1 Kings 20

¹ Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered his entire army. Thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots. 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, "This is what Ben-hadad says:

³ "Your silver and your gold are mine, and your best wives and children are mine."'

⁴ The king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord the king: I am yours, and all that I have."

⁵ The messengers came back and said, "This is what Ben-hadad says: I sent to you, saying, 'Give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children.'

⁶ But tomorrow about this time I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants. Whatever is desirable in your eyes they will seize and take."

⁷ The king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, "Mark well and see that this man is seeking trouble! He sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him."

⁸ All the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen, and do not consent."

⁹ So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, "Tell my lord the king: All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do." The messengers left and brought back word.

¹⁰ Ben-hadad sent to him and said, "May the gods do so to me and more, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people at my feet."

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: Let not the one who straps on his armor boast like the one who takes it off."

¹² When Ben-hadad heard this message—he was drinking with the kings in the shelters—he said to his servants, "Take your positions!" And they took their positions against the city.

¹³ Then a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, "This is what the LORD says: Do you see this entire great multitude? I am about to give it into your hand today, and you will know that I am the LORD."

¹⁴ Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "This is what the LORD says: By the young men of the provincial commanders." Ahab said, "Who will engage the battle?" He said, "You."

¹⁵ He mustered the young men of the provincial commanders, and there were two hundred thirty-two. After them he mustered all the people—all the Israelites—seven thousand.

¹⁶ They went out at noon while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the shelters—he and the thirty-two kings helping him.

¹⁷ The young men of the provincial commanders went out first. Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, "Men have come out from Samaria."

¹⁸ He said, "Whether they have come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they have come out for war, take them alive."

¹⁹ These went out from the city—the young men of the provincial commanders and the army behind them.

²⁰ Each struck down his opponent, and the Arameans fled, with Israel pursuing them. Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.

²¹ The king of Israel went out and struck down the horses and chariots, inflicting a great defeat on Aram.

²² The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself. Consider and see what you must do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you."

²³ The servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their god is a god of the hills. That is why they were stronger than us. But if we fight them on the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.

²⁴ Do this: remove the kings, each from his position, and put commanders in their places.

²⁵ Muster an army like the army you lost, horse for horse, chariot for chariot. Then we will fight them on the plain. Surely we will be stronger than they." He listened to them and did so.

²⁶ At the turn of the year, Ben-hadad mustered Aram and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

²⁷ The Israelites were mustered and provisioned and went to meet them. The Israelites encamped before them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the land.

²⁸ The man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, "This is what the LORD says: Because Aram has said, 'The LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys,' I will give this entire great multitude into your hand, and you will know that I am the LORD."

²⁹ They encamped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle was joined, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.

³⁰ The rest fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. Ben-hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner room.

³¹ His servants said to him, "We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth on our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life."

³² They tied sackcloth on their waists and 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 still alive? He is my brother."

³³ The men took this as a good sign and quickly seized on his word, saying, "Yes! Ben-hadad is your brother." He said, "Go, bring him." Ben-hadad came out to him, and he had him come up into the chariot.

³⁴ Ben-hadad said to him, "The cities my father took from your father I will return, and you may set up market quarters in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab said, "On these terms I will let you go." So he made a treaty with him and let him go.

³⁵ A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the LORD, "Strike me!" But the man refused to strike him.

³⁶ He said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you." He left him, and a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷ He found another man and said, "Strike me!" The man struck him, wounding him.

³⁸ The prophet went and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.

³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the thick of battle, and a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man! If he is missing, your life will be in place of his life, or you will pay a talent of silver.'

⁴⁰ While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "So is your judgment; you yourself have decided it."

⁴¹ He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.

⁴² He said to him, "This is what the LORD says: Because you have let go from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be in place of his life, and your people in place of his people."

⁴³ The king of Israel went to his house sullen and resentful, and came to Samaria.