¹ The word of the LORD also came to me, saying,

² Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.

³ Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight; it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

⁴ Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at evening in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.

⁵ Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.

⁶ In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou mayest not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign to the house of Israel.

⁷ And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the evening I digged through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bore it upon my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ And in the morning came the word of the LORD to me, saying,

⁹ Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to thee, What doest thou?

¹⁰ Say thou to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD, This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.

¹¹ Say, I am your sign: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall remove and go into captivity.

¹² And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.

¹³ My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.

¹⁴ And I will scatter towards every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

¹⁵ And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

¹⁶ But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

¹⁷ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁸ Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with solicitude.

¹⁹ And say to the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with solicitude, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.

²⁰ And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

²¹ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²² Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?

²³ Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say to them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

²⁴ For there shall no more be any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

²⁵ For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall no more be prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the LORD GOD.

²⁶ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁷ Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are distant.

²⁸ Therefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be further deferred, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.

¹ Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.

² He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, "Thus says Ben Hadad,

³ 'Your silver and your gold is mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.'"

⁴ The king of Israel answered, "It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have."

⁵ The messengers came again, and said, "Ben Hadad says, 'I sent indeed to you, saying, "You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;

⁶ but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away."'"

⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Please notice how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him."

⁸ All the elders and all the people said to him, "Don't listen, neither consent."

⁹ Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, "Tell my lord the king, 'All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do.'" The messengers departed, and brought him back the message.

¹⁰ Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me."

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, "Tell him, 'Don't let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.'"

¹² It happened, when Ben Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, "Prepare to attack!" They prepared to attack the city.

¹³ Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.'"

¹⁴ Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'By the young men of the princes of the provinces.'" Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You."

¹⁵ Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two. After them, he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.

¹⁶ They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.

¹⁷ The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, "Men are coming out from Samaria."

¹⁸ He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive."

¹⁹ So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.

²⁰ They each killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen.

²¹ The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.

²² The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you."

²³ The servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their god is a god 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.

²⁴ Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place.

²⁵ Muster an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than them." He listened to their voice, and did so.

²⁶ It happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

²⁷ The children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats; but the Syrians filled the country.

²⁸ A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Because the Syrians have said, "Yahweh is a God of the hills, but he is not a God of the valleys;" therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.'"

²⁹ They encamped one over against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day.

³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner room.

³¹ His servants said to him, "See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life."

³² So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, "Your servant Ben Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" He said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."

³³ Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, "Your brother Ben Hadad." Then he said, "Go, bring him." Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

³⁴ Ben Hadad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria." "I," said Ahab, "will let you go with this covenant." So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.

³⁵ A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of Yahweh, "Please strike me!" The man refused to strike him.

³⁶ Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you." As soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him.

³⁷ Then he found another man, and said, "Please strike me." The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.

³⁸ So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.

³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said, 'Guard this man! If by any means he be missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.'

⁴⁰ As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "So your judgment shall be; yourself have decided it."

⁴¹ He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was of the prophets.

⁴² He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.'"

⁴³ The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.