Ben-hadad; who, being enraged, vows revenge, 1 Kings 20:9-12 . A prophet comes to Ahab, and promises him victory, and gives him directions how he should order the battle, 1 Kings 20:13-19 . The Syrians are discomfited, and Ben-hadad scarcely escapes, 1 Kings 20:20 , 1 Kings 20:21 . The prophet warns Ahab to be on his guard, for the Syrians would return next year, 1 Kings 20:22 . The counsellors of the king of Syria instruct him how he may successfully invade Israel, 1 Kings 20:23-25 . He leads an immense army to Aphek, to fight with Ahab, 1 Kings 20:26 , 1 Kings 20:27 . A man of God encourages Ahab, who attacks the Syrians, and kills one hundred thousand of them, 1 Kings 20:28 , 1 Kings 20:29 . They retreat to Aphek, where twenty-seven thousand of them are slain by a casualty, 1 Kings 20:30 . Ben-hadad and his courtiers, being closely besieged in Aphek, and unable to escape, surrender themselves with sackcloth on their loins, and halters on their heads; the king of Israel receives them in a friendly manner, and makes a covenant with Ben-hadad, 1 Kings 20:31-34 . A prophet, by a symbolical action, shows him the impolicy of his conduct in permitting Ben-hadad to escape, and predicts his death and the slaughter of Israel, 1 Kings 20:35-43 .