Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria

20 Now Ben-Hadad^(A) king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he went up and besieged Samaria^(B) and attacked it. ² He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: ³ ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.’”

⁴ The king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours.”

⁵ The messengers came again and said, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: ‘I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away.’”

⁷ The king of Israel summoned all the elders^(C) of the land and said to them, “See how this man is looking for trouble!^(D) When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him.”

⁸ The elders and the people all answered, “Don’t listen to him or agree to his demands.”

⁹ So he replied to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell my lord the king, ‘Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.’” They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad.

¹⁰ Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust^(E) remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful.”

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: ‘One who puts on his armor should not boast^(F) like one who takes it off.’”

¹² Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinking^(G) in their tents,^[a] and he ordered his men: “Prepare to attack.” So they prepared to attack the city.

Ahab Defeats Ben-Hadad

¹³ Meanwhile a prophet^(H) came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know^(I) that I am the Lord.’”

¹⁴ “But who will do this?” asked Ahab.

The prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: ‘The junior officers under the provincial commanders will do it.’”

“And who will start^(J) the battle?” he asked.

The prophet answered, “You will.”

¹⁵ So Ahab summoned the 232 junior officers under the provincial commanders. Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all. ¹⁶ They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.^{(K) 17} The junior officers under the provincial commanders went out first.

Now Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, “Men are advancing from Samaria.”

¹⁸ He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹ The junior officers under the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them ²⁰ and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen. ²¹ The king of Israel advanced and overpowered the horses and chariots and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.

²² Afterward, the prophet^(L) came to the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring^(M) the king of Aram will attack you again.”

²³ Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, “Their gods are gods^(N) of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴ Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. ²⁵ You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they.” He agreed with them and acted accordingly.

²⁶ The next spring^(O) Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek^(P) to fight against Israel. ²⁷ When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.^(Q)

²⁸ The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god^(R) of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know^(S) that I am the Lord.’”

²⁹ For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek,^(T) where the wall collapsed^(U) on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hid^(V) in an inner room.

³¹ His officials said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful.^(W) Let us go to the king of Israel with sackcloth^(X) around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

³² Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: ‘Please let me live.’”

The king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³ The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. “Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!” they said.

“Go and get him,” the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

³⁴ “I will return the cities^(Y) my father took from your father,” Ben-Hadad^(Z) offered. “You may set up your own market areas^(AA) in Damascus,^(AB) as my father did in Samaria.”

Ahab said, “On the basis of a treaty^(AC) I will set you free.” So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

³⁵ By the word of the Lord one of the company of the prophets^(AD) said to his companion, “Strike me with your weapon,” but he refused.^(AE)

³⁶ So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a lion^(AF) will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷ The prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life,^(AG) or you must pay a talent^[b] of silver.’ ⁴⁰ While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.”

“That is your sentence,”^(AH) the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.”

⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴² He said to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You^(AI) have set free a man I had determined should die.^[c](AJ) Therefore it is your life for his life,^(AK) your people for his people.’” ⁴³ Sullen and angry,^(AL) the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria.

7 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah^[a] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel^[b] and two seahs^[c] of barley for a shekel^(A) at the gate of Samaria.”

² The officer on whose arm the king was leaning^(B) said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates^(C) of the heavens, could this happen?”

“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat^(D) any of it!”

The Siege Lifted

³ Now there were four men with leprosy^[d](E) at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”

⁵ At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, ⁶ for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound^(F) of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired^(G) the Hittite^(H) and Egyptian kings to attack us!” ⁷ So they got up and fled^(I) in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

⁸ The men who had leprosy^(J) reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.

⁹ Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”

¹⁰ So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” ¹¹ The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.

¹² The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide^(K) in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”

¹³ One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”

¹⁴ So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” ¹⁵ They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight.^(L) So the messengers returned and reported to the king. ¹⁶ Then the people went out and plundered^(M) the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel,^(N) as the Lord had said.

¹⁷ Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died,^(O) just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. ¹⁸ It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”

¹⁹ The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates^(P) of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” ²⁰ And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.