1 Kings 20:31

KJV1611 – Modern English

And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save your life.

Additional Resources

Other Translations

  • Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

    His servants said to him, "We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life."

  • King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

    And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

  • American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

    And his servants{H5650} said{H559} unto him, Behold now, we have heard{H8085} that the kings{H4428} of the house{H1004} of Israel{H3478} are merciful{H2617} kings:{H4428} let us, we pray thee, put{H7760} sackcloth{H8242} on our loins,{H4975} and ropes{H2256} upon our heads,{H7218} and go out{H3318} to the king{H4428} of Israel:{H3478} peradventure he will save{H2421} thy life.{H5315}

  • King James Version with Strong's Numbers

    And his servants{H5650} said{H559}{(H8799)} unto him, Behold now, we have heard{H8085}{(H8804)} that the kings{H4428} of the house{H1004} of Israel{H3478} are merciful{H2617} kings{H4428}: let us, I pray thee, put{H7760}{(H8799)} sackcloth{H8242} on our loins{H4975}, and ropes{H2256} upon our heads{H7218}, and go out{H3318}{(H8799)} to the king{H4428} of Israel{H3478}: peradventure he will save{H2421}{(H8762)} thy life{H5315}.

  • Coverdale Bible (1535)

    Then sayde his seruauntes vnto him: Beholde, we haue herde that the kynges of the house of Israel are mercifull kinges, Let vs therfore put sack cloth aboute oure loynes, and halters aboute oure neckes, & go forth to the kynge of Israel, peraduenture he shal let yi soule lyue.

  • Geneva Bible (1560)

    And his seruants sayd vnto him, Beholde nowe, we haue heard say that the Kings of the house of Israel are mercifull Kings: we pray thee, let vs put sacke cloth about our loynes, & ropes about our heads, & goe out to the King of Israel: it may be that he will saue thy life.

  • Bishops' Bible (1568)

    And his seruauntes said vnto him: Behold, we haue heard say that the kinges of the house of Israel are mercyfull kinges: We will therfore put sackcloth about our loynes, and ropes about our heades, and go out to the king of Israel, if happyly he will saue thy lyfe.

  • Authorized King James Version (1611)

    ¶ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel [are] merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

  • Webster's Bible (1833)

    His servants said to him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save your life.

  • Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

    And his servants say unto him, `Lo, we pray thee, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel -- that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray thee, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he doth keep thee alive.'

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

  • Bible in Basic English (1941)

    Then his servants said to him, It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel; it may be that he will give you your life.

  • World English Bible (2000)

    His servants said to him, "See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life."

  • NET Bible® (New English Translation)

    His advisers said to him,“Look, we have heard that the kings of the Israelite dynasty are kind. Allow us to put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and surrender to the king of Israel. Maybe he will spare our lives.”

Referenced Verses

  • Gen 37:34 : 34 And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
  • 2 Sam 3:31 : 31 And David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, Tear your clothes and gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And King David himself followed the bier.
  • 1 Kgs 20:23 : 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
  • 1 Kgs 21:27-29 : 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. 28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.
  • 2 Kgs 5:13 : 13 And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean?
  • 2 Kgs 7:4 : 4 If we say, We will enter the city, there the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
  • 2 Kgs 19:1-2 : 1 And it happened, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
  • Esth 4:1-3 : 1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry; 2 And came even before the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 In every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
  • Esth 4:16 : 16 "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish."
  • Job 2:4 : 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life.
  • Prov 20:28 : 28 Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by mercy.
  • Isa 16:5 : 5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit on it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hastening righteousness.
  • Isa 22:12 : 12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth.
  • Isa 37:1 : 1 And it happened, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
  • Jonah 3:5-6 : 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 For word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
  • Matt 10:28 : 28 And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
  • Eph 1:7-8 : 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; 8 Which He has lavished on us in all wisdom and understanding;
  • Rev 11:3 : 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
  • 2 Sam 14:2 : 2 And Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought from there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray you, pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothes now, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead:

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • 90%

    32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Your servant Benhadad says, I pray you, let me live. And he said, Is he still alive? he is my brother.

    33 Now the men diligently observed whether anything would come from him, and hastily caught it: and they said, Your brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he brought him up into the chariot.

    34 And Benhadad said to him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will restore; and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send you away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

  • 1 Kgs 20:1-2
    2 verses
    77%

    1 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together: there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.

    2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said to him, Thus says Benhadad,

  • 1 Kgs 20:5-7
    3 verses
    75%

    5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;

    6 Yet I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put in their hand, and take it away.

    7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeks trouble: 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.

  • 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

  • 74%

    16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.

    17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

    18 And he said, Whether they come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they come out for war, take them alive.

    19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.

    20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

  • 39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king: and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he is missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.

  • 74%

    9 Therefore, he said to the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you first sent for to your servant I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

    10 And Benhadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

    11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not the one who girds on his armor boast himself like the one who takes it off.

    12 And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves in order. And they set themselves in array against the city.

    13 And behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

  • 73%

    12 And the king arose in the night, and said to his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.

    13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray you, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even like all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

  • 73%

    11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?

    12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.

  • 25 And number an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and 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.

  • 4 If we say, We will enter the city, there the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

  • 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

  • 71%

    30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and he passed by on the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh.

    31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him today.

    32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man ahead of him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

  • 71%

    31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty-two captains who had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.

    32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.

  • 30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight not with small or great, except only with the king of Israel.

  • 13 And he sent again a captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him, O man of God, I pray you, let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight.

  • 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

  • 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' load, and came and stood before him, and said, "Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from this disease?'"

  • 13 And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean?

  • 18 In this thing may the LORD pardon your servant, when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this thing.

  • 7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, "The man of God is come here."

  • 70%

    21 And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I strike them? shall I strike them?

    22 And he answered, You shall not strike them: would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

  • 41 And he hastened, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel recognized him that he was of the prophets.

  • 33 And a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to his chariot driver, Turn your hand, that you may carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.

  • 7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? Therefore consider, please, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.

  • 19 And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

  • 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

  • 24 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

  • 34 And a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor: therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am wounded.

  • 6 And they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the LORD, Is it not because there is no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but shall surely die.

  • 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.