1 And Benhadad 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 made war against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said to him, Thus says Benhadad,
3 your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, Oh king, according to your saying, I am yours, and all that I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent to you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;
6 Yet I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your 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 seeks mischief: for he sent to 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 to him, Listen not to him, nor consent.
9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send for to your 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 Benhadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him who girds on his harness boast himself as he who puts it off.
12 When Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, he said to his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
13 And, a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus says Jehovah, Have you seen all this great multitude? I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am Jehovah.
14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus says Jehovah, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, You.
15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the 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 Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.
18 And he said, Whether they be come out for completeness, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
20 And they slew everyone his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods 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 captains in their rooms:
25 And number you an army, like the army that you have 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 listened to their voice, and did so.
26 At the return of the year, Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
28 And a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.
29 And they pitched 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 there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
31 And his servants said to him, We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I beg you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save your life.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, your servant Benhadad says, I beg you, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? He is my brother.
33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, your brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go you, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
34 And Benhadad said to him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will restore; and you shall make streets for you in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send you away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor in the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray you. And the man refused to smite him.
36 Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall slay you. 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 you. And the man struck him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried to the king: and he said, your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.
40 And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be; yourself have decided it.
41 And he hurried, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
42 And he said to him, Thus says Jehovah, Because you have let go out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life and your people for his people.
43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.