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.”
15. So Ahab gathered the young helpers of the government officials. There were 232 of these young men. Then the king called together the army of Israel. The total number was 7000.
16. King Ahab began his attack at noon, while King Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings were drinking and getting drunk in their tents.
17. The young helpers went out first. King Ben-Hadad’s men told him that some soldiers had come out of Samaria.
18. So Ben-Hadad said, “They might be coming to fight or they might be coming to ask for peace. Capture them alive.”
19. The young men of King Ahab were the first to come out, but the rest of the army of Israel was following them.
20. Each of the men of Israel killed the man who had come against him. So the men from Aram began to run away and the army of Israel chased them. King Ben-Hadad escaped on a horse with the chariots.
21. King Ahab led the army and attacked all the horses and chariots. So King Ahab made the Arameans suffer a great defeat.
22. Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, “The king of Aram will come back to fight again next spring. So go back and strengthen your army and make careful plans to defend yourself against him.”
23. King Ben-Hadad’s officers said to him, “The gods of Israel are mountain gods. We fought in a mountain area, so the Israelites won. If we fight them on level ground, we will win.
24. Also, don’t let the 32 kings command the armies. Put your commanders in charge of the armies.
25. Let’s gather an army like the one that was destroyed. Gather as many men, horses, and chariots as before, and fight the Israelites on level ground. Then we will win.” Ben-Hadad followed their advice and did what they said.
26. So in the spring, Ben-Hadad gathered the men of Aram and went to Aphek to fight against Israel.
27. The Israelites also prepared for war and went to fight the army of Aram. They made their camp opposite the camp of Aram. The Aramean soldiers filled the land, but Israel’s army looked like two small flocks of goats.
28. A man of God came to the king of Israel with this message: “The Lord said, ‘The people of Aram said that I, the Lord, am a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys. So I will let you defeat this great army. Then all of you will know that I am the Lord, wherever you are!’”
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.