First Kings 20:13-24

¹³Then behold, a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Yahweh says, 'Have you seen this great army? Look, I will place it into your hand today, and you will know that I am Yahweh.'”

¹⁴Ahab replied, “By whom?” Yahweh replied and said, “By the young officers who serve the governors of the districts.” Then Ahab said, “Who will begin the battle?” Yahweh answered, “You.”

¹⁵Then Ahab mustered the young officers who served the governors of the districts. They numbered 232. After them he mustered all the soldiers, all the army of Israel; seven thousand in number.

¹⁶They went out at noon. Ben Hadad had been drinking himself drunk in his tent, he and the thirty-two lesser kings who were supporting him.

¹⁷The young officers who served the governors of the districts went forward first. Then Ben Hadad was informed by scouts that he had sent out, “Men are coming out from Samaria.”

¹⁸Ben Hadad said, “Whether they have come out for peace or war, take them alive.”

¹⁹So the young officers who served the governors of the districts went out of the city and the army followed them.

²⁰Each man killed his opponent. The Arameans fled and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse along with some horsemen.

²¹Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans in a great slaughter.

²²So the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself, and understand and plan what you are doing, because at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against you again.”

²³The servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills. That is why they were stronger than we were. But now let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are.

²⁴So you must do this: Remove all the kings from their positions of authority and replace them with military commanders.