1 Kings 20; John 6:25–59

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1 Kings 20

Ahab’s Wars with Syria

qBen-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. rThirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on sSamaria and fought against it. And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad: Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine. And the king of Israel answered, As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have. 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. Nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.

Then the king of Israel called all the telders of the land and said, uMark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him. And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not listen or consent. So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again. 10 Ben-hadad sent to him and said, vThe gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people wwho follow me. 11 And the king of Israel answered, Tell him, Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off. 12 When Ben-hadad heard this message as xhe was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, Take your positions. And they took their positions against the city.

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad

13 And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, yI will give it into your hand this day, zand you shall know that I am the Lord. 14 And Ahab said, By whom? He said, Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. 15 Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. And after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.

16 And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad xwas drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17 The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, 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 servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them. 20 And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow.

22 Then athe prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for bin the spring the king of Syria will come up against you.

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 24 And do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places, 25 and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice and did so.

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad Again

26 bIn the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to cAphek to fight against Israel. 27 And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. 28 And a dman of God came near and said to the king of Israel, Thus says the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, eThe Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys, therefore fI will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 29 And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. 30 And the rest fled into the city of cAphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.

Ben-hadad also fled and entered gan inner chamber in the city. 31 And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us hput sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life. 32 So they htied sackcloth around their waists and put ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, Please, let me live. And he said, Does he still live? He is my brother. 33 Now the men were watching for a sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, Yes, your brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go and bring him. Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34 And Ben-hadad said to him, iThe cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in jDamascus, as my father did in Samaria. And Ahab said, I will let you go on these terms. So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad’s Release

35 And a certain man of kthe sons of the prophets said to his fellow lat the command of the Lord, Strike me, please. But the man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down. And as soon as he had departed from him, ma lion met him and struck him down. 37 Then he found another man and said, Strike me, please. And the man struck himstruck him and wounded him. 38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, ndisguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, oyour life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent1 of silver. 40 And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it. 41 Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 And he said to him, Thus says the Lord, Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,2 therefore oyour life shall be for his life, and your people for his people. 43 And the king of Israel pwent to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.


John 6:25–59

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, hRabbi, when did you come here? 26 Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, iyou are seeking me, not because you saw jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 kDo not work for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal. 28 Then they said to him, What must we do, to be doing pthe works of God? 29 Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, qthat you believe in him whom rhe has sent. 30 So they said to him, sThen what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 tOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, uHe gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is vhe who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 34 They said to him, wSir, give us this bread always.

35 Jesus said to them, xI am the bread of life; ywhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 zAll that athe Father gives me will come to me, and bwhoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For cI have come down from heaven, not to do dmy own will but dthe will of him ewho sent me. 39 And fthis is the will of him who sent me, gthat I should lose nothing of hall that he has given me, but iraise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who jlooks on the Son and kbelieves in him lshould have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, mI am the bread that came down from heaven. 42 They said, nIs not this Jesus, othe son of Joseph, whose father and mother pwe know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? 43 Jesus answered them, Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me qdraws him. And rI will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, sAnd they will all be ttaught by God. uEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me 46 vnot that anyone has seen the Father except whe who is from God; he xhas seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, ywhoever believes has eternal life. 48 zI am the bread of life. 49 aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and bthey died. 50 cThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it dand not die. 51 I am the living bread ethat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ffor the life of the world is gmy flesh.

52 The Jews then hdisputed among themselves, saying, iHow can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of jthe Son of Man and drink his blood, you khave no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lhas eternal life, and mI will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood nabides in me, and I in him. 57 As othe living Father psent me, and qI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 rThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread1 the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. 59 Jesus2 said these things in the synagogue, as he taught sat Capernaum.