1 Kings 20:13-30

13Then a prophet came to 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.”

14Ahab 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.

15Ahab counted the young officers of the district governors. There were 232. After counting them, he counted all the Israelite soldiers. There were 7,000.

16They attacked at noon, when Benhadad was in his tent getting drunk with the 32 kings who were his allies.

17The young officers of the district governors went out first. Benhadad had sent men ⌞to watch the city⌟. They informed him that some men had come out of Samaria.

18He said, “Take them alive, whether they have come out to make peace or to fight.”

19The young officers of the district governors led an attack, and the troops followed them.

20Each officer killed his opponent. The Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them. King Benhadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry.

21The king of Israel went out and destroyed the horses and chariots and decisively defeated the Arameans.

22Then the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Reinforce your army. Consider what you have to do. When spring comes, the king of Aram will attack ⌞again⌟.”

23Meanwhile, the officers of King Benhadad of Aram told him, “Their god is a god of the hills. That is why they were stronger than we were. However, if we fight them on the plain, we will be stronger than they are.

24This is what we must do: Remove all of the kings from their positions, and substitute governors for them.

25Recruit an army with as many horses and chariots as the one which was defeated. Then, if we fight them on the plain, we will be stronger than they are.” He took their advice and followed it.

26Spring came, and Benhadad organized the Aramean army and went to Aphek to fight Israel.

27When the Israelite ⌞troops⌟ had been organized and given provisions, they went to meet the enemy. The Israelites, while camped opposite the Arameans who filled the country, seemed like two newborn goats.

28The man of God came again. He said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: Because the Arameans said that the Lord is a god of the hills but not a god of the valleys, I will hand over their entire army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

29They camped facing one another for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle started. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.

30The survivors fled to Aphek, the city where the wall fell on 27,000 of them. Benhadad had also fled. He came to the city and hid in an inner room.