1 Kings 20:7

Easy-to-Read Version

So King Ahab called a meeting of all the elders of his country and said, "Look, Ben-Hadad is looking for trouble. First he told me that I must give him my wives and children and my silver and gold. I agreed to give them to him."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Recognize that this one is only looking for trouble, for he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn’t turn him down.”

Hebrew Names Version
Then the king of Yisra'el called all the Zakenim of the land, and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him.

King James Version
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

English Standard Version
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Mark, 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."

New Century Version
Then Ahab called a meeting of all the elders of his country. He said, "Ben-Hadad is looking for trouble. First he said I had to give him my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I have not refused him."

New English Translation
The king of Israel summoned all the leaders of the land and said, "Notice how this man is looking for trouble. Indeed, he demanded my wives, sons, silver, and gold, and I did not resist him."

Amplified Bible
Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, "Please observe and see how this man is seeking our destruction. For he sent messengers to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him."

New American Standard Bible
Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, "Please be aware and see that this man is looking for trouble; for he sent me his demand for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the King of Israel sent for all the Elders of the land, & sayd, Take heede, I pray you, and see how he seeketh mischiefe: for he sent vnto me for my wiues, and for my children, and for my siluer, and for my golde, and I denyed him not.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Please know and see how this man is looking for trouble; for he sent to me for my wives and my children and my silver and my gold, and I withheld nothing from him."

Contemporary English Version
Ahab called a meeting with the leaders of Israel and said, "Benhadad is causing real trouble. He told me to give him my wives and children, as well as my silver and gold. And I agreed."

Complete Jewish Bible
Then the king of Isra'el summoned all the leaders of the land and said, "Please take notice! Do you see how this man is trying to make trouble? First he demanded my wives, children, silver and gold; and I denied him nothing."

Darby Translation
And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this [man] seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said to them, Know, and see how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold; and I denied him not.

Good News Translation
King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, "You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed."

Lexham English Bible
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Please know and realize that this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my women, my sons, my silver, and my gold, and I did not withhold anything from him."

Literal Translation
And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please note, and see the evil this one is seeking, for he sent to me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I did not withhold from him.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So the kynge of Israel called all ye Elders of the lode, & sayde: Mark well & se, what myschefe this ma seketh: He sent vnto me for my wyues & children for syluer & golde, & I haue not sayde him naye.

American Standard Version
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

Bible in Basic English
Then the king of Israel sent for all the responsible men of the land, and said, Now will you take note and see the evil purpose of this man: he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I did not keep them back.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then the king of Israel sent for all the elders of the land, and said: Take heede I pray you, and see howe this felowe goeth about mischiefe: For he sent vnto me for my wiues, for my children, for my siluer, and for my golde, and I denyed him not.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said: 'Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief; for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.'

King James Version (1611)
Then the king of Israel called all the Elders of the land, and saide; Marke, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischiefe: for hee sent vnto me for my wiues, and for my children, and for my siluer, and for my gold, and I denied him not.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Jezabel his wife said to him, Dost thou now thus act the king over Israel? arise, and eat bread, and be thine own master, and I will give thee the vineyard of Nabuthai the Jezraelite.

English Revised Version
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, "Please take note, and you will see that this man is looking for trouble, for when he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, I did not deny him."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the kyng of Israel clepide alle the eldere men of the lond, and seide, Perseyue ye, and se, that he settith tresoun to vs; for he sente to me for my wyues, and sones, and for siluer, and gold, and Y forsook not.

Young's Literal Translation
And the king of Israel calleth to all the elders of the land, and saith, `Know, I pray you, and see that evil this [one] is seeking, for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him.'

Update Bible Version
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Consider, I pray you, and see how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this [man] seeketh mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not.

World English Bible
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him.

New King James Version
So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Notice, please, and see how this man seeks trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not deny him."

New Living Translation
Then Ahab summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, "Look how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed with his demand that I give him my wives and children and silver and gold."

New Life Bible
Then the king of Israel called all the leaders of the land. He said to them, "Look and see how this man is looking for trouble. He sent to me for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold. And I did not say no to him."

New Revised Standard
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Look now! See how this man is seeking trouble; for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not refuse him."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then called the king of Israel, for all the elders of the land, and said - Mark, I pray you, and see, how this man is seeking, mischief, - for he had sent unto me, for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I refused him not.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Mark, 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."

THE MESSAGE
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!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Please observe and see how this man is looking for trouble; for he sent to me for my wives and my children and my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him."

Contextual Overview

¹ King Ben-Hadad of Aram gathered his army together. There were 32 kings with him and many horses and chariots. They surrounded Samaria and attacked it. ² The king sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel who was inside the city. ³ The message was, "Ben-Hadad says, ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, and so are the best of your wives and children.'" ⁴ The king of Israel answered, "Yes, my lord and king, I am yours now, and everything I have belongs to you." ⁵ 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! ⁶ Tomorrow I will send my men to search through your house and through the houses of your officials. Give my men all of your valuables, and they will bring them back to me.'" ⁷ So King Ahab called a meeting of all the elders of his country and said, "Look, Ben-Hadad is looking for trouble. First he told me that I must give him my wives and children and my silver and gold. I agreed to give them to him." ⁸ But the elders and all the people said, "Don't obey him or do what he says." ⁹ So Ahab sent a message to Ben-Hadad that said, "I will do what you said at first, but I cannot obey your second command." King Ben-Hadad's men carried the message to the king. ¹⁰ Then they came back with another message from Ben-Hadad that said, "I will completely destroy Samaria. I promise that there will be nothing left of that city! There will not be enough of that city left for my men to find any souvenirs to take home. May the gods destroy me if I don't do this!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

all the elders: 1 Kings 8:1, 2 Kings 5:7, 1 Chronicles 13:1, 1 Chronicles 28:1, Proverbs 11:14

Mark: 2 Kings 5:7

seeketh mischief: Job 15:35, Psalms 7:14, Psalms 36:4, Psalms 62:3, Psalms 140:2, Proverbs 6:14, Proverbs 11:27, Proverbs 24:2, Daniel 11:27, Romans 3:13-18

denied him not: Heb. kept not back from him, 1 Kings 20:4

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 5:23 - Be content

Cross-References

Genesis 2:17
But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly die!"

Genesis 12:15
Even some of Pharaoh's officials noticed her and told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. So they took her to Pharaoh's house.

Genesis 12:17
Pharaoh took Abram's wife, so the Lord caused Pharaoh and all the people in his house to have very bad diseases.

Genesis 20:1
Abraham left that place and traveled to the Negev. He settled in the city of Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur. While in Gerar,

Genesis 20:2
Abraham told people that Sarah was his sister. King Abimelech of Gerar heard this. Abimelech wanted Sarah, so he sent some servants to take her.

Genesis 20:3
But one night God spoke to Abimelech in a dream and said, "You will die. The woman you took is married."

Genesis 20:4
But Abimelech had not yet slept with Sarah, so he said, "Lord, I am not guilty. Would you kill an innocent man?

Genesis 20:5
Abraham himself told me, ‘This woman is my sister,' and she also said, ‘This man is my brother.' I am innocent. I did not know what I was doing."

Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in a dream, "Yes, I know that you are innocent and that you did not know what you were doing. I saved you. I did not allow you to sin against me. I was the one who did not allow you to sleep with her.

Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "Why have you done this to us? What wrong did I do to you? Why did you lie and say that she was your sister? You brought great trouble to my kingdom. You should not have done this to me.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the King of Israel called all the elders of the land,.... His poor sneaking spirit was a little aroused with the last message, and therefore called a council of the elders of the people upon it, which was a piece of wisdom in him:

and said, mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief; nothing less than the entire ruin of the nation:

for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not; in the sense he understood him, which was, that he was to be a vassal, and tributary to him, for the sake of holding these, which yet was very mean; but he wanted to have these in hand, and not them only, but the pillaging of all his subjects.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The political institution of a Council of elders (Exodus 3:16, etc.), which had belonged to the undivided nation from the sojourn in Egypt downward, had therefore been continued among the ten tribes after their separation, and still held an important place in the system of Government. The Council was not merely called together when the king needed it, but held its regular sittings at the seat of government; and hence, “all the elders of the land” were now present in Samaria. On the “elders of towns,” see 1 Kings 21:8-14.

Apparently the king had not thought it necessary to summon the Council when the first terms were announced to him, inasmuch as they touched only himself. The fresh demands affected the people at large, and it became necessary, or at any rate fitting, that “the elders” should be consulted.