8. But the elders and all the people said, “Pay no attention to him. Don’t do what he says.”
9. So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell my master the king this: ‘I will do what you said at first. But I will not obey your second command.’” So King Ben-Hadad’s men carried the message back to him.
10. Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: “I will completely destroy Samaria. There won’t be even enough left for each of my men to get a handful of dust. May the gods punish me terribly if I don’t do this!”
11. Ahab answered, “Tell Ben-Hadad this: ‘The man who puts on his armor should not brag too soon. It’s the man who lives long enough to take it off who has the right to brag.’”
12. Now Ben-Hadad was drinking in his tent with the other rulers. The messengers came and gave him the message from Ahab. Ben-Hadad commanded his men to prepare to attack the city. So they moved into their places for the battle.
13. At the same time a prophet came to Ahab, king of Israel. The prophet said, “Ahab, the Lord says to you, ‘Do you see that big army? I will let you defeat it today. Then you will know I am the Lord.’”
14. Ahab said, “Who will you use to defeat them?”The prophet answered, “The Lord says, ‘The young officers of the district governors will defeat them.’”Then the king asked, “Who will command the main army?”The prophet answered, “You will.”
15. So Ahab gathered the young officers of the district governors. There were 232 of them. Then he called together the army of Israel. There were 7,000 of them.
16. At noon Ben-Hadad and the 32 rulers helping him were getting drunk in their tents. At this time Ahab attacked them.
17. The young officers of the district governors attacked first.Ben-Hadad’s scouts told him that soldiers were coming from Samaria.
18. So Ben-Hadad said, “They may be coming to fight. Or they may be coming to ask for peace. In either case capture them alive.”
19. The young officers of the district governors led the attack. The army of Israel followed them.
20. Then each officer of Israel killed the man who came against him. So the men from Aram ran away as Israel chased them. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with some of his horsemen.
21. Ahab king of Israel led the army. He captured the Arameans’ horses and chariots. So King Ahab caused a great defeat of the Aramean army.
22. Then the prophet went to Ahab king of Israel and said, “The king of Aram will attack you again next spring. So you should go home now and make your army stronger. Make plans to defend yourself.”
23. The officers of Ben-Hadad king of Aram said to him, “The gods of Israel are mountain gods. Since we fought in a mountain area, Israel won. So let’s fight them on the flat land. Then we will win.