1 Kings 20:40 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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."

NIV: While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." "That is your sentence," the king of Israel said. "You have pronounced it yourself."

NASB: Now while your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.' And the king of Israel said to him, 'So shall your judgment be; you yourself determined it.'

CSB: But while your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared." The king of Israel said to him, "That will be your sentence; you yourself have decided it."

NLT: But while I was busy doing something else, the prisoner disappeared!' 'Well, it’s your own fault,' the king replied. 'You have brought the judgment on yourself.'

KJV: And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.

NKJV: While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” Then the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.”

This was originally the first half of a combined text. First Kings records the end of David's reign and the rule of Solomon. After this, the kingdom is split in two. The northern nation of Israel no longer submits to the king of the southern nation, called Judah. The prophet Elijah first appears in this book. The kings mostly fail to honor the Lord. They participate in idolatry and other sins. This will eventually result in their conquest and exile, as depicted throughout the books of Chronicles.