²² And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, ^(A)for ^[a]in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”

The Syrians Again Defeated

²³ Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴ So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their ^[b]places; ²⁵ and you shall muster an army like the army ^[c]that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.”

And he listened to their voice and did so.

²⁶ So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to ^(B)Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the ^(C)countryside.

²⁸ Then a ^(D)man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore ^(E)I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” ²⁹ And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. ³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left.

And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.