Benhadad

Then Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the house of ADONAI and among the treasures of the royal palace; and, entrusting them to his servants, King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tavrimmon, the son of Hezyon, king of Aram, who lived in Dammesek, with this message:

Ben-Hadad did as King Asa asked - he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Isra'el, attacking 'Iyon, Dan, Avel-Beit-Ma'akhah, all of Kinn'rot and all the land of Naftali.

Now Ben-Hadad the king of Aram rallied his whole army; with him were thirty-two kings, besides horses and chariots. Then he marched on Shomron and laid siege to it.

He sent messengers inside the city to Ach'av king of Isra'el

The messengers returned and said, "Here is Ben-Hadad's response: 'I sent you a message to hand over your silver, gold, wives and children to me.

So he said to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king, 'I will do all that you asked of me the first time, but this I cannot do." The messengers left and brought word back to him.

Ben-Hadad then sent this message to him: "May the gods do terrible things to me and worse ones as well if there's enough dust in Shomron to give each of my followers a handful!"

They set out at noon. Ben-Hadad was drinking himself senseless in the field-barracks, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who were his allies.

The district governors' men went out first. Ben-Hadad sent for information, and they reported, "Men have come out from Shomron."

and each one killed his man. Aram fled, and Isra'el pursued them. Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of the cavalry.

At the same time the following year, Ben-Hadad mustered the army of Aram and went up to Afek to attack Isra'el.

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.

So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, went to the king of Isra'el and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please spare my life.'" And he answered, "He's still alive? He is my brother."

The men took this as a promising indication and seized on it to say, "Yes, Ben-Hadad is your brother." Then Ach'av said, "Go, and bring him here." Ben-Hadad went out to him, and Ach'av had him climb up into his chariot.

Ben-Hadad said to him, "I will return the cities my father took from your father. Also you can set up markets for trade in Dammesek, as my father did in Shomron." "If you put this covenant in writing," said Ach'av, "I will set you free." So he made a covenant with him and set him free.

Then Asa removed silver and gold from the treasures of the house of ADONAI and the royal palace; and sent this message to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who lived in Dammesek:

Ben-Hadad did as King Asa had asked - he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Isra'el, attacking 'Iyon, Dan, Avel-Mayim and all the storage-cities of Naftali.

"I will light a fire inside Dammesek's walls which will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad."