1 KINGS 20:11-32

¹¹And the king of Israel answered and said, tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his armour boast himself as he that putteth it off.

¹²And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

¹³And, behold, a prophet came near unto Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold; I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

¹⁴And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, Thou.

¹⁵Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.

¹⁶And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

¹⁷And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria.

¹⁸And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.

¹⁹So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.

²⁰And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with horsemen.

²¹And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

²²And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

²³And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a god 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.

²⁴And do this thing; take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their room:

²⁵and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast 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 hearkened unto their voice, and did so.

²⁶And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

²⁷And the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

²⁸And a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

²⁹And they encamped 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 an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

³⁰But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

³¹And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

³²So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.