1. King Ben-Hadad of Aram gathered his army together. There were 32 kings with him and many horses and chariots. They surrounded Samaria and attacked it.
2. The king sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel who was inside the city.
3. The message was, “Ben-Hadad says, ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, and so are the best of your wives and children.’”
4. The king of Israel answered, “Yes, my lord and king, I am yours now, and everything I have belongs to you.”
5. Then the messengers came back to Ahab. They said, “Ben-Hadad says, ‘I told you before that all of your silver and gold and your wives and children belong to me. So give them to me!
6. Tomorrow I will send my men to search through your house and through the houses of your officials. Give my men all of your valuables, and they will bring them back to me.’”
7. So King Ahab called a meeting of all the elders of his country and said, “Look, Ben-Hadad is looking for trouble. First he told me that I must give him my wives and children and my silver and gold. I agreed to give them to him.”
8. But the elders and all the people said, “Don’t obey him or do what he says.”
9. So Ahab sent a message to Ben-Hadad that said, “I will do what you said at first, but I cannot obey your second command.” King Ben-Hadad’s men carried the message to the king.
10. Then they came back with another message from Ben-Hadad that said, “I will completely destroy Samaria. I promise that there will be nothing left of that city! There will not be enough of that city left for my men to find any souvenirs to take home. May the gods destroy me if I don’t do this!”
11. King Ahab answered, “Tell Ben-Hadad that the man who puts on his armor should not boast as much as the man who lives long enough to take it off.”
12. King Ben-Hadad was drinking in his tent with the other rulers when the messengers came back and gave him the message from King Ahab. King Ben-Hadad commanded his men to prepare to attack the city, so the men moved into their places for the battle.
13. Then a prophet went to King Ahab and said, “King Ahab, the Lord says to you, ‘Do you see that great army? I will defeat that army for you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
14. Ahab said, “Who will you use to defeat them?” The prophet answered, “The Lord says, ‘The young men who carry the weapons for the government officials.’” Then the king asked, “Who should command the main army?” The prophet answered, “You will.”