1 Kings 20:22

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."

Parallel Translations

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.

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."

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."

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."

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."

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)

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."

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."

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."

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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 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."

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."

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.

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."

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."

Contextual Overview

²² 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." ²³Meanwhile the advisors to the king of Aram said, "Their god is a god of the mountains—we don't stand a chance against them there. So let's engage them on the plain where we'll have the advantage. Here's the strategy: Remove each sheik from his place of leadership and replace him with a seasoned officer. Then recruit a fighting force equivalent in size to the army that deserted earlier—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. And we'll fight them on the plain—we're sure to prove stronger than they are." It sounded good to the king; he did what they advised. ²⁶As the new year approached, Ben-Hadad rallied Aram and they went up to Aphek to make war on Israel. The Israelite army prepared to fight and took the field to meet Aram. They moved into battle formation before Aram in two camps, like two flocks of goats. The plain was seething with Arameans. ²⁸ Just then a holy man approached the king of Israel saying, "This is God 's word: Because Aram said, ‘ God is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,' I'll hand over this huge mob of an army to you. Then you'll know that I am God ." ²⁹The two armies were poised in a standoff for seven days. On the seventh day fighting broke out. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day. The rest of the army ran for their lives back to the city, Aphek, only to have the city wall fall on 27,000 of the survivors. Ben-Hadad escaped into the city and hid in a closet. Then his advisors told him, "Look, we've heard that the kings of Israel play by the rules; let's dress in old gunnysacks, carry a white flag of truce, and present ourselves to the king of Israel on the chance that he'll let you live." So that's what they did. They dressed in old gunnysacks and carried a white flag, and came to the king of Israel saying, "Your servant Ben-Hadad said, ‘Please let me live.'" Ahab said, "You mean to tell me that he's still alive? If he's alive, he's my brother." The men took this as a good sign and concluded that everything was going to be all right: "Ben-Hadad is most certainly your brother!" The king said, "Go and get him." They went and brought him back by chariot. Ahab said, "I am prepared to return the cities that my father took from your father. And you can set up your headquarters in Damascus just as my father did in Samaria; I'll send you home under safe conduct." Then he made a covenant with him and sent him off. A man who was one of the prophets said to a bystander, "Hit me; wound me. Do it for God 's sake—it's his command. Hit me; wound me." But the man wouldn't do it. So he told him, "Because you wouldn't obey God 's orders, as soon as you leave me a lion will attack you." No sooner had the man left his side than a lion met him and attacked. He then found another man and said, "Hit me; wound me." That man did it—hit him hard in the face, drawing blood. Then the prophet went and took a position along the road, with a bandage over his eyes, waiting for the king. It wasn't long before the king happened by. The man cried out to the king, "Your servant was in the thick of the battle when a man showed up and turned over a prisoner to me, saying, ‘Guard this man with your life; if he turns up missing you'll pay dearly.' But I got busy doing one thing after another and the next time I looked he was gone." The king of Israel said, "You've just pronounced your own verdict." At that, the man ripped the bandage off his eyes and the king recognized who he was—one of the prophets! The man said to the king, " God 's word: Because you let a man go who was under sentence by God , it's now your life for his, your people for his." The king of Israel went home in a sulk. He arrived in Samaria in a very bad mood.

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.