13
And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab, king of Israel, saying, Thus hath the LORD said, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into thy hand today, that thou shalt know that I
am the LORD.
14
And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus hath the LORD said,
Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, Thou.
15
Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he numbered all the people,
even all the sons of Israel,
being seven thousand.
16
And they went out at noon. But Benhadad
was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.
17
And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benhadad had sent out men who warned him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.
18
Then he said, If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.
19
So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army followed after them.
20
And each one smote the man that came against him; and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them. And Benhadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with some of the horsemen.
21
And the king of Israel went out and smote the horsemen and the chariots and smote the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22
And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and consider, and see what thou must do, for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
23
And the slaves of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods
are gods of the mountains; therefore, they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.