1 Kings 20:13–21

¹³A prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Watch, I am handing it over to you today so that you may know that I am Yahweh.’ ” ^g

¹⁴Ahab asked, “By whom?”

And the prophet said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘By the young men of the provincial leaders.’ ”

Then he asked, “Who is to start the battle?” ^h

He said, “You.”

¹⁵So Ahab counted the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232. After them he counted all the Israelite troops: 7,000. ⁱ¹⁶They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings ^jwho were helping him were getting drunk in the tents. ¹⁷The young men of the provincial leaders marched out first. Then Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, saying, “Men are marching out of Samaria.” ^k

¹⁸So he said, “If they have marched out in peace, ^ltake them alive, and if they have marched out for battle, take them alive.”

¹⁹The young men of the provincial leaders and the army behind them marched out from the city, ²⁰and each one struck down his opponent. ^mSo the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, ⁿbut Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. ²¹Then the king of Israel marched out and attacked the cavalry and the chariots. He inflicted a great slaughter on Aram.