¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad

¹³ And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, ^(A)I will give it into your hand this day, ^(B)and you shall know that I am the Lord.” ¹⁴ And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” ¹⁵ Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. And after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.

¹⁶ And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad ^(C)was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him. ¹⁷ The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, “Men are coming out from Samaria.” ¹⁸ He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹ So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them. ²⁰ And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. ²¹ And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow.

⁵ Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^(A)gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by ^(B)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up ^(C)and rebelled against his lord, ⁷ and certain ^(D)worthless scoundrels^[a] gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^(E)young and irresolute^[b] and could not withstand them.

⁸ “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you ^(F)the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. ^9 (G)Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(H)for ordination^[c] with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are ^(I)not gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹ They offer to the Lord ^(J)every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out ^(K)the showbread on the table of pure gold, ^(L)and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may ^(M)burn every evening. For we ^(N)keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests ^(O)with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, ^(P)do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

¹³ Jeroboam had sent ^(Q)an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops^[d] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. ^(R)And they cried to the Lord, and the priests ^(S)blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, ^(T)God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel fled before Judah, ^(U)and God gave them into their hand.

¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before ^(A)Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

²⁸ And a ^(A)man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, ^(B)“The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore ^(C)I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’” ²⁹ And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ And the rest fled into the city of ^(D)Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.

Ben-hadad also fled and entered ^(E)an inner chamber in the city.