21
The king of Isra'el went out and attacked the horses and chariots, inflicting a massive defeat on Aram.
22
Afterwards, the prophet approached the king of Isra'el and said to him, "Go, regroup your forces, and think carefully what to do, for next year at this time the king of Aram will renew his attack."
23
Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their God is a God of the hills; that's why they were stronger than we were. But if we fight them on level ground, we will certainly be stronger than they are.
24
Also do this: remove all the kings from their commands, and put professional officers in their place.
25
Then recruit an army as big as the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. We will attack them on level ground, and we will certainly be stronger than they." He heeded what they said and acted accordingly.
26
At the same time the following year, Ben-Hadad mustered the army of Aram and went up to Afek to attack Isra'el.
27
The army of Isra'el, already mobilized and supplied, went to meet them; but the army of Isra'el, encamped opposite them, looked like two herds of goats; while Aram filled the land.
28
At this point, a man of God approached and said to the king of Isra'el, "Here is what ADONAI says: 'Because Aram said that ADONAI is a God of the hills but not a God of the valleys, I will hand over to you this entire huge army. Then you will know that I am ADONAI.'"
29
They remained in camp opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began; and the people of Isra'el killed 100,000 soldiers of Aram in a single day.
30
The rest fled to Afek, into the city; and the wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-Hadad fled into the city and took refuge in an inside room.
31
His servants said to him, "Here now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Isra'el are merciful kings. If it's all right with you, let's put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Isra'el. Maybe he will spare your life."