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.
30. The survivors ran away to the city of Aphek. The wall of the city fell on 27,000 of those soldiers. Ben-Hadad also ran away to the city and hid in a room.
31. His servants said to him, “We heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let’s dress in rough cloth with ropes on our heads. Then let’s go to the king of Israel. Maybe he will let us live.”