20 And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. ² And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, ³ Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. ⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, It is according to thy saying, my lord, O king; I am thine, and all that I have. ⁵ And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; ⁶ but I will send my servants unto thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that ^[a]whatsoever is pleasant in thine 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, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. ⁸ And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken thou not, neither consent. ⁹ Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. ¹⁰ And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that ^[b]follow me. ¹¹ And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his armor boast himself as he that putteth it off. ¹² And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the ^[c]pavilions, that he said unto his servants, ^[d]Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

¹³ And, behold, a prophet came near unto Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah. ¹⁴ And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith Jehovah, By the ^[e]young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall ^[f]begin the battle? And he answered, Thou. 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 And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the ^[g]pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. ¹⁷ And 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 And he said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they are come out for war, take 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 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped ^[h]on a horse with horsemen. ²¹ And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

²² And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. ²³ And the servants of the king of Syria said unto 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 And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put ^[i]captains in their room; ²⁵ and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast 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. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.

²⁶ And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. ²⁷ And the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, 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 And ^[j]a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ²⁹ And they encamped one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day. ³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, ^[k]into an inner chamber.

³¹ And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. ³² So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. ³³ Now the men ^[l]observed diligently, and hasted ^[m]to catch whether it were ^[n]his mind; and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴ And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I, said Ahab, will let thee go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.

³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. ³⁶ Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. ³⁷ Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote 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 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king; and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. ⁴⁰ And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. ⁴¹ And he hasted, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. ⁴² And he said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. ⁴³ And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.