[1] Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and there
were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and
besieged Samaria, and fought against it. [2] He sent messengers to Ahab
king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad, [3]
Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even
the best, are mine. [4] The king of Israel answered, It is according to
your saying, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have. [5] The
messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben-hadad, saying, I sent
indeed to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and
your wives, and your children; [6] but 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 it in their hand, and take it away. [7] 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. [8] All the
elders and all the people said to him, Don`t you listen, neither consent.
[9] Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the
king, All that you did send for to your servant at the first I will do; but
this thing I may not do. The messengers departed, and brought him word
again. [10] Ben-hadad 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
who follow me. [11] The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Don`t let him
who girds on [his armor] boast himself as he who puts it off. [12] It
happened, when [Ben-hadad] heard this message, as he was drinking, he and
the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, Set [yourselves
in array]. They set [themselves in array] against the city. [13] Behold, a
prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Have
you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand
this day; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. [14] Ahab said, By whom? He
said, Thus says Yahweh, By the young men of the princes of the provinces.
Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. [15] Then he
mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two
hundred and thirty-two: and after them he mustered all the people, even all
the children of Israel, being seven thousand. [16] They went out at noon.
But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the
kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him. [17] The young men of the
princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they
told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria. [18] He said,
Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are
come out for war, taken them alive. [19] So these went out of the city, the
young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed
them. [20] They killed everyone his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel
pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with
horsemen. [21] The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and
chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. [22] 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. [23] The servants of the king of Syria said
to him, Their god is a god 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. [24] Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out
of his place, and put captains in their room; [25] and number you 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. He listened to their voice, and did so. [26] It
happened at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians,
and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. [27] The children of Israel
were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them: and the
children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but
the Syrians filled the country. [28] A man of God came near and spoke to
the king of Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Because the Syrians have
said, Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys;
therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you
shall know that I am Yahweh. [29] They encamped one over against the other
seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and
the children of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen
in one day. [30] But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall
fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben-hadad fled, and came
into the city, into an inner chamber. [31] 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. [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
Ben-hadad says, please let me live. He said, Is he yet alive? he is my
brother. [33] Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to catch whether
it were his mind; and they said, Your brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go
you, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come
up into the chariot. [34] [Ben-hadad] said to him, The cities which my
father took from your father I will restore; and you shall make streets for
you in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. I, [said Ahab], will let you
go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go. [35]
A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of
Yahweh, Please strike me. The man refused to strike him. [36] Then said he
to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, behold, as soon as
you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was departed
from him, a lion found him, and killed him. [37] Then he found another man,
and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.
[38] So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and
disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. [39] 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 be missing, then shall your
life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver. [40] As
your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said
to him, So shall your judgment be; yourself have decided it. [41] He
hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel
discerned him that he was of the prophets. [42] He said to him, Thus says
Yahweh, Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted
to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people
for his people. [43] The king of Israel went to his house heavy and
displeased, and came to Samaria.

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