1 Kings 20:6-13

⁶But in addition to that, about this time tomorrow, I will send some of my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials, and to bring to me everything that pleases them.”

⁷King Ahab summoned all the leaders of Israel, and said to them, “You can see/realize for yourselves that this man is trying to cause much trouble. He sent me a message insisting that I must give him my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I agreed to do that.”

⁸The leaders and all the other people said to him, “Do not pay any attention to him! Do not do what he is requesting!”

⁹So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad's messengers, “Tell the king that I agree to give him the things that he first requested, but I do not agree to allow his officials to take anything that they want from my palace and from the houses of my officials.” So the messengers reported that to King Ben-Hadad, and they returned with another message from Ben-Hadad.

¹⁰In that message he said, “ We will destroy your city completely, with the result that there will not be enough dust and rubble left for each of my soldiers to have one handful! I hope/wish that the gods will strike me dead if we do not do that!”

¹¹King Ahab replied to the messengers, “Tell King Ben-Hadad that a soldier who is putting on his armor preparing to fight a battle MTY should not boast at that time; he should wait until after he wins the battle.”

¹²Ben-Hadad heard that message while he and the other rulers were drinking wine in their temporary shelters. He told his men to prepare to attack MTY the city. So his men did that.

¹³At that moment, a prophet came to King Ahab and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘ Do not be at all afraid RHQ of the large enemy army that you see! I will enable your army to defeat them today, and you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do.’”