Daily Text and Bible Reading: Friday, April 25 [Press play below]

20.1 Now King Ben-hadad of Syria gathered his whole army together along with 32 other kings and their horses and chariots; he went up and laid siege to Samaria and fought against it.
20.2 Then he sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel at the city and said to him: “This is what Ben-hadad says,
20.3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, as well as the best of your wives and your sons.’”
20.4 To this the king of Israel answered: “According to your word, my lord the king, I am yours along with all that belongs to me.”
20.5 The messengers later came back and said: “This is what Ben-hadad says, ‘I sent this message to you: “Your silver, your gold, your wives, and your sons you will give me.”
20.6 But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will carefully search your house and the houses of your servants, and all your desirable things they will seize and take away.’”
20.7 At that the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said: “Take note, please, and see that this man is bent on bringing calamity, for he demanded my wives, my sons, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.”
20.8 Then all the elders and all the people said to him: “Do not obey, and do not consent.”
20.9 So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad: “Say to my lord the king, ‘All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this I cannot do.’” With that the messengers went off and brought word back to him.
20.10 Ben-hadad now sent him this message: “So may the gods do to me and add to it if there is enough dust in Samaria to give each of the people following me a handful!”
20.11 The king of Israel answered: “Tell him, ‘The one who puts on his armor should not boast about himself like one who takes it off.’”
20.12 As soon as he heard this reply, while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, he said to his servants: “Get ready to attack!” So they got ready to attack the city.
20.13 But a prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘Have you seen all this large crowd? Here I am giving it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am Jehovah.’”
20.14 Ahab asked: “By whom?” to which he said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘By the attendants of the princes of the provinces.’” So he asked: “Who will start the battle?” to which he said: “You!”
20.15 Ahab then counted the attendants of the princes of the provinces, and they were 232; after that, he counted all the Israelite men, 7,000.
20.16 They went out at noon while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents along with the 32 kings who were helping him.
20.17 When the attendants of the princes of the provinces came out first, Ben-hadad at once sent messengers. They reported to him: “Men have come out from Samaria.”
20.18 At that he said: “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for battle, you should still take them alive.”
20.19 But when these came out of the city—the attendants of the princes of the provinces and the armies that were following them—
20.20 each one struck down his opponent. Then the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Syria escaped on a horse with some of the horsemen.
20.21 But the king of Israel went out and kept striking down the horses and the chariots, and he inflicted a great defeat on the Syrians.
20.22 Later the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him: “Go, strengthen yourself and consider what you are going to do, for at the start of the next year the king of Syria will come up against you.”
20.23 Now the servants of the king of Syria said to him: “Their God is a God of mountains. That is why they overpowered us. But if we fight against them on level land, we will overpower them.
20.24 Also do this: Remove all the kings from their places, and replace them with governors.
20.25 Then gather an army equal to the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Let us fight against them on level land, and we will surely overpower them.” So he listened to their advice and did just that.
20.26 At the start of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek for battle against Israel.
20.27 The people of Israel were also mustered and supplied, and they went out to meet them. When the people of Israel camped in front of them, they were like two tiny flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the whole land.
20.28 Then the man of the true God approached the king of Israel and said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘Because the Syrians have said: “Jehovah is a God of mountains, and he is not a God of plains,” I will give all this large crowd into your hand, and you will certainly know that I am Jehovah.’”
20.29 They remained encamped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The people of Israel struck down 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day.
20.30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city. But the wall fell down on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-hadad also fled and came into the city, and he hid in an inner room.
20.31 So his servants said to him: “Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us wear sackcloth on our hips and put ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
20.32 So they wore sackcloth around their hips and ropes on their heads and came in to the king of Israel and said: “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please, let me live.’” He replied: “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
20.33 The men took it as an omen and quickly took him at his word, so they said: “Ben-hadad is your brother.” At that he said: “Go and get him.” Then Ben-hadad went out to him, and he had him get up into the chariot.
20.34 Ben-hadad now said to him: “The cities that my father took from your father I will return, and you may establish markets for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.” Ahab replied: “On the basis of this agreement, I will let you go.” With that he made an agreement with him and let him go.
20.35 By the word of Jehovah, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion: “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him.
20.36 So he said to him: “Because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” After he left him, a lion came upon him and killed him.
20.37 He found another man and said: “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him.
20.38 Then the prophet went and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
20.39 As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and there was a man coming out who brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is found missing, your life will have to take the place of his life, or else you will pay a talent of silver.’
20.40 And while your servant was busy here and there, suddenly the man was gone.” The king of Israel said to him: “So your own judgment will be; you have decided it yourself.”
20.41 Then he quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
20.42 He said to him: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘Because you have let the man who I said should be destroyed escape from your hand, your life must take the place of his life, and your people the place of his people.’”
20.43 At that the king of Israel went home to Samaria, sullen and dejected.

21.1 After these things, an incident took place concerning a vineyard that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite; it was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab the king of Samaria.
21.2 Ahab said to Naboth: “Give me your vineyard for me to use as a vegetable garden, for it is near my house. Then I will give you a better vineyard to replace it. Or if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
21.3 But Naboth said to Ahab: “It is unthinkable, from Jehovah’s standpoint, for me to give you the inheritance of my forefathers.”
21.4 So Ahab came into his house, sullen and dejected over the answer that Naboth the Jezreelite had given him when he said: “I will not give you the inheritance of my forefathers.” Then he lay down on his bed, kept his face turned away, and refused to eat.
21.5 His wife Jezebel came in to him and asked him: “Why are you so sad that you refuse to eat?”
21.6 He replied to her: “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Give me your vineyard for money. Or if you prefer, let me give you another vineyard to replace it.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
21.7 His wife Jezebel said to him: “Are you not the one ruling as king over Israel? Get up, eat something, and let your heart be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
21.8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city.
21.9 She wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast, and have Naboth sit at the head of the people.
21.10 And have two good-for-nothing men sit in front of him and testify against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king!’ Then bring him out and stone him to death.”
21.11 So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did just as was written in the letters that Jezebel sent to them.
21.12 They proclaimed a fast and had Naboth sit at the head of the people.
21.13 Then two of the good-for-nothing men came in and sat down in front of him and began to testify against Naboth in front of the people, saying: “Naboth has cursed God and the king!” After that they brought him to the outskirts of the city and stoned him to death.
21.14 They now sent word to Jezebel, saying: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
21.15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab: “Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is no longer alive. He is dead.”
21.16 As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.
21.17 But Jehovah’s word came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying:
21.18 “Get up, go down to meet Ahab the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. There he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession of it.
21.19 You must tell him, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “Have you murdered a man and also taken his property?”’ Then say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your own blood.”’”
21.20 Ahab said to Elijah: “So you have found me, O my enemy!” He replied: “I have found you. ‘Because you are determined to do what is bad in the eyes of Jehovah,
21.21 here I am bringing calamity upon you, and I will make a clean sweep after you and will annihilate from Ahab every male, including the helpless and weak in Israel.
21.22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for you have provoked my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’
21.23 Also concerning Jezebel, Jehovah has said: ‘The dogs will eat up Jezebel in the plot of land of Jezreel.
21.24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs will eat up, and anyone who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat up.
21.25 Indeed, there has never been anyone like Ahab, who was so determined to do what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, egged on by his wife Jezebel.
21.26 He acted in the most detestable way by going after the disgusting idols, just as all the Amorites had done, whom Jehovah drove out from before the Israelites.’”
21.27 As soon as Ahab heard these words, he ripped his garments apart and put sackcloth on his body; and he went on a fast and kept lying down in sackcloth and walking despondently.
21.28 Jehovah’s word then came to Elijah the Tishbite:
21.29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself on my account? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity during his lifetime. I will bring the calamity upon his house in the days of his son.”