1 When those who were still in their tents heard all this, they were shocked at what had happened.
2 They were overcome with fear and trembling. Without waiting for anyone else, each and every person rushed out and fled in every direction across the plain and into the highlands.
3 Even those who were camped in the hills around Bethulia turned and fled. Then every Israelite man capable of fighting rushed out upon them.
4 Uzziah sent messengers to Betomasthaim, Choba, Kola, and all the regions of Israel, announcing what had happened and saying that everyone should rush out upon their enemies to destroy them.
5 When the Israelites heard about it, they joined together, fell upon their enemies, and cut them down as far as Choba. Similarly, those from Jerusalem and everyone in the highlands also came, for they had been told what happened in the enemy camp. The Gileadites and the Galileans outflanked the Assyrians, inflicting heavy losses as far as Damascus and its territories.
6 Meanwhile, the rest of the people living in Bethulia entered the Assyrian camp and plundered it, and they became extremely rich.
7 When the Israelites returned from the slaughter, they took what was left behind. Even the villages and farms in the highlands and the plain received large portions of the spoils, because there was plenty to go around.