1And Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his army together. And he had thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots; and he went up and attacked, and besieged Samaria. 2And he sent messengers into the city, to Ahab, king of Israel, to say, “Thus says Ben-hadad, 3‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your wives also, and your children, even the fairest, are mine.’” 4And Ahab, king of Israel answered, “My lord, O king, as you say, I am yours, and all that I have.” 5Then messengers came again, and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad, ‘Although I have sent to tell you, “You shall deliver your silver, gold, wives, and children to me; 6Yet about this time tomorrow I will send my officials to search your house, and the houses of your servants; and shall seize, and carry away whatever you have of value.”’”

7Then Ahab called all the elders of the land, and said, “Look how this man wants trouble: he sent to me for my wives, children, silver, and gold; and I agreed.” 8And the elders and the people said, “Do not listen to him, nor agree to any more of his demands.” 9So then Ahab answered the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord, the king, ‘All that you said to me in your first message I will do; but this I cannot accept.’” And the messengers took that word back to Ben-hadad. 10And Ben-hadad sent back, “The gods do so to me, and more besides, if enough dust remains in Samaria for handfuls for each of my soldiers.” 11And Ahab told his messengers, “Tell him, ‘One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off (after the battle).’” 12And when Ben-hadad received that message, as he was drinking, with the kings in the pavilions, he told his men, “Prepare to attack.” And they readied themselves to attack the city.

13And then a prophet came to Ahab, to say, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Have you seen his huge army? I will give it to you today; and then you shall know that I am the LORD.’” 14And Ahab said, “How will He accomplish that?” And the prophet said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘By the junior officers of the provinces.’” Then Ahab asked, “Who shall initiate the battle?” And the prophet answered, “You will.” 15So Ahab mustered the two hundred thirty-two junior officers of the provinces, and then mobilized his army, which numbered about seven thousand men. 16And they set out at noon, while Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings allied with him were drinking themselves drunk in the pavilions. 17And the junior officers of the provinces went out first. And Ben-hadad had posted scouts, who reported, “Troops are coming out of Samaria.” 18And Ben-hadad said, “Whether they have come out for peace, or for war, take them alive.” 19So these junior officers of the provinces came out of the city, leading the army. 20And each man killed his opponent; and the Syrians panicked and fled; and Israel pursued them. But Ben-hadad escaped on horseback with some other horsemen. 21And the Israelite army overwhelmed the Syrian horsemen and chariots, and inflicted heavy losses on the Syrians.

22And then the prophet came to Ahab, and said, “Do what is needed to fortify your positions; because Syria will counter-attack next spring.”

23And the Syrians told their king, “Their gods are gods of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and we shall surely be stronger than they. 24And replace those kings with military leaders; 25And raise an army like the one you just lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight them in the plain, and we shall surely be stronger than they.” And Ben-hadad did as they said.

26And the next spring, Ben-hadad mustered up the Aramean army, and marched to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27And the Israelites were also mustered, given provisions, and marched out to meet them. And the Israelites camped opposite them like two little flocks of goats; while the Aramean army filled the countryside. 28And the man of God came and said to Ahab, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Arameans think that the LORD is God of the hills, but not God of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” 29And they held those positions, across from each other, for seven days. And on the seventh day, the battle was joined; and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand footmen of the Arameans in just one day.

30The rest fled into the city of Aphek; and there the city wall fell upon twenty- seven thousand of them. Then Ben-hadad fled into the city, and hid in an inner room. 31And his officers told him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us put on sackcloth, with ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.” 32So they wrapped sackcloth around their waists, put ropes on their heads, and came out to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please, let me live.’” And Ahab said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 33Now these men diligently observed Ahab’s response, quickly picked up on it: and said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” Then Ahab said, “Go get him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to Ahab; and Ahab invited him up into his chariot. 34And Ben-hadad said, “The cities that my father took from your father, I will restore; and you shall establish trading places in Damascus, as my father did in the streets of Samaria.” Then Ahab said, “I will set you free on the basis of this treaty.” So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.

35And by order of the LORD, one of the prophets said to another, “Hit me.” But the man refused to hit him. 36Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the order of the LORD, behold, as soon as you leave here, a lion shall kill you.” And as soon as he left him, a lion found him, and killed him. 37Then the prophet told another man, “Hit me, please.” And the man hit him, and wounded him. 38Then prophet left, and waited along the road for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39And as King Ahab passed by, he called to him; and said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and a man brought a prisoner to me, and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing when I return, then it shall be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.’ 40And as I was busy doing something else, the prisoner escaped.” And the king of Israel said, “So shall be your sentence; you yourself have pronounced it.” 41Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his face; and Ahab recognized him as one of the prophets. 42And the prophet told him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have set free a man whom I said should die, your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’” 43And Ahab, king of Israel, went to his palace in Samaria, resentful and angry.