列王紀上 第 21 章

And the son of Ader gathered all his force and went up and besieged Samaria, and thirty-two kings with him, and every horse and chariot. And they went up and besieged Samaria and made war against it.

And he sent into the city to Achaab king of Israel,

and said to him: Thus says the son of Ader: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your children are mine.

And the king of Israel answered and said: Just as you have spoken, my lord the king, I am yours, and all that is mine.

And the messengers returned and said: Thus says the son of Ader: I have sent to you, saying, You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children.

For about this hour tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants; and whatever is desirable to their eyes, upon whatever they lay their hands, they shall take.

And the king of Israel called all the elders and said: Know now and see that this man is seeking harm; for he has sent to me concerning my wives and concerning my sons and concerning my daughters, and my silver and my gold I did not withhold from him.

And the elders and all the people said to him: Do not listen, and do not consent.

And he said to the messengers of the son of Ader: Say to your lord: All that you sent to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I cannot do. And the men departed and brought him back word.

And the son of Ader sent back to him, saying: May God do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for the foxes, for all the people, for my foot soldiers.

And the king of Israel answered and said: Let it be enough; let not the crooked boast like the upright.

And it happened, when he answered him this word, he was drinking, he and all the kings with him, in the tents. And he said to his servants: Build a siege mound. And they set a siege mound against the city.

And behold, one prophet came to the king of Israel and said: Thus says the Lord: Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I am giving it today into your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And Achaab said: By whom? And he said: Thus says the Lord: By the young men of the rulers of the provinces. And Achaab said: Who shall join the battle? And he said: You.

And Achaab mustered the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty. And after that he mustered the people, every son of valour, sixty thousand.

And he went out at midday, while the son of Ader was drinking and drunk in Sokchoth, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who were his allies with him.

And the young men of the rulers of the provinces went out first. And they send and report to the king of Syria, saying: Men have come out from Samaria.

And he said to them: If these come out for peace, seize them alive; and if for war, seize them alive.

And let the young men of the rulers of the provinces not go out of the city, nor the army behind them.

Each struck the man beside him, and each struck a second time the man beside him. And Syria fled, and Israel pursued them, and the son of Ader king of Syria escapes on a horseman's horse.

And the king of Israel went out and took all the horses and the chariots and struck Syria with a great blow.

And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said: Be strong, and know and see what you will do; for at the turn of the year the son of Ader king of Syria comes up against you.

And the servants of the king of Syria said to him: The God of Israel is a god of mountains, and not a god of valleys; therefore he prevailed over us. But if we fight them on level ground, surely we shall prevail over them.

And do this thing: remove the kings, each to his own place, and set satraps in their stead.

And we will replace for you a force like the force that fell from you, and horse for horse and chariots for chariots; and we will fight against them on level ground, and we shall prevail over them. And he listened to their voice and did so.

And it happened at the turn of the year that the son of Ader mustered Syria and went up to Apheka to war against Israel.

And the sons of Israel were mustered and came to meet them, and Israel encamped opposite them like two little flocks of goats, but Syria filled the land.

And the man of God came and said to the king of Israel: Thus says the Lord: Because Syria said, The Lord the God of Israel is a god of mountains and he is not a god of valleys, therefore I will give this great force into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And these encamped opposite those for seven days. And it happened on the seventh day that the battle drew near, and Israel struck Syria, a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.

And the rest fled to Apheka, into the city, and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men of those who were left. And the son of Ader fled and entered into the house of the bedchamber, into the inner room.

And he said to his servants: I know that the kings of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and let us go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will preserve our lives.

And they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads, and they said to the king of Israel: Your servant the son of Ader says, Let my life be spared. And he said: If he is still alive, he is my brother.

And the men took it as an omen and hurried and caught up the word from his mouth and said: The son of Ader is your brother. And he said: Go in and take him. And the son of Ader came out to him, and they bring him up to him onto the chariot.

And he said to him: The cities which my father took from your father I will give back to you, and you shall set up bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father set them up in Samaria. And I will send you away under a covenant. And he made a covenant with him and sent him away.

And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour by the word of the Lord: Strike me, please. And the man would not strike him.

And he said to him: Because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you depart from me a lion shall strike you. And he departed from him, and a lion finds him and struck him.

And he finds another man and said: Strike me, please. And the man struck him, striking and wounding him.

And the prophet went and stood for the king of Israel on the road, and he bound his eyes with a bandage.

And when the king was passing by, this man cried out to the king and said: Your servant went out into the army of the battle, and behold, a man brought a man to me and said to me: Guard this man; and if he escapes and gets away, your life shall be for his life, or you shall weigh out a talent of silver.

And it happened that your servant looked here and there, and he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him: Behold, you have also slain the ambushes that were with me.

And he hurried and took the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was one of the prophets.

And he said to him: Thus says the Lord: Because you let go out of your hand a man appointed to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.

And the king of Israel went away confounded and dispirited, and comes to Samaria.