1 Kings 20 King Benhadad of Syria mustered his entire army, accompanied by thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots, he laid siege on Samaria, and launched attacks against it.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ King Benhadad of Syria mustered his entire army, accompanied by thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots, he laid siege on Samaria, and launched attacks against it. ² He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say: "King Benhadad demands that ³ Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your children are mine. ⁴ The king of Israel answered, "It is according to your saying, my lord, O king. I am yours, and all that I have." ⁵ The messengers came again, and said, "Ben Hadad says, 'I sent indeed to you, saying, "You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children; ⁶ So at this time tomorrow, I will send my servants to you that they might search your house and the houses of your servants. All the desire of your eyes they will lay hands on and take it away.'" ⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, my gold; and I didn't deny him. ⁸ All the elders and all the people said to him, Don't listen, neither consent. ⁹ Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, "Tell my lord the king, 'All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do.'" The messengers departed, and brought him back the message. ¹⁰ Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if there is enough of the dust of Samaria for all the people at my feet to take some in their hands. ¹¹ The king of Israel answered, Tell him, 'Don't let him who puts on his armour brag like he who takes it off'. ¹² Benhadad heard this when he and his allies were drinking in their tents. He told his officers to get ready. So they got prepared to attack the city. ¹³ A prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said: "This is what the LORD says: 'Have you seen this large army? I will hand it over to you today. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" ¹⁴ Ahab asked: "How will this be done?" The prophet answered: "This is what the LORD says: 'By using the young officers of the district governors." "Who will start the battle?" Ahab asked. "You will," the prophet answered. ¹⁵ So Ahab gathered together 232 young men who served as officials within the provinces and then mustered 7,000 soldiers from among the Israelites. ¹⁶ They went out at noon while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents, he and the thirty-two kings helping him. ¹⁷ The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, Men are coming out from Samaria. ¹⁸ He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive." ¹⁹ So these young men of the rulers of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. ²⁰ Each man struck down his opponent, and the Arameans ran away with Israel in pursuit. King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on horseback with the help of his cavalry. ²¹ And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and inflicted on the Syrians a great defeat. ²² And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you. ²³ The servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we. Let us fight with them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴ So do this: remove the kings from command and replace them with captains. ²⁵ Muster an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than them." He listened to their voice, and did so. ²⁶ At the return of the year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. ²⁷ The Israelites had been mustered and provisioned, and they went to engage them. The Israelites encamped opposite them as two flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the land. ²⁸ A man of God came to the king of Israel. He said: "the LORD says, 'Because the Aramaeans have said, "the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys; I will give all this great army into your hands, and you will see that I am the LORD."'" ²⁹ They encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day. ³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city. And there a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of those remaining. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner room. ³¹ And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful; so let us put sackcloths on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives. ³² So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, "Your servant Ben Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" He said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother." ³³ Now the men took it as a sign, and were quick to pick up on his word. They said: "Benhadad is your brother." Then he said: "Go and get him." So Ben-hadad came out to him and he made him get up into his carriage. ³⁴ Benhadad said: "The towns my father took from your father I will give back. You may name streets for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria." As for me, at the price of this agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him go. ³⁵ Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets, said to his companion, in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike. ³⁶ so he told him, "Because you haven't obeyed the LORD's voice, as soon as you leave here, a lion will kill you." As soon as the man left, a lion found him and killed him. ³⁷ Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please," so the man struck him sharply and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and waited for the king along the road and disguised himself with a headband over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king was passing by, he called to the king and said, "Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ While your servant was busy here and there, the prisoner escaped." The king told him, "By your actions you've earned the proper judgment!" ⁴¹ He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the prophets. ⁴² And he said to him, So says the LORD, Because you have sent away the man I had devoted from your hand, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people. ⁴³ And the king of Israel went to his house, sad and angry, and came to Samaria.