³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames,^(A) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(B) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(C) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^(D)

¹⁶ “Don’t be afraid,”^(A) the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more^(B) than those who are with them.”

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots^(C) of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸ As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”^(D) So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

⁵¹ David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut^(A) off his head with the sword.^(B)

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. ⁵² Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath^[a] and to the gates of Ekron.^(C) Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim^(D) road to Gath and Ekron.

⁸ He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock^(A) of Etam.^(B)

³² Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders^(A) were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer^(B) is sending someone to cut off my head?^(C) Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”

³ Elijah was afraid^[a] and ran^(A) for his life.^(B) When he came to Beersheba^(C) in Judah, he left his servant there,

¹⁵ After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. ¹⁶ Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

¹⁷ When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. ¹⁸ But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.^[a] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹ When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject^(A) to them.

So the Arameans^(B) were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

⁴ Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan^(A) and crossed it. ⁵ He said to the men of Sukkoth,^(B) “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out,^(C) and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna,^(D) the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the officials of Sukkoth^(E) said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread^(F) to your troops?”^(G)

⁷ Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna^(H) into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

⁸ From there he went up to Peniel^[a](I) and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. ⁹ So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”^(J)

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.^(K)