Ben-hadad Attacks Samaria

1And the son of Hadad, king of Aram, gathered all his strength; and thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he will go up and press upon Shomeron and war against her. 2And he will send messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, to the city, 3And he will say to him, Thus said the son of Hadad, Thy silver and thy gold it is to me; and thy wives and thy sons, the good, they are to me. 4And the king of Israel will answer and say, According to thy word, my lord the king, to thee am I and all which is to me. 5And the messengers will turn back and say, Thus said Ben-hadad, saying, That I sent to thee, saying, Thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy sons thou shalt give to me, 6But about the time to-morrow I will send my servants to thee, and they searched thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it was all the delight of thine eyes they shall put in their hand and take.

7And the king of Israel will call for all the old men of the land, and he will say, Know now, and see that this seeks evil, for he sent to me for my wives and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I withheld not from him. 8And all the old men and all the people will say to him, Thou shalt not hear, and thou shalt not be willing. 9And he will say to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, All which thou sentest to thy servant at first, I will do: and this word I shall not be able to do. And the messengers will go and turn back word. 10And Ben-hadad will send to him and say, Thus will the gods do to me, and thus will they add, if the dust of Shomeron shall suffice for handfuls for all the people which are at my feet. 11And the king of Israel will answer and say, Speak ye. He binding shall not boast as he loosening. 12And it will be when he heard this word he was drinking, and the kings in the booths; and he will say to his servants, Set ye. And they will set against the city.

Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad

13And behold, one prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel, and he will say, Thus said Jehovah, Sawest thou all this great multitude? Behold me giving it into thy hand this day and thou knewest that I am Jehovah. 14And Ahab will say, By whom? And he will say, Thus said Jehovah, By the boys of the chiefs of the provinces. And he will say, Who shall bind the war? And he will say, Thou. 15And he will review the boys of the chiefs of the provinces, and they will be two hundred and thirty: and after them he reviewed all the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand.

16And they will go forth at noon. And Ben-hadad was drinking strong drink in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings helping him. 17And the boys of the chiefs of the provinces will go forth at the first; and Ben-hadad will send and they will announce to him, saying, Men came forth from Shomeron. 18And he will say, If for peace they came forth, seize them living; and if for war they came forth, seize them living.

19And these came forth from the city, the boys of the chiefs of the provinces, and the strength which was after them. 20And they will strike a man his man: and Aram will flee, and Israel will pursue them: and Ben-hadad king of Aram, will escape upon a horse, and the horsemen. 21And the king of Israel will go forth and strike the horse and the chariot, and he struck upon Aram a great blow.

22And the prophet will draw near to the king of Israel, and say to him, Go, be strengthened, and know, and see what thou wilt do: for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against thee.

23And the servants of the king of Aram said to him, A god of the mountains is their God; for this they were strong above us; and on the contrary, we will war with them in a plain; surely, shall we not be strong above them? 24And do this word, Remove the kings a man from his place, and put prefects in their stead. 25And thou shalt divide out to thee an army, as the army having fallen from thee, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will war with them in the plain; surely, shall we not be strong above them? And he will hear to their voice and do so.

Another War with Ben-hadad

26And it will be at the return of the year, and Ben-hadad will review Aram, and he will go up to Aphek to the war with the king of Israel. 27And the sons of Israel were reviewed, and were nourished, and they will go up to their meeting: and the sons of Israel will encamp over against them as two flocks of she goats; and Aram filled the land. 28And a man of God will come near and say to the king of Israel, and he will say, Thus said Jehovah, Because Aram said, A God of the mountains is Jehovah, and he is not the God of the valleys, and I gave all this great multitude into thy hand; and know ye that I am Jehovah. 29And these will encamp over against those seven days. And it will be in the seventh day, and the battle will draw near: and the sons of Israel will strike Aram a hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30And the rest will flee to Aphek, to the city; and the wall will fall upon twenty and seven thousand men being left And Ben-hadad fled, and he will come to the city, to a chamber in a chamber.

Ahab Spares Ben-hadad

31And his servants will say to him, Behold now, we heard that the kings of the house of Israel that they are kings of mercy; we will now put sackcloth upon our loins and ropes upon our heads, and we will go forth to the king of Israel; perhaps he will save alive thy soul. 32And they will bind sackcloth upon their loins, and ropes upon their heads, and they will come to the king of Israel, and say, Thy servant Ben-hadad said, Now wilt thou save alive my soul? And he will say, Is he yet living? he is my brother. 33And the men will prognosticate, and hasten, and urge whether it was from him, and they will say, Thy brother Benhadad. And he will say, Go take him. And Benhadad will come forth to him, and he will bring him up upon his chariot. 34And he will say to him, The cities which my father took from thy father, I will turn back; and thou shalt set streets for thee in Damascus, according as my father set in Shomeron. And I will send thee away with a covenant. And he will cut out to him a covenant and send him away.

A Prophet Reproves Ahab

35And a man, one of the sons of the prophets, said to his neighbor in the word of Jehovah, Strike me now. And the man refused to strike him. 36And he will say to him, Because thou heardst not to the voice of Jehovah, behold thee going from me, and the lion striking thee. And he will go from beside him, and the lion will find him and strike him. 37And he will find another man, and he will say, Strike me now. And the man will strike him, striking and wounding. 38And the prophet will go and stand by the king by the way; and he will be disguised with a bandage over his eyes. 39And it will be the king passing by, and he cried to the king, and he will say, Thy servant went forth into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and he will bring a man to me, and say, Watch this man: if missing, he shall be missed, and thy soul being instead of his soul, or thou shalt weigh a talent of silver. 40And it will be thy servant doing here and there, and he was not. And the king of Israel will say to him, Thus thy judgment; thou didst decide. 41And he will hasten and remove the bandage from his eyes; and the king of Israel will know him that he is from the prophets. 42And he will say to him, Thus said Jehovah, Because thou sentest away a man I devoted to destruction from thy hand, and thy soul being instead of his soul, and thy people instead of his people. 43And the king of Israel will go to his house, rebellious and angry; and he will come to Shomeron.