Elijah escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. calls Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the Elisha knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

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So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let 10 me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the 15 instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

* And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings 20 with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhahad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives 25 also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.

And the messengers came again, and said, Thus Ben-hadad speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent besieges unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, Samaria and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about 5 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.

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the ro 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.

And all the elders and all the people said unto 15 him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. 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 20

brought him word again.

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.

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.

And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this

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Abab message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in

smites the pavilions, that he Ben-hadad yourselves in array. array against the city.

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said unto his servants, Set And they set themselves in

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. And Ahab said, By 10 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.

Then he numbered the young men of the princes 15 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. And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, 20 he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 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. And he said, Whether they be 25 come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.

So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. And they slew every one his man: and the

Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben- Abab's hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with Victory the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, over the and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians Syrians with a great slaughter.

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.

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And the servants of the king of Syria said unto ro 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. And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains 15 in their rooms 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.

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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. And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel 25 pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord,

The Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of Syrians the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore defeated will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, a Second and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Time 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. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there 10 a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left.

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And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. And his servant said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I 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.

pray

So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put 20 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.

Now the men did diligently observe whether any 25 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.