Ben Hadad said to him, “Ahab, I will give you the towns that my father took from your father. And you can put shops in Damascus, like my father did in Samaria.”
King Ben Hadad made that agreement with King Asa and sent his army to fight against the Israelite towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the towns near Lake Galilee, and the area of Naphtali.
Ben Hadad’s men wanted King Ahab to say something to show that he would not kill King Ben Hadad. When Ahab called Ben Hadad his brother, the advisers quickly said, “Yes! Ben Hadad is your brother.”
Then the prophet said to the king, “The Lord says to you, ‘You set free the man that I said should die. So you will take his place—you will die! And your people will take the enemies’ place—your people will die!’”
The king of Aram had 32 chariot commanders. That king ordered these 32 chariot commanders to find the king of Israel. The king of Aram told the commanders that they must kill the king.
Ben Hadad agreed with King Asa. Ben Hadad sent the commanders of his armies to attack the towns of Israel. Those commanders attacked the towns of Ijon, Dan, and Abel Maim. They also attacked all the towns in the area of Naphtali where treasures were stored.
The king of Aram gave an order to his chariot {\cf2\super [215]} commanders. He told them, “Don’t fight with any person, no matter how great or how humble. But fight only with Ahab, the king of Israel.”
An evil person will not learn to do good\par if you show him only kindness.\par An evil person will do bad things,\par even if he lives in a good world.\par That evil person might never see\par the Lord’s greatness.\par
“Every person is saying that other people are making plans against him. You should not believe those things. Don’t be afraid of the things those people fear. Don’t be afraid of those things!”
The Lord your God will put these nations under your power. And you will defeat them. You must destroy them completely. Don’t make an agreement with them. Don’t show them mercy.
About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite and his army surrounded Jabesh Gilead. All the people of Jabesh said to Nahash, “If you will make a treaty with us, we will serve you.”
Saul and the Israelite soldiers felt bad about destroying everything. So they let Agag live. They also kept the fat cows, the best sheep, and the lambs. They kept everything that was worth keeping. They didn’t want to destroy those things. They destroyed only the things that were not worth keeping.