1 KingsChapter 20

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¹Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered his whole army. Thirty-two kings came with him, with their horses and chariots. He marched up and surrounded Samaria. He attacked it. ²He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel. ³They said, "This is what Ben-hadad says: 'Your silver and gold belong to me. Your best wives and children belong to me too!'" ⁴The king of Israel answered, "It's just as you say, my master the king. I belong to you, and so does everything I have." ⁵The messengers came back again. They said, "This is what Ben-hadad says: 'I sent you a message. I told you to give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children. ⁶But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants. They will search your palace and the houses of your servants. They will grab everything you treasure and carry it away.'" ⁷Then the king of Israel called together all the elders of the land. He said, "Look! This man is trying to make trouble. He asked for my wives and children, my silver and gold. And I didn't say no to him." ⁸The elders and all the people said, "Don't listen to him. Don't agree to what he wants." ⁹So Ahab answered Ben-hadad's messengers, "Tell my master the king this: 'I, your servant, will do everything you asked the first time. But I can't do this.'" So the messengers left. They took the answer back to Ben-hadad. ¹⁰Then Ben-hadad sent Ahab another message. "There won't be enough dust left of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful. If there is, may the gods punish me, and punish me badly!" ¹¹The king of Israel answered, "Tell him this: 'A man who is putting his armor on should not brag like a man who is taking it off.'" ¹²Ben-hadad got this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents. He said to his men, "Get ready to attack." So they took their places to attack the city. ¹³Meanwhile, a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel. He said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Do you see this huge army? Look, today I will hand it over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" ¹⁴Ahab asked, "Who will do it?" The prophet answered, "This is what the LORD says: 'The young officers of the area governors will do it.'" Ahab asked, "Who will start the battle?" The prophet answered, "You will." ¹⁵So Ahab called together the young officers of the area governors. There were 232 of them. Then he gathered the rest of Israel's soldiers. There were 7,000 in all. ¹⁶They marched out at noon. At that time Ben-hadad and the 32 kings fighting with him were in their tents getting drunk. ¹⁷The young officers of the area governors marched out first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts. They told him, "Men are marching out of Samaria." ¹⁸He said, "Maybe they've come out to make peace. If so, take them alive. Maybe they've come out to fight. Even so, take them alive." ¹⁹The young officers of the area governors marched out of the city. The army followed behind them. ²⁰Each one of them killed the enemy soldier he fought. So the Arameans ran away, and the Israelites chased them. But Ben-hadad king of Aram got away on a horse with some of his horsemen. ²¹Then the king of Israel marched out. He attacked the horses and chariots. He killed a great many of the Arameans. ²²After that, the prophet came to the king of Israel. He said, "Go and make yourself stronger. Think about what you need to do. In the spring the king of Aram will come up to attack you." ²³Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That's why they beat us. Let's fight them on the flat land instead. Then we will surely beat them. ²⁴So here's what to do. Remove all the kings from their positions. Put other officers in their place. ²⁵Then build an army like the one you lost. Get a horse for every horse and a chariot for every chariot. Then we can fight the Israelites on the flat land. There we will surely beat them." The king agreed with their plan and did what they said. ²⁶In the spring, Ben-hadad called up the Arameans. He went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷The Israelites were also called up and given supplies. They marched out to meet the Arameans. The Israelites camped across from them. They looked like two small flocks of goats. But the Arameans covered the whole countryside. ²⁸Then the man of God came to the king of Israel. He said, "This is what the LORD says: 'The Arameans say the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys. So I will hand this whole huge army over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" ²⁹The two armies camped across from each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰The rest of them ran into the town of Aphek. There the wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-hadad also ran into the town. He hid in an inner room. ³¹Then Ben-hadad's officials said to him, "Listen. We've heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let's go out to the king of Israel. We'll wear sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Maybe he will let you live." ³²So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads. They went to the king of Israel. They said, "Your servant Ben-hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" The king answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother." ³³The men were watching for a sign of hope. They quickly grabbed onto his words. "Yes, your brother Ben-hadad!" they said. The king said, "Go and get him!" So Ben-hadad came out. Ahab had him come up into his chariot. ³⁴Ben-hadad said to him, "I will give back the towns my father took from your father. You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab answered, "I'll set you free with this treaty." So he made a treaty with him and let him go. ³⁵Meanwhile, a man from the group of prophets spoke by the LORD's word. He said to his friend, "Please hit me!" But the man refused to hit him. ³⁶So the prophet said to him, "You have not obeyed the voice of the LORD. So as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you." The man left, and a lion found him and killed him. ³⁷Then the prophet found another man. He said, "Please hit me!" So the man hit him and hurt him. ³⁸Then the prophet went and waited by the road for the king. He disguised himself with a cloth over his eyes. ³⁹As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, "I, your servant, went into the middle of the battle. Suddenly a man came over to me with a prisoner. He said, 'Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, you will pay with your life. Or else you must pay a talent of silver.'a ⁴⁰But while I was busy here and there, the man was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "That's your sentence. You have judged yourself." ⁴¹Then the prophet quickly took the cloth off his eyes. The king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets. ⁴²The prophet said to the king, "This is what the LORD says: 'I had set this man apart to be destroyed. But you let him go free. So your life will be taken for his life. Your people will be taken for his people.'" ⁴³The king of Israel went home to Samaria. He was upset and angry.