¹And Ben-Hadad king of Aramaea assembled all his forces, and there were thirty-two kings with him, and cavalry and a chariot fleet, and he went up and besieged Samaria and waged war against it. ²And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, to the city, ³and he said to him, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: ‘Your silver and your gold is mine, and your wives and your fair sons are mine.’ ” ⁴At this the king of Israel replied and said, “As you say, my lord the king. I and everything I have are yours.” ⁵Then the messengers returned and said, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: ‘Although I sent messengers to you to say, «You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your sons», ⁶nevertheless, at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants, and they will lay their hands on every object of yours that is pleasing to the eye and take it away.’ ” ⁷Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Kindly be aware and observe how this man is seeking a pretext for aggression, for he has sent to me for my wives and my sons and my silver and my gold, and I did not withhold them from him.” ⁸Then all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not heed him and do not comply.” ⁹So he said to Ben-Hadad's messengers, “Say to my lord the king, ‘I will do everything that you charged your servant to do the first time, but I cannot do this thing.’ ” Then the messengers departed and reported back to him. ¹⁰Then Ben-Hadad sent word to him and said, “May the gods do this to me and add more if the dust of Samaria is sufficient for all the people following in my footsteps to have a handful of it.” ¹¹At this the king of Israel replied and said, “Say, ‘Don't let him who girds himself boast like him who ungirds himself.’ ” ¹²And it came to pass when he heard these words, while he was drinking – he and the kings in the out-houses – that he said to his servants, “Fall into rank.” So they fell into rank against the city. ¹³Now it so happened that a certain prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Have you seen all this large mass of people? I am about to deliver them into your hand today, and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” ¹⁴Then Ahab said, “By means of whom?” And he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘By means of the youths serving the governors of the provinces.’ ” Then he said, “Who will start the war?” And he said, “You will.” ¹⁵Then he counted the youths serving the governors of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two of them, and after them he counted all the people – all the sons of Israel – and it came to seven thousand. ¹⁶Then they went out at noon, while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the out-houses, he and the kings – thirty-two kings helping him. ¹⁷So the youths serving the governors of the provinces went out first, and Ben-Hadad sent scouts, and they reported back to him and said, “Some men have come out from Samaria.” ¹⁸And he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive, or if they have come out for war, take them alive.” ¹⁹So these youths serving the governors of the provinces went out of the city, with the army which was behind them. ²⁰And each man struck down his opposite man, and the Aramaeans fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-Hadad king of Aramaea escaped on a horse with horsemen. ²¹And the king of Israel went out and attacked the cavalry and the chariot fleet, and he dealt Aramaea a severe blow. ²²Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and be encouraged, but be wary and watch out with what you do, for in the new year the king of Aramaea will come up against you.” ²³And the servants of the king of Aramaea said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills, which is why they were stronger than us, but if we fight them on the plain, we will certainly be stronger than them. ²⁴And do this thing: remove each king from his position and appoint governors in their place. ²⁵And recruit an army for yourself like the army which fell away from you, with a horse for a horse and a chariot for a chariot, and let us fight them on the plain, and we will certainly be stronger than them.” And he heeded their proposal and did so. ²⁶And it came to pass at the new year that Ben-Hadad mobilized the Aramaeans, and he went up to Aphek for the war with Israel. ²⁷And the sons of Israel were mobilized and given supplies, and they went to confront them, and the sons of Israel encamped opposite them, like two little flocks of goats, whereas the Aramaeans filled the land. ²⁸Then the man of God approached and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since the Aramaeans have said, «The Lord is a god of the hills, and he is not a god of the valleys», I will deliver all this large mass of people into your hand, and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” ²⁹And they encamped opposite each other for seven days, then it came to pass on the seventh day that the war broke out, and the sons of Israel struck the Aramaeans down – one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰And the remainder fled to Aphek, to the city, and the wall fell on the remaining twenty-seven thousand men, and Ben-Hadad fled, and he went to the city in an inner room. ³¹And his servants said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let's put sackcloth round our waist and cords on our head and go out to the king of Israel – perhaps he will let you live.” ³²So they girded themselves with sackcloth around their waist, and cords on their heads, and they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” ³³At this the men were enchanted and were quick to confirm what was asked about him, and they said, “Your brother Ben-Hadad is alive.” And Ahab said, “Go and fetch him.” Then Ben-Hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him go up into the chariot. ³⁴Then Ben-Hadad said to him, “I will restore to you the cities which my father captured from your father, and you will be able to establish suburbs for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” Then Ahab said, “I will send you off with a covenant.” And he made a covenant with him and sent him off. ³⁵Then a certain man from the sons of the prophets said to a colleague of his by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶Then he said to him, “Since you have not heeded the voice of the Lord, it will transpire that when you depart from me, a lion will strike you.” And when he left his company, a lion found him and struck him. ³⁷Subsequently, he found another man, and he said, “Please strike me.” And the man struck him and wounded him in the process. ³⁸Then the prophet departed and stood in the street waiting for the king, having disguised himself with a head-band around his eyes. ³⁹And it came to pass as the king was passing by that he shouted out to the king and said, “Your servant went out to the heart of the battle, and it so happened that a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man. If he in any way goes missing, then your life will be forfeited for his life, or else you will weigh me out a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰And the way things went, your servant was busy here and there, and the captive was gone.” Then the king of Israel said to him, “Your sentence will be as you yourself have specified.” ⁴¹Then he quickly removed the head-band from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, for he was one of the prophets. ⁴²And he said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you let the man go out of your hand, whom I had condemned, your life will be forfeited for his life, and your people for his people.’ ” ⁴³Then the king of Israel went to his house, sullen and resentful. And he went to Samaria.