Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, June 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

1 Kings 20:5

But then the envoy returned a second time, saying, "On second thought, I want it all—your silver and gold and all your wives and sons. Hand them over—the whole works. I'll give you twenty-four hours; then my servants will arrive to search your palace and the houses of your officials and loot them; anything that strikes their fancy, they'll take."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ambassadors;   Thompson Chain Reference - Benhadad;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Gold;   Samaria, Ancient;   Syria;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ben-Hadad;   Samaria;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ben-hadad;   Samaria, samaritans;   Syria;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Samaria;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ben-Hadad;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ben-Hadad;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Benhadad ;   Samaria ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Samaria;   Smith Bible Dictionary - A'hab;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Joel (2);   Samaria, City of;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Benhadad;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - War;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The messengers then returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have sent messengers to you, saying: You are to give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.
Hebrew Names Version
The messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, I sent indeed to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;
King James Version
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
English Standard Version
The messengers came again and said, "Thus says Ben-hadad: ‘I sent to you, saying, "Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children."
New Century Version
Then the messengers came to Ahab again. They said, "Ben-Hadad says, ‘I told you before that you must give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children.
New English Translation
The messengers came again and said, "This is what Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent this message to you, "You must give me your silver, gold, wives, and sons."
Amplified Bible
The messengers returned and said, "Thus says Ben-hadad: 'I indeed sent word to you, saying, "You shall give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children,"
New American Standard Bible
Then the messengers returned and said, "Ben-hadad says this: 'I did indeed send word to you, saying, "You shall give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children";
Geneva Bible (1587)
And when the messengers came againe, they said, Thus commandeth Ben-hadad, & saith, When I shal send vnto thee, and command, thou shalt deliuer me thy siluer and thy golde, and thy women, and thy children,
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the messengers returned and said, "Thus says Ben-hadad, ‘Surely, I sent to you saying, "You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children,"
Contemporary English Version
Later, Benhadad sent another messenger to say to Ahab, "I already told you to give me your silver and gold, your wives, and your children.
Complete Jewish Bible
The messengers returned and said, "Here is Ben-Hadad's response: ‘I sent you a message to hand over your silver, gold, wives and children to me.
Darby Translation
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-Hadad saying: I sent to thee indeed, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
Easy-to-Read Version
Then the messengers came back to Ahab. They said, "Ben-Hadad says, ‘I told you before that all of your silver and gold and your wives and children belong to me. So give them to me!
George Lamsa Translation
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus says Bar-hadad, Although I sent to you at first, saying, You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children;
Good News Translation
Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: "I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children.
Lexham English Bible
The messengers returned and said, "Thus says Ben-Hadad, saying, ‘I sent to you saying, "Your silver and gold are mine, and your women and your best sons you must give to me."
Literal Translation
And the messengers came again and said, So says Ben-hadad, saying, Sending I sent to you, saying, Your silver and your gold and your wives and your sons you shall give to me;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the messaungers came agayne, & sayde: Thus sayeth Benadab: For so moch as I haue sent vnto the, sayenge: Thy syluer & thy golde, thy wyues & thy childre
American Standard Version
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
Bible in Basic English
Then the representatives came back again, and said, These are the words of Ben-hadad: I sent to you saying, Give up to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when the messengers came againe, they sayd, thus sayth Benhadad: Forasmuch as I haue sent vnto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliuer me thy siluer and thy golde, and thy wyues, and thy children:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the messengers came again, and said: 'Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying: I sent indeed unto thee, saying: Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
King James Version (1611)
And the messengers came againe, and saide, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I haue sent vnto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliuer me thy siluer, and thy gold, and thy wiues, and thy children:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Jezabel his wife went in to him, and spoke to him, saying, Why is thy spirit troubled, and why dost thou eat no bread?
English Revised Version
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben–hadad, saying, I sent indeed unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
Berean Standard Bible
The messengers came back and said, "This is what Ben-hadad says: 'I have sent to you to demand your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the messangeris turneden ayen, and seiden, Benadab, that sente vs to thee, seith these thingis, Thou schalt yyue to me thi siluer, and thi gold, and thi wyues, and thi sones.
Young's Literal Translation
And the messengers turn back and say, `Thus spake Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons, to me thou dost give;
Update Bible Version
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, I indeed sent to you, saying, You shall deliver to me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your sons;
Webster's Bible Translation
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent to thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver to me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
World English Bible
The messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;
New King James Version
Then the messengers came back and said, "Thus speaks Ben-Hadad, saying, "Indeed I have sent to you, saying, "You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children";
New Living Translation
Soon Ben-hadad's messengers returned again and said, "This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have already demanded that you give me your silver, gold, wives, and children.
New Life Bible
Then the men returned and said, "This is what Ben-hadad says. ‘I sent word to you saying, "You must give me your silver and gold and your wives and children."
New Revised Standard
The messengers came again and said: "Thus says Ben-hadad: I sent to you, saying, ‘Deliver to me your silver and gold, your wives and children';
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the messengers came back again, and said, Thus, speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, - Because I sent unto thee, saying, Thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy sons, to me, shalt thou give,
Douay-Rheims Bible
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.
Revised Standard Version
The messengers came again, and said, "Thus says Ben-ha'dad: 'I sent to you, saying, "Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children";
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the messengers returned and said, "Thus says Ben-hadad, 'Surely, I sent to you saying, "You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children,"

Contextual Overview

1At about this same time Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his troops. He recruited in addition thirty-two local sheiks, all outfitted with horses and chariots. He set out in force and surrounded Samaria, ready to make war. He sent an envoy into the city to set his terms before Ahab king of Israel: "Ben-Hadad lays claim to your silver and gold, and to the pick of your wives and sons." 4 The king of Israel accepted the terms: "As you say, distinguished lord; I and everything I have is yours." 5But then the envoy returned a second time, saying, "On second thought, I want it all—your silver and gold and all your wives and sons. Hand them over—the whole works. I'll give you twenty-four hours; then my servants will arrive to search your palace and the houses of your officials and loot them; anything that strikes their fancy, they'll take." 7 The king of Israel called a meeting of all his tribal elders. He said, "Look at this—outrageous! He's just looking for trouble. He means to clean me out, demanding all my women and children. And after I already agreed to pay him off handsomely!" 8 The elders, backed by the people, said, "Don't cave in to him. Don't give an inch." 9 So he sent an envoy to Ben-Hadad, "Tell my distinguished lord, ‘I agreed to the terms you delivered the first time, but this I can't do—this I won't do!'" The envoy went back and delivered the answer. 10 Ben-Hadad shot back his response: "May the gods do their worst to me, and then worse again, if there'll be anything left of Samaria but rubble." 11 The king of Israel countered, "Think about it—it's easier to start a fight than end one."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Psalms 25:21
Use all your skill to put me together; I wait to see your finished product.
Psalms 26:6
I scrub my hands with purest soap, then join hands with the others in the great circle, dancing around your altar, God , Singing God-songs at the top of my lungs, telling God-stories.
Proverbs 11:3
The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.
Proverbs 20:7
God-loyal people, living honest lives, make it much easier for their children.
2 Corinthians 1:12
Now that the worst is over, we're pleased we can report that we've come out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn't by any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised. Don't try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We're writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you'll now see the whole picture as well as you've seen some of the details. We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the messengers came again,.... From Benhadad:

and said, thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, although I have sent unto thee, saying: at the first message:

thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; into his possession, and not as Ahab understood it, that he should be his vassal, and pay a yearly tribute for his quiet enjoyment of them; yet even this he would not now abide by, growing still more haughty upon the mean submission of Ahab, as by what follows.


 
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