Kings (The First Book of the )

King Ben-hadad of Aram gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria, laid siege to it, and attacked it.

Then he sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel, and said to him: "Thus says Ben-hadad:

Your silver and gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine."

The king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have."

The messengers came again and said: "Thus says Ben-hadad: I sent to you, saying, 'Deliver to me your silver and gold, your wives and children';

nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and lay hands on whatever pleases them, and take it away."

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Look now! See how this man is seeking trouble; for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold; and I did not refuse him."

Then all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen or consent."

So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, "Tell my lord the king: All that you first demanded of your servant I will do; but this thing I cannot do." The messengers left and brought him word again.

Ben-hadad sent to him and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will provide a handful for each of the people who follow me."

The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off."

When Ben-hadad heard this message--now he had been drinking with the kings in the booths--he said to his men, "Take your positions!" And they took their positions against the city.

Then a certain prophet came up to King Ahab of Israel and said, "Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Look, I will give it into your hand today; and you shall know that I am the LORD."

Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says the LORD, By the young men who serve the district governors." Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You."

Then he mustered the young men who serve the district governors, two hundred thirty-two; after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.

The young men who serve the district governors went out first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts, and they reported to him, "Men have come out from Samaria."

He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive."

But these had already come out of the city: the young men who serve the district governors, and the army that followed them.

Each killed his man; the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry.

The king of Israel went out, attacked the horses and chariots, and defeated the Arameans with a great slaughter.

Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do; for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you."

The servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

Also do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in place of them;

and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they." He heeded their voice, and did so.

In the spring Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

After the Israelites had been mustered and provisioned, they went out to engage them; the people of Israel encamped opposite them like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the country.

A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, "Thus says the LORD: Because the Arameans have said, 'The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,' therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD."