[1] Now Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got all his army together, and thirty-two
kings with him, and horses and carriages of war; he went up and made war on
Samaria, shutting it in. [2] And he sent representatives into the town to
Ahab, king of Israel; [3] And they said to him, Ben-hadad says, Your silver
and your gold are mine; and your wives and children are mine. [4] And the
king of Israel sent him an answer saying, As you say, my lord king, I am
yours with all I have. [5] Then the representatives came back again, and
said, These are the words of Ben-hadad: I sent to you saying, Give up to me
your silver and your gold, your wives and your children; [6] But I will
send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, to make a search through
your house and the houses of your people, and everything which is pleasing
in your eyes they will take away in their hands. [7] 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. [8] And all
the responsible men and the people said to him, Do not give attention to
him or do what he says. [9] So he said to the representatives of Ben-hadad,
Say to my lord the king, All the orders you sent the first time I will do;
but this thing I may not do. And the representatives went back with this
answer. [10] Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, May the gods' punishment
be on me if there is enough of the dust of Samaria for all the people at my
feet to take some in their hands. [11] And the king of Israel said in
answer, Say to him, The time for loud talk is not when a man is putting on
his arms, but when he is taking them off. [12] Now when this answer was
given to Ben-hadad, he was drinking with the kings in the tents, and he
said to his men, Take up your positions. So they put themselves in position
for attacking the town. [13] Then a prophet came up to Ahab, king of
Israel, and said, The Lord says, Have you seen all this great army? See, I
will give it into your hands today, and you will see that I am the Lord.
[14] And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, The Lord says, By the servants of
the chiefs who are over the divisions of the land. Then he said, By whom is
the fighting to be started? And he made answer, By you. [15] Then he got
together the servants of all the chiefs who were over the divisions of the
land, two hundred and thirty-two of them; and after them, he got together
all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand. [16] And in the
middle of the day they went out. But Ben-hadad was drinking in the tents
with the thirty-two kings who were helping him. [17] And the servants of
the chiefs who were over the divisions of the land went forward first; and
when Ben-hadad sent out, they gave him the news, saying, Men have come out
from Samaria. [18] And he said, If they have come out for peace, take them
living, and if they have come out for war, take them living. [19] So the
servants of the chiefs of the divisions of the land went out of the town,
with the army coming after them. [20] And every one of them put his man to
death, and the Aramaeans went in flight with Israel after them; and
Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got away safely on a horse with his horsemen. [21]
And the king of Israel went out and took the horses and the war-carriages,
and made great destruction among the Aramaeans. [22] 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. [23] Then the king of Aram's servants said to him, Their
god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we: but if
we make an attack on them in the lowlands, we will certainly be stronger
than they. [24] This is what you have to do: take away the kings from their
positions, and put captains in their places; [25] And get together another
army like the one which came to destruction, horse for horse, and carriage
for carriage; and let us make war on them in the lowlands, and certainly we
will be stronger than they. And he gave ear to what they said, and did so.
[26] So, a year later, Ben-hadad got the Aramaeans together and went up to
Aphek to make war on Israel. [27] And the children of Israel got themselves
together, and food was made ready and they went against them; the tents of
the children of Israel were like two little flocks of goats before them,
but all the country was full of the Aramaeans. [28] And a man of God came
up and said to the king of Israel, The Lord says, Because the Aramaeans
have said, The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys; I will
give all this great army into your hands, and you will see that I am the
Lord. [29] Now the two armies kept their positions facing one another for
seven days. And on the seventh day the fight was started; and the children
of Israel put to the sword a hundred thousand Aramaean footmen in one day.
[30] But the rest went in flight to Aphek, into the town, where a wall came
down on the twenty-seven thousand who were still living. And Ben-hadad went
in flight into the town, into an inner room. [31] 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. [32] So they put on haircloth, and
cords on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant
Ben-hadad says, Let me now keep my life. And he said, Is he still living?
he is my brother. [33] Now the men took it as a sign, and quickly took up
his words; and they said, Ben-hadad is your brother. Then he said, Go and
get him. So Ben-hadad came out to him and he made him get up into his
carriage. [34] And Ben-hadad said to him, The towns my father took from
your father I will give back; and you may make streets for yourself in
Damascus as my father did in Samaria. And as for me, at the price of this
agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him
go. [35] And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his
neighbour by the word of the Lord, Give me a wound. But the man would not.
[36] Then he said to him, Because you have not given ear to the voice of
the Lord, straight away when you have gone from me a lion will put you to
death. And when he had gone, straight away a lion came rushing at him and
put him to death. [37] Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a
wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him. [38] So the prophet went
away, and pulling his head-band over his eyes to keep his face covered,
took his place by the road waiting for the king. [39] And when the king
went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight;
and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by
any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you
will have to give a talent of silver in payment. [40] But while your
servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel
said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against
yourself. [41] Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the
king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets. [42] And he said to
him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your
hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his
life, and your people for his people. [43] Then the king of Israel went
back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.

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