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, not a god of the valleys. So I will allow you to defeat this huge army, and 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 one hundred thousand Aramean soldiers in one day.
30. The rest of them ran away to the city of Aphek, where a city wall fell on twenty-seven thousand 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 trustworthy. Let’s dress in rough cloth to show our sadness, and wear ropes on our heads. Then we will go to the king of Israel, and perhaps he will let you live.”
32. So they dressed in rough cloth and wore ropes on their heads and 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. Ben-Hadad’s men had wanted a sign from Ahab. 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.