I Kings · Chapter 20 King James Version

I Kings 20:34

🔍 Text

The Scripture

(34) And Benhadad 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.
Chapter overview (whole chapter)

First Kings 20 records Ben-hadad king of Syria besieging Samaria with thirty-two allied kings and demanding Ahab's silver, gold, women, and children, then escalating his demands until Ahab refuses. A prophet delivers God's word that Ahab will defeat the vast Syrian host, and Israel's young men strike down the Syrians while Ben-hadad escapes, with a second victory the next year at Aphek after the Syrians arrogantly claim the Lord is only a god of the hills. When Ahab spares Ben-hadad and makes a treaty, a prophet condemns him: because he let the man God devoted to destruction go free, Ahab's life will pay for his, and Ahab returns to Samaria heavy and displeased.

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