25. Gather an army like the one that was destroyed. Gather as many horses and chariots as it had. We will fight the Israelites on flat land. Then we will win.” Ben-Hadad agreed with their advice and did what they said.
26. The next spring Ben-Hadad gathered the people of Aram. He went to Aphek to fight against Israel.
27. The Israelites also prepared for war. They marched out to meet the Arameans and camped opposite them. They looked like two small groups of goats. But the Arameans covered the area.
28. A man of God came to the king of Israel with this message: “The Lord says, ‘The people of Aram say that I, the Lord, am a god of the mountains. They think I am not a god of the valleys. So I will allow you to defeat this big army. Then you will know I am the Lord.’”
29. The armies were camped across from each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean soldiers in one day.
30. The rest of them ran away to the city of Aphek. There a city wall fell on 27,000 of them. Ben-Hadad also ran away to the city and hid in a room.
31. His officers said to him, “We have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let’s dress in rough cloth to show our sadness. And let’s wear ropes on our heads as a sign of surrender. Then let’s go to the king of Israel. Maybe he will let you live.”
32. So they dressed in rough cloth and wore ropes on their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel. They said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’”Ahab answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33. Now Ben-Hadad’s men had wanted a sign from Ahab. They wanted to know he would not kill Ben-Hadad. So when Ahab called Ben-Hadad his brother, they quickly said, “Yes! Ben-Hadad is your brother.”Ahab said, “Bring him to me.” When Ben-Hadad came, Ahab asked him to join him in the chariot.
34. Ben-Hadad said to him, “Ahab, I will give you back the towns my father took from your father. And you may put shops in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”Ahab said, “If you agree to this, I will allow you to go free.” So the two kings made a peace agreement. Then Ahab let Ben-Hadad go free.
35. One of the prophets told another prophet, “Hit me!” He told him to do this because the Lord had commanded it. But the other prophet refused.
36. So the first prophet said, “You did not obey the Lord’s command. So a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” When the second prophet left, a lion found him and killed him.