AND Ben Hadad the king of Aram gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Shomeron, and warred against it.
And he sent messengers to Ach'av king of Yashar'el into the city, and said unto him, Thus says Ben Hadad,
Your silver and your gold is mine; your women also and your children, even the goodliest, are mine.
And the king of Yashar'el answered and said, my adoniy, O king, according to your saying, I am yours, and all that I have.
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaks Ben Hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto you, saying, You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your women, and your children;
Yet I will send my servants unto you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and את the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.
Then the king of Yashar'el called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeks mischief: for he sent unto me for my women, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.
And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben Hadad, Tell my adoniy the king, All that you did send for to your servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.
And Ben Hadad sent unto him, and said, The elohiym do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Shomeron shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
And the king of Yashar'el answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girds on his harness boast himself as he that puts it off.
And 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.
And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ach'av king of Yashar'el, saying, Thus says Yahuah, Have you seen את all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am Yahuah.
And Ach'av said, By whom? And he said, Thus says Yahuah, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, You.
Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Yashar'el, being seven thousand.
And 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.
And 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 of Shomeron.
And he said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they are come out for war, take them alive.
So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
And they slew everyone his man: and the Arammiym fled; and Yashar'el pursued them: and Ben Hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
And the king of Yashar'el went out, and smote the horses and the chariots, and slew the Arammiym with a great slaughter.
And the prophet came to the king of Yashar'el, and said unto him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see את what you do: for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.
And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, Their Elohai are elohiym 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.
And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
And number you an army, like the army that you have 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.
And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad numbered the Arammiym, and went up to Apheq, to fight against Yashar'el.
And the children of Yashar'el were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Yashar'el pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Arammiym filled the country.
And there came a man of Elohiym, and spoke unto the king of Yashar'el, and said, Thus says Yahuah, Because the Arammiym have said, Yahuah is Elohai of the hills, but he is not Elohai of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and ye shall know that I am Yahuah.
And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Yashar'el slew of the Arammiym a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
But the rest fled to Apheq, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Yashar'el are merciful kings: let us, I pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Yashar'el: perchance he will save your life.
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Yashar'el, and said, Your servant Ben Hadad says, I pray you, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Your brother Ben Hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
And Ben Hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will restore; and you shall make streets for you in Damascus, as my father made in Shomeron. Then said Ach'av, I will send you away with this covenant. So he cut a covenant with him, and sent him away.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the Word of Yahuah, Smite me, I pray you. And the man refused to smite him.
Then said he unto him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahuah, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall slay you. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray you. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Guard this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.
And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Yashar'el said unto him, So shall your judgment be; yourself has decided it.
And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Yashar'el discerned him that he was of the prophets.
And he said unto him, Thus says Yahuah, Because you have let go out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.
And the king of Yashar'el went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Shomeron.