1 Kings 20:22

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Then drew near the prophet, unto the king of Israel, and said unto him - Go strengthen thyself, and mark and see, what thou wilt do, - for, at the return of the year, is, the king of Syria, coming up against thee.

Parallel Translations

Update Bible Version
And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and consider, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.

New Living Translation
Afterward the prophet said to King Ahab, "Get ready for another attack. Begin making plans now, for the king of Aram will come back next spring."

English Revised Version
And the prophet came near 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.

New Century Version
Then the prophet went to Ahab king of Israel and said, "The king of Aram will attack you again next spring. So go home now and strengthen your army and see what you need to do."

New English Translation
The prophet visited the king of Israel and instructed him, "Go, fortify your defenses. Determine what you must do, for in the spring the king of Syria will attack you."

Webster's Bible Translation
And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said to 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.

World English Bible
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.

Amplified Bible
Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the first of next year the king of Aram (Syria) will come up against you."

English Standard Version
Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe a prophete neiyede to the kyng of Israel, and seide, Go thou, and be coumfortid, and wyte, and se, what thou schalt do; for the kyng of Sirie schal stie ayens thee in the yeer suynge.

Berean Standard Bible
Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, "Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you."

Contemporary English Version
Later, the prophet went back and warned Ahab, "Benhadad will attack you again next spring. Build up your troops and make sure you have some good plans."

American Standard Version
And the prophet came near 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.

Bible in Basic English
Then the prophet came up to the king of Israel, and said to him, Now make yourself strong, and take care what you do, or a year from now the king of Aram will come up against you again.

Complete Jewish Bible
Afterwards, the prophet approached the king of Isra'el and said to him, "Go, regroup your forces, and think carefully what to do, for next year at this time the king of Aram will renew his attack."

Darby Translation
And the prophet drew near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen thyself, and understand, and see what thou shalt do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, "The king of Aram will come back to fight again next spring. So go back and strengthen your army and make careful plans to defend yourself against him."

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the prophet came near 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 Aram will come up against thee.'

King James Version (1611)
And the Prophet came to the king of Israel, and said vnto him, Goe, strengthen thy selfe, and marke and see what thou doest: for at the returne of the yeere, the king of Syria will come vp against thee.

New Life Bible
Then the man who spoke for God came to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Go and make yourself strong. Look and see what you have to do. For the first of next year the king of Syria will come to fight against you."

New Revised Standard
Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do; for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
(For there had come a Prophet to the King of Israel, and had sayd vnto him, Goe, be of good courage, and consider, and take heede what thou doest: for when the yeere is gone about, the King of Aram wil come vp against thee)

George Lamsa Translation
And, behold, the prophet of God came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and know, and see what you have to do; for at the beginning of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.

Good News Translation
Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, "Go back and build up your forces and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring."

Douay-Rheims Bible
(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.)

Revised Standard Version
Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do; for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
(And there came a prophete to the king of Israel, and said vnto him: Go foorth, and play the man, be wyse, & take heede what thou doest: for when the yere is gone about, the king of Syria will come vp against thee.)

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and as the house of Baasa son of Achia, because of the provocations wherewith thou hast provoked me, and caused Israel to sin.

Christian Standard Bible®
The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and strengthen yourself, then consider carefully what you should do, for in the spring the king of Aram will attack you.”

Hebrew Names Version
The prophet came near to the king of Yisra'el, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and he said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself; consider well what you should do, for the king of Aram is coming against you at the turn of the year."

Literal Translation
And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, Go, make yourself strong, and look and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.

Young's Literal Translation
And the prophet cometh nigh unto the king of Israel, and saith to him, `Go, strengthen thyself, and know and see that which thou dost, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against thee.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then came there a prophet vnto the kynge of Israel, and sayde vnto him: Go thy waye and strength the, and take hede, and loke well what thou doest: for whan the yeare is aboute, the kynge of Syria shall come agaynst the of the new.

THE MESSAGE
Sometime later the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "On the alert now—build up your army, assess your capabilities, and see what has to be done. Before the year is out, the king of Aram will be back in force."

New American Standard Bible
Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, show yourself courageous and be aware and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will march against you."

New King James Version
And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you."

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself and know and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you."

Contextual Overview

²² Then drew near the prophet, unto the king of Israel, and said unto him - Go strengthen thyself, and mark and see, what thou wilt do, - for, at the return of the year, is, the king of Syria, coming up against thee. ²³ And, the servants of the king of Syria, said unto him, - Gods of the mountains, are their gods, for this cause, prevailed they against us, - but, only let us fight with them in the plain, and verily we shall prevail against them. ²⁴ But, this thing, do, - set aside the kings, every man out of his place, and put governors in their stead; ²⁵ and, thou, must number thee a force, like the force which thou hast lost, both horse for horse and chariot for chariot, and, if we fight with them in the plain, verily we shall prevail against them. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. ²⁶ And so it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, - and came up to Aphek, to fight with Israel; ²⁷ and, the sons of Israel, were numbered, and provisioned, and went to meet them, - and the sons of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, whereas, the Syrians, filled the land. ²⁸ Then approached the man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said - Thus, saith Yahweh - Because the Syrians have said - A god of the mountains, is Yahweh, but, not a god of the vales, is he, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude, into thy hand, so shalt thou know, that, I, am Yahweh. ²⁹ So they encamped, these, over against, those, seven days, - and it came to pass, on the seventh day, that the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel smote the Syrians, a hundred thousand footmen, in one day. ³⁰ And they who were left fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men who were left, - and, Ben-hadad, fled, and came into the city, into a chamber within a chamber.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the prophet: 1 Kings 20:13, 1 Kings 20:38, 1 Kings 19:10, 1 Kings 22:8, 2 Kings 6:12

strengthen: 2 Chronicles 25:8, 2 Chronicles 25:11, Psalms 27:14, Proverbs 18:10, Proverbs 20:18, Isaiah 8:9, Joel 3:9, Joel 3:10, Ephesians 6:10

at the return: 1 Kings 20:26, 2 Samuel 11:1, 1 Chronicles 20:1, Psalms 115:2, Psalms 115:3, Isaiah 26:11, Isaiah 42:8

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 5:22 - came up 1 Kings 20:28 - there came 1 Chronicles 14:13 - yet again 2 Chronicles 24:23 - at the end 2 Chronicles 28:9 - he went out

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the prophet came to the king of Israel,.... The same that came to him before:

and said unto him, go, strengthen thyself; exhorted him to fortify his cities, especially Samaria, and increase his army, that he might be able to oppose the king of Syria:

and mark, and see what thou doest: observe his moral and religious actions, and take heed that he did not offend the Lord by them, as well as make military preparations:

for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee; about the same time in the next year, at the spring of the year, when kings go out to war, see 2 Samuel 11:1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Go, strengthen thyself ... - That is, “collect troops, raise fortifications, obtain allies ... take all the measures thou canst to increase thy military strength. Be not rash, but consider well every step ... for a great danger is impending.”

At the return of the year - i. e., “When the season for military operations again comes round.” The wars of the Oriental monarchs at this time, like those of early Rome, were almost always of the nature of annual incursions into the territories of their neighbors, begun in spring and terminating in early autumn. Sustained invasions, lasting over the winter into a second or a third year, are not found until the time of Shalmaneser 2 Kings 17:5; 2 Kings 18:9-10, and do not become common until the Median and Babylonian period.