1
King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death.
2
She sent a message to Elijah: "May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets."
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Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there,
4
Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. "It's too much, LORD," he prayed. "Take away my life; I might as well be dead!"
5
He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, "Wake up and eat."
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He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
7
The LORD's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, "Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you."
8
Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain.
9
There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the LORD spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"
10
He answered, " LORD God Almighty, I have always served you---you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left---and they are trying to kill me!"
11
"Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the LORD said to him. Then the LORD passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks---but the LORD was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake---but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
12
After the earthquake there was a fire---but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.
13
When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"
14
He answered, " LORD God Almighty, I have always served you---you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left---and they are trying to kill me."
15
The LORD said, "Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria;
16
anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
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Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha.
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Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel---all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol."
19
Elijah left and found Elisha plowing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha.
20
Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you." Elijah answered, "All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!"
21
Then Elisha went to his team of oxen, killed them, and cooked the meat, using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he went and followed Elijah as his helper.
1
King Benhadad of Syria gathered all his troops, and supported by thirty-two other rulers with their horses and chariots, he marched up, laid siege to Samaria, and launched attacks against it.
2
He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say, "King Benhadad demands that
3
you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children."
4
"Tell my lord, King Benhadad, that I agree; he can have me and everything I own," Ahab answered.
5
Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: "I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children.
6
Now, however, I will send my officers to search your palace and the homes of your officials, and to take everything they consider valuable. They will be there about this time tomorrow."
7
King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, "You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed."
8
The leaders and the people answered, "Don't pay any attention to him; don't give in."
9
So Ahab replied to Benhadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king that I agreed to his first demand, but I cannot agree to the second." The messengers left and then returned with another message
10
from Benhadad: "I will bring enough men to destroy this city of yours and carry off the rubble in their hands. May the gods strike me dead if I don't!"
11
King Ahab answered, "Tell King Benhadad that a real soldier does his bragging after a battle, not before it."
12
Benhadad received Ahab's answer as he and his allies, the other rulers, were drinking in their tents. He ordered his men to get ready to attack the city, and so they moved into position.
13
Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, "The LORD says, 'Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the LORD.' "
14
"Who will lead the attack?" Ahab asked. The prophet answered, "The LORD says that the young soldiers under the command of the district governors are to do it." "Who will command the main force?" the king asked. "You," the prophet answered.
15
So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men.
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The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his thirty-two allies were getting drunk in their tents.
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The young soldiers advanced first. Scouts sent out by Benhadad reported to him that a group of soldiers was coming out of Samaria.
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He ordered, "Take them alive, no matter whether they are coming to fight or to ask for peace."
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The young soldiers led the attack, followed by the Israelite army,
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and each one killed the man he fought. The Syrians fled, with the Israelites in hot pursuit, but Benhadad escaped on horseback, accompanied by some of the cavalry.
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King Ahab took to the field, captured the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Syrians.
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Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, "Go back and build up your forces and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring."
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King Benhadad's officials said to him, "The gods of Israel are mountain gods, and that is why the Israelites defeated us. But we will certainly defeat them if we fight them in the plains.
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Now, remove the thirty-two rulers from their commands and replace them with field commanders.
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Then call up an army as large as the one that deserted you, with the same number of horses and chariots. We will fight the Israelites in the plains, and this time we will defeat them." King Benhadad agreed and followed their advice.
26
The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites.
27
The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared to the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside.
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A prophet went to King Ahab and said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the LORD.' "
29
For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians.
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The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on twenty-seven thousand of them. Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house.
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His officials went to him and said, "We have heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Give us permission to go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our necks, and maybe he will spare your life."
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So they wrapped sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their necks, went to Ahab and said, "Your servant Benhadad pleads with you for his life." Ahab answered, "Is he still alive? Good! He's like a brother to me!"
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Benhadad's officials were watching for a good sign, and when Ahab said "brother," they took it up at once, and said, "As you say, Benhadad is your brother!" "Bring him to me," Ahab ordered. When Benhadad arrived, Ahab invited him to get in the chariot with him.
34
Benhadad said to him, "I will restore to you the towns my father took from your father, and you may set up a commercial center for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria." Ahab replied, "On these terms, then, I will set you free." He made a treaty with him and let him go.
35
At the LORD's command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow prophet to hit him. But he refused,
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so he said to him, "Because you have disobeyed the LORD's command, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me." And as soon as he left, a lion came along and killed him.
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Then this same prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me!" This man did so; he hit him a hard blow and hurt him.
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The prophet bandaged his face with a cloth, to disguise himself, and went and stood by the road, waiting for the king of Israel to pass.
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As the king was passing by, the prophet called out to him and said, "Your Majesty, I was fighting in the battle when a soldier brought a captured enemy to me and said, 'Guard this man; if he escapes, you will pay for it with your life or else pay a fine of three thousand pieces of silver.'
40
But I got busy with other things, and the man escaped." The king answered, "You have pronounced your own sentence, and you will have to pay the penalty."
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The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets.
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The prophet then said to the king, "This is the word of the LORD: 'Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.' "
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The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.
1
Near King Ahab's palace in Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth.
2
One day Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price."
3
"I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors," Naboth replied. "The LORD forbid that I should let you have it!"
4
Ahab went home, depressed and angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat.
5
His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, "Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?"
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He answered, "Because of what Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!"
7
"Well, are you the king or aren't you?" Jezebel replied. "Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!"
8
Then she wrote some letters, signed Ahab's name to them, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel.
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The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor.
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Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death."
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The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded.
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They proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the place of honor.
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The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death.
14
The message was sent to Jezebel: "Naboth has been put to death."
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As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you."
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At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it.
17
Then the LORD said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe,
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"Go to King Ahab of Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard, about to take possession of it.
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Tell him that I, the LORD, say to him, 'After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: 'In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' "
20
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Have you caught up with me, my enemy?" "Yes, I have," Elijah answered. "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD's sight.
21
So the LORD says to you, 'I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike.
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Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin.'
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And concerning Jezebel, the LORD says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel.
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Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures."
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(There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the LORD's sight as Ahab---all at the urging of his wife Jezebel.
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He committed the most shameful sins by worshiping idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the people of Israel advanced.)
27
When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.
28
The LORD said to the prophet Elijah,
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"Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family."
1
There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years,
2
but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel.
3
Ahab asked his officials, "Why is it that we have not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It belongs to us!"
4
And Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?" "I am ready when you are," Jehoshaphat answered, "and so are my soldiers and my cavalry.
5
But first let's consult the LORD."
6
So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "The Lord will give you victory."
7
But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the LORD?"
8
Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied.
9
Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once.
10
The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them.
11
One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' "
12
All the other prophets said the same thing. "March against Ramoth and you will win," they said. "The LORD will give you victory."
13
Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, "All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same."
14
But Micaiah answered, "By the living LORD I promise that I will say what he tells me to!"
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When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack!" Micaiah answered. "Of course you'll win. The LORD will give you victory."
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But Ahab replied, "When you speak to me in the name of the LORD, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?"
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Micaiah answered, "I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.' "
18
Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!"
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Micaiah went on: "Now listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him.
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The LORD asked, 'Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?' Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else,
21
until a spirit stepped forward, approached the LORD, and said, 'I will deceive him.'
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'How?' the LORD asked. The spirit replied, 'I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.' The LORD said, 'Go and deceive him. You will succeed.' "
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And Micaiah concluded: "This is what has happened. The LORD has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!"
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Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, "Since when did the LORD's spirit leave me and speak to you?"
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"You will find out when you go into some back room to hide," Micaiah replied.
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Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, "Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash.
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Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely."
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"If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the LORD has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!"
29
Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead.
30
Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments." So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise.
31
The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel.
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So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But when he cried out,
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they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack.
34
By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. "I'm wounded!" he cried out to his chariot driver. "Turn around and pull out of the battle!"
35
While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood from his wound ran down and covered the bottom of the chariot, and at evening he died.
36
Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: "Each of you go back to your own country and city!"
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So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried.
38
His chariot was cleaned up at the pool of Samaria, where dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes washed themselves, as the LORD had said would happen.
39
Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.
40
At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
41
In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah
42
at the age of thirty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
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Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the LORD; but the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
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Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
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Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
46
He got rid of all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan altars who were still left from the days of his father Asa.
47
The land of Edom had no king; it was ruled by a deputy appointed by the king of Judah.
48
King Jehoshaphat had ocean-going ships built to sail to the land of Ophir for gold; but they were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed.
49
Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men, but Jehoshaphat refused the offer.
50
Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
51
In the seventeenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years.
52
He sinned against the LORD, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin.
53
He worshiped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel.
