The Lord brought ¹  against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king.

God said to him, “Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, ¹ 

“The time will come when ¹  your people Israel are defeated by an enemy ²  because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, ³  and pray for your help ⁴  in this temple,

“When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, ¹  and they direct their prayers to the Lord ²  toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, ³ 

When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, ¹  “So, you have found me, my enemy!” Elijah ²  replied, “I have found you, because you are committed ³  to doing evil in the sight of ⁴  the Lord.

God also brought against Solomon ¹  another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.

He was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed ¹  Israel and ruled over Syria.

“The time will come when your people ¹  will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, ²  whether far away or close by.

“You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord ¹  his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies. ² 

He will hand Israel over to their enemies ¹  because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”

“The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust ¹  invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, ²  or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

Each one struck down an enemy soldier; ¹  the Syrians fled and Israel chased them. King Ben Hadad of Syria escaped on horseback with some horsemen.

When they return to you with all their heart and being ¹  in the land where they are held prisoner, ²  and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, ³ 

But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat.

When the Israelites had mustered and had received their supplies, they marched out to face them in battle. When the Israelites deployed opposite them, they were like two small flocks ¹  of goats, but the Syrians filled the land.

Now a prophet visited King Ahab of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Do you see this huge army? ¹  Look, I am going to hand it over to you this very day. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”