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¹ AND Bar-hadad the king of Edom gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it.² And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says Bar-hadad,³ Your silver and your gold are mine; and the most attractive of your wives and your children are mine also.⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, According to your word, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.⁵ And the messengers came again, and said, Thus says Bar-hadad, Although I sent to you at first, saying, You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children;⁶ Yet I will send my servants to you tomorrow at about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants; and whatsoever pleases them, they shall take in their hands and bring back.⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said to them, Know, and see how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold; and I denied him not.⁸ And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not hearken to him, nor consent.⁹ Wherefore he said to the messengers of Bar-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again.¹⁰ And Bar-hadad sent to him and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria in handfuls shall suffice for all the people who are with me.¹¹ And the king of Israel answered and said, Let him talk; nevertheless, the one who ties a knot is not more able than the one who can untie it.

¹² And when Bar-hadad heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, he said to his servants, Set yourselves in array against the city.¹³ And, behold, a prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hands this day; and you shall know that I am the LORD.¹⁴ And Ahab said, By whom? And he said to him, By the young men and by the princes of the city. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, You.¹⁵ Then he numbered the young men and the princes of the city, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.¹⁶ And they went out at noon, but Bar-hadad was drinking old wine in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who were come to help him.¹⁷ And the young men and the princes of the city went out first; and Bar-hadad sent out men, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.¹⁸ And he said, Whether they have come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they have come out for war, take them alive.¹⁹ So these young men and these princes came out of the city, and the army followed them.²⁰ And they slew every one his man; and the Arameans fled; and Israel pursued them; and Bar-hadad the king of Aram escaped in chariots with horsemen.²¹ And the king of Israel went out and destroyed the horses and chariots, and slew the Arameans with a great slaughter.

²² And, behold, the prophet of God came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and know, and see what you have to do; for at the beginning of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.²³ And the servants of the king of Aram said to him, Their god is a god of the mountains; this is why they triumphed over us; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall triumph over them.²⁴ And do this thing: Remove the kings, every one from his command, and put officers in their places;²⁵ And number for yourself 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 to their voice, and did so.²⁶ And it came to pass at the beginning of the year, that Bar-hadad gave orders to the Arameans, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.²⁷ And the children of Israel were mustered and set in array against them, like two little flocks of goats; but the Arameans filled the country.²⁸ And a prophet of God drew near to Ahab the king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Because the Arameans have said, The LORD is a god of the mountains, but he is not a god of the valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great army into your hands, and you shall know that I am the LORD.²⁹ So they encamped, one over against the other, seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel slew of the Arameans a hundred thousand footmen in one day.³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men that were left. And Bar-hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber.

³¹ And his servants came near and said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful kings; let us put sackcloth upon our heads and gird ropes on our loins and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare our lives.³² So they put sackcloth on their heads and girded ropes on their loins, and went to the king of Israel and said to him, Your servant Bar-hadad says. Let me live. And the king said, Is he still alive? He is my brother.³³ Now Bar-hadad was a soothsayer, and the men surmised and quickly caught his meaning, and they said, Behold your brother, Bar-hadad. Then he said, Go, bring him. Then Bar-hadad came forth to him; and Ahab caused him to sit with him in the chariot.³⁴ And Bar-hadad said to him, The cities which my father took from your father, I will restore; and I will make a market place for you in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then Ahab said, I will send you away with a covenant. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor according to the word of the LORD, Strike me. But the man refused to strike him.³⁶ Then he said to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall slay you. And as soon as he departed from him, a lion found him and slew him.³⁷ Then he found another man and said to him, Strike me. And the man struck him, and wounded him.³⁸ So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and disguised his face with ashes.³⁹ And, behold, as the king was passing by, he cried to the king and said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a soldier to me, and said, Keep 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.⁴⁰ And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.⁴¹ And ha hasted and wiped off the ashes from his face; and the king of Israel realized that he was of the prophets.⁴² And he said to him, Thus says the LORD, 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.⁴³ Then the king of Israel went to his house sad and displeased, and came to Samaria.