1Ben Hadad, the king of Syria, gathered his entire army. He had thirty-two kings with him, along with horses and chariots. He marched up, surrounded Samaria, and attacked it.
2He sent messengers into the city to Ahab, king of Israel, and told him, "This is what Ben Hadad says:
3'Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives and your finest children are also mine.'"
4The king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord, King. I belong to you, and everything I have is yours."
5The messengers returned and said, "Ben Hadad says, 'I sent word to you saying: You must give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.'
6'But tomorrow at this time, I will send my servants to you. They will search your palace and the homes of your officials, and whatever they find that you value, they will take it in their hands and carry it away.'"
7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, "Notice how this man is trying to stir up trouble. He sent for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn't refuse him."
8All the elders and all the people told him, "Don't listen to him, and don't agree."
9So Ahab said to Ben Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king: 'I will do everything you first asked of your servant, but I cannot do this.'" The messengers left and took the message back to Ben Hadad.
10Ben Hadad sent a message to Ahab that said, "May the gods punish me severely if there is enough dust in Samaria to provide a handful for each of my followers."
11The king of Israel replied, "Tell him, 'Don't let the one who is putting on his armor brag like the one who is taking it off.'"
12When Ben Hadad heard this message, he and the other kings were drinking in their tents. He told his servants, "Prepare for battle!" So they prepared to attack the city.
13Then a prophet approached Ahab, king of Israel, and said, "This is what Yahweh says: 'Do you see this huge army? Look, I will give them into your hand today, so you will know that I am Yahweh.'"
14Ahab asked, "By whom?" The prophet answered, "Yahweh says, 'By the young men of the provincial leaders.'" Then Ahab asked, "Who should start the battle?" The prophet replied, "You."
15So Ahab assembled the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232 of them. After them, he assembled all the people of Israel, seven thousand in total.
16They marched out at noon, while Ben Hadad and the thirty-two kings who were helping him were getting drunk in their tents.
17The young men of the provincial leaders went out first. Ben Hadad sent scouts, and they reported back to him, "Men are coming out from Samaria."
18He said, "If they have come out in peace, capture them alive; and if they have come out for war, capture them alive."
19So the young men of the provincial leaders marched out of the city, followed by the army.
20Each man killed his opponent. The Syrians fled, and Israel chased them. Ben Hadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with some horsemen.
21The king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, killing the Syrians in a great slaughter.
22The prophet approached the king of Israel and told him, "Go, strengthen your forces, take note, and consider what you are doing, because at the turn of the year the king of Syria will attack you again."
23The servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we are. But let's fight them on the plains, and then we will certainly be stronger than they are.
24Do this: remove the kings, every one from his position, and put commanders in their place.
25Then assemble an army like the one you lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight them on the plains, and we will surely be stronger than they are." The king listened to their advice and did as they suggested.
26At the turn of the year, Ben Hadad assembled the Syrians and went to Aphek to fight against Israel.
27The people of Israel were also assembled and supplied with food, and they marched out to meet them. The people of Israel camped in front of them like two small flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside.
28A man of God approached the king of Israel and said, "Yahweh says, 'Because the Syrians have said, "Yahweh is a god of the hills, but not a god of the valleys," I will hand over this entire great army to you. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.'"
29They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began, and the people of Israel killed one hundred thousand Syrian foot soldiers in one day.
30The rest fled to Aphek, into the city, but the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad escaped and entered the city, hiding in an inner room.
31His servants said to him, "Listen, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put on sackcloth and ropes around our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life."
32So they put on sackcloth and ropes around their heads and went to the king of Israel, saying, "Your servant Ben Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" Ahab asked, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."
33The men carefully watched for a sign and quickly seized on his words, saying, "Your brother Ben Hadad!" Ahab then said, "Go, bring him." So Ben Hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into his chariot.
34Ben Hadad said to him, "I will give back the cities that my father took from your father. You may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria." Ahab replied, "I will let you go with this agreement." So he made a treaty with him and let him go.
35One of the prophets, by Yahweh's word, said to another prophet, "Please strike me!" But the man refused to strike him.
36Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed Yahweh's voice, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you." As soon as the man left him, a lion found him and killed him.
37Then the prophet found another man and said, "Please strike me." The man struck him and wounded him.
38So the prophet left and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
39As the king passed by, he called out to the king, saying, "Your servant went out into the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought another man to me, saying, 'Guard this man! If he goes missing in any way, then your life will pay for his life, or you will have to pay 75 pounds of silver.'
40While your servant was busy here and there, the man was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "That will be your judgment. You yourself have decided it."
41He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel realized that he was one of the prophets.
42He said to him, "Yahweh says, 'Because you let the man I had marked for destruction escape from your grasp, your life will be taken for his life, and your people will be taken for his people.'"
43The king of Israel went home, gloomy and angry, and arrived in Samaria.