9
So he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy slave at the first I will do, but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again.
10
And Benhadad sent unto him again and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, that the dust of Samaria shall not be enough for the
open hands of all the people that follow me.
11
And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell
him, Let not him that girds on
his harness boast as he that puts it off.
12
And when he heard this word, as he
was drinking with the kings in the pavilions, he said unto his slaves, Set
yourselves in array. And they set
themselves in array against the city.
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.