23. Meanwhile, Benhadad's officials went to him and explained:Israel's gods are mountain gods. We fought Israel's army in the hills, and that's why they defeated us. But if we fight them on flat land, there's no way we can lose.
24. Here's what you should do. First, get rid of those thirty-two kings and put army commanders in their places.
25. Then get more soldiers, horses, and chariots, so your army will be as strong as it was before. We'll fight Israel's army on flat land and wipe them out.Benhadad agreed and did what they suggested.
26. In the spring, Benhadad got his army together, and they marched to the town of Aphek to attack Israel.
27. The Israelites also prepared to fight. They marched out to meet the Syrians, and the two armies camped facing each other. The Syrians covered the whole area, but the Israelites looked like two little flocks of goats.
28. The prophet went to Ahab and said, “The Syrians think the Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys. So he has promised to help you defeat their powerful army. Then you will know that the Lord is in control.”
29. For seven days the two armies stayed in their camps, facing each other. Then on the seventh day the fighting broke out, and before sunset the Israelites had killed one hundred thousand Syrian troops.
30. The rest of the Syrian army ran back to Aphek, but the town wall fell and crushed twenty-seven thousand of them.Benhadad also escaped to Aphek and hid in the back room of a house.
31. His officials said, “Your Majesty, we've heard that Israel's kings keep their agreements. We will wrap sackcloth around our waists, put ropes around our heads, and ask Ahab to let you live.”
32. They dressed in sackcloth and put ropes on their heads, then they went to Ahab and said, “Your servant Benhadad asks you to let him live.”“Is he still alive?” Ahab asked. “Benhadad is like a brother to me.”
33. Benhadad's officials were trying to understand what Ahab was thinking, and when he said “brother”, they quickly replied, “You're right! You and Benhadad are like brothers.”“Go and get him,” Ahab said.When Benhadad came out, Ahab asked him to climb up into his chariot.
34. Benhadad said, “I'll give back the towns my father took from your father. And you can have shops in Damascus, just as my father had in Samaria.”Ahab replied, “If you do these things, I'll let you go free.” Then they signed a peace treaty, and Ahab let Benhadad go.
35. About this time the Lord commanded a prophet to say to a friend, “Hit me!” But the friend refused,
36. and the prophet told him, “You disobeyed the Lord, and as soon as you walk away, a lion will kill you.” The friend left, and suddenly a lion killed him.
37. The prophet found someone else and said, “Hit me!” So this man beat him up.
38. The prophet left and put a bandage over his face to disguise himself. Then he went and stood beside the road, waiting for Ahab to pass by.
39. When Ahab went by, the prophet shouted, “Your Majesty, right in the heat of battle, someone brought a prisoner to me and told me to guard him. He said if the prisoner got away, I would either be killed or forced to pay three thousand pieces of silver.
40. But I got busy doing other things, and the prisoner escaped.”Ahab answered, “You will be punished just as you have said.”
41. The man quickly tore the bandage off his face, and Ahab saw that he was one of the prophets.