The Syrians besiege Samaria: they are twice defeated by Achab: who is reprehended by a prophet for letting Benadad go.

 1 And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.
Porro Benadad rex Syriae congregavit omnem exercitum suum, et triginta duos reges secum, et equos, et currus : et ascendens pugnabat contra Samariam, et obsidebat eum.

 2 And, sending messengers to Achab king of Israel into the city,
Mittensque nuntios ad Achab regem Israel in civitatem,

 3 He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold is mine: and thy wives, and thy goodliest children are mine.
ait : Haec dicit Benadad : Argentum tuum, et aurum tuum meum est : et uxores tuae, et filii tui optimi, mei sunt.

 4 And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
Responditque rex Israel : Juxta verbum tuum, domine mi rex, tuus sum ego, et omnia mea.

 5 And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children thou shalt deliver up to me.
Revertentesque nuntii, dixerunt : Haec dicit Benadad, qui misit nos ad te : Argentum tuum, et aurum tuum, et uxores tuas, et filios tuos, dabis mihi.

 6 Tomorrow therefore at this same hour I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away.
Cras igitur hac eadem hora mittam servos meos ad te, et scrutabuntur domum tuam, et domum servorum tuorum : et omne quod eis placuerit, ponent in manibus suis, et auferent.

 7 And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay.
Vocavit autem rex Israel omnes seniores terrae, et ait : Animadvertite, et videte quoniam insidietur nobis : misit enim ad me pro uxoribus meis, et filiis, et pro argento et auro : et non abnui.

 8 And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
Dixeruntque omnes majores natu, et universus populus, ad eum : Non audias, neque acquiescas illi.

 9 Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to me thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I cannot do.
Respondit itaque nuntiis Benadad : Dicite domino meo regi : Omnia propter quae misisti ad me servum tuum in initio, faciam : hanc autem rem facere non possum.

 10 And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
Reversique nuntii retulerunt ei. Qui remisit, et ait : Haec faciant mihi dii, et haec addant, si suffecerit pulvis Samariae pugillis omnis populi qui sequitur me.

 11 And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
Et respondens rex Israel, ait : Dicite ei : Ne glorietur, accinctus aeque ut discinctus.

 12 And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it.
Factum est autem, cum audisset Benadad verbum istud, bibebat ipse et reges in umbraculis, et ait servis suis : Circumdate civitatem. Et circumdederunt eam.

 13 And behold a prophet coming to Achab king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude, behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord.
Et ecce propheta unus accedens ad Achab regem Israel, ait ei : Haec dicit Dominus : Certe vidisti omnem multitudinem hanc nimiam? Ecce, ego tradam eam in manu tua hodie : ut scias, quia ego sum Dominus.

 14 And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.
Et ait Achab : Per quem? Dixitque ei : Haec dicit Dominus : Per pedissequos principum provinciarum. Et ait : Quis incipiet praeliari? Et ille dixit : Tu.

 15 So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand:
Recensuit ergo pueros principum provinciarum, et reperit numerum ducentorum triginta duorum : et recensuit post eos populum, omnes filios Israel, septem millia.

 16 And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him.
Et egressi sunt meridie. Benadad autem bibebat temulentus in umbraculo suo, et reges triginta duo cum eo, qui ad auxilium ejus venerant.

 17 And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria.
Egressi sunt autem pueri principum provinciarum in prima fronte. Misit itaque Benadad. Qui nuntiaverunt ei, dicentes : Viri egressi sunt de Samaria.

 18 And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive.
Et ille ait : Sive pro pace veniunt, apprehendite eos vivos : sive ut praelientur, vivos eos capite.

 19 So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed:
Egressi sunt ergo pueri principum provinciarum, ac reliquus exercitus sequebatur :

 20 And every one slew the man that came against him: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad king of Syria fled away on horseback with his horsemen.
et percussit unusquisque virum, qui contra se veniebat : fugeruntque Syri, et persecutus est eos Israel. Fugit quoque Benadad rex Syriae in equo cum equitibus suis.

 21 But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
Necnon egressus rex Israel percussit equos et currus, et percussit Syriam plaga magna.

 22 (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
Accedens autem propheta ad regem Israel, dixit ei : Vade, et confortare, et scito, et vide quid facias : sequenti enim anno rex Syriae ascendet contra te.

 23 But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.
Servi vero regis Syriae dixerunt ei : Dii montium sunt dii eorum, ideo superaverunt nos : sed melius est ut pugnemus contra eos in campestribus, et obtinebimus eos.

 24 Do thou therefore this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead:
Tu ergo verbum hoc fac : amove reges singulos ab exercitu tuo, et pone principes pro eis :

 25 And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses according to the former horses, and chariots according to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel and did so.
et instaura numerum militum qui ceciderunt de tuis, et equos secundum equos pristinos, et currus secundum currus quos ante habuisti : et pugnabimus contra eos in campestribus, et videbis quod obtinebimus eos. Credidit consilio eorum, et fecit ita.

 26 Wherefore at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphec, to fight against Israel.
Igitur postquam annus transierat, recensuit Benadad Syros, et ascendit in Aphec ut pugnaret contra Israel.

 27 And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals went out on the other side, and camped over against them, like two little flocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land.
Porro filii Israel recensiti sunt, et acceptis cibariis profecti ex adverso, castraque metati sunt contra eos, quasi duo parvi greges caprarum : Syri autem repleverunt terram.

 28 (And a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
( Et accedens unus vir Dei, dixit ad regem Israel : Haec dicit Dominus : Quia dixerunt Syri : Deus montium est Dominus et non est Deus vallium : dabo omnem multitudinem hanc grandem in manu tua, et scietis quia ego sum Dominus.)

 29 And both sides set their armies in array one against the other seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
Dirigebantque septem diebus ex adverso hi atque illi acies, septima autem die commissum est bellum : percusseruntque filii Israel de Syris centum millia peditum in die una.

 30 And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And Benadad fleeing went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
Fugerunt autem qui remanserant in Aphec, in civitatem : et cecidit murus super viginti septem millia hominum, qui remanserant. Porro Benadad fugiens ingressus est civitatem, in cubiculum quod erat intra cubiculum.

 31 And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful: so let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives.
Dixeruntque ei servi sui : Ecce, audivimus quod reges domus Israel clementes sint : ponamus itaque saccos in lumbis nostris, et funiculos in capitibus nostris, et egrediamur ad regem Israel : forsitan salvabit animas nostras.

 32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant Benadad saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive he is my brother.
Accinxerunt saccis lumbos suos, et posuerunt funiculos in capitibus suis, veneruntque ad regem Israel, et dixerunt ei : Servus tuus Benadad dicit : Vivat, oro te, anima mea. Et ille ait : Si adhuc vivit, frater meus est.

 33 The men took this for a sign: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up into his chariot.
Quod acceperunt viri pro omine : et festinantes rapuerunt verbum ex ore ejus, atque dixerunt : Frater tuus Benadad. Et dixit eis : Ite, et adducite eum ad me. Egressus est ergo ad eum Benadad, et levavit eum in currum suum.

 34 And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria, and having made a league I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
Qui dixit ei : Civitates, quas tulit pater meus a patre tuo, reddam : et plateas fac tibi in Damasco, sicut fecit pater meus in Samaria, et ego foederatus recedam a te. Pepigit ergo foedus, et dimisit eum.

 35 Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his companion in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
Tunc vir quidam de filiis prophetarum dixit ad socium suum in sermone Domini : Percute me. At ille noluit percutere.

 36 Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold then shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
Cui ait : Quia noluisti audire vocem Domini, ecce recedes a me, et percutiet te leo. Cumque paululum recessisset ab eo, invenit eum leo, atque percussit.

 37 Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him, and wounded him.
Sed alterum inveniens virum, dixit ad eum : Percute me. Qui percussit eum, et vulneravit.

 38 So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
Abiit ergo propheta, et occurrit regi in via, et mutavit aspersione pulveris os et oculos suos.

 39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
Cumque rex transisset, clamavit ad regem, et ait : Servus tuus egressus est ad praeliandum cominus : cumque fugisset vir unus, adduxit eum quidam ad me, et ait : Custodi virum istum : qui si lapsus fuerit, erit anima tua pro anima ejus, aut talentum argenti appendes.

 40 And whilst I in a hurry turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
Dum autem ego turbatus huc illucque me verterem, subito non comparuit. Et ait rex Israel ad eum : Hoc est judicium tuum, quod ipse decrevisti.

 41 But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.
At ille statim abstersit pulverem de facie sua, et cognovit eum rex Israel, quod esset de prophetis.

 42 And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
Qui ait ad eum : Haec dicit Dominus : Quia dimisisti virum dignum morte de manu tua, erit anima tua pro anima ejus, et populus tuus pro populo ejus.

 43 And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.
Reversus est igitur rex Israel in domum suam, audire contemnens, et furibundus venit in Samariam.