1 Kings 12-22

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Northern Tribes Secede

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.^{(A) 2} When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam remained in Egypt.^{(B) 3} And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.”^{(C) 5} He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.^(D)

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They answered him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”^{(E) 8} But he disregarded the advice that the older men gave him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him.^{(F) 9} He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus you should say to this people who spoke to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for us’; thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, “Come to me again the third day.”^{(G) 13} The king answered the people harshly. He disregarded the advice that the older men had given him ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”^{(H) 15} So the king did not listen to the people because it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord to fulfill his word that the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(I)

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king,

So Israel went away to their tents.^{(J) 17} But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah.^{(K) 18} When King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam then hurriedly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.^{(L) 19} So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.^(M)

First Dynasty: Jeroboam Reigns over Israel

²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.^(N)

²¹ When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen troops, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.^{(O) 22} But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to King Rehoboam of Judah, son of Solomon, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people: ²⁴ Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up or fight against your kindred the people of Israel. Let everyone go home, for this thing is from me.” So they heeded the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.^(P)

Jeroboam’s Golden Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and resided there; he went out from there and built Penuel.^{(Q) 26} Then Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.”^{(R) 28} So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. He said to the people,^[a] “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”^{(S) 29} He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.^{(T) 30} And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan.^{[b](U) 31} He also made houses^[c] on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not Levites.^{(V) 32} Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.^{(W) 33} He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had selected on his own; he appointed a festival for the people of Israel, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.^(X)

A Man of God from Judah

13 A man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense.^{(Y) 2} And he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.”^{(Z) 3} He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.”^{(AA) 4} When the king heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But the hand that he stretched out against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before.^{(AB) 7} Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a gift.”^{(AC) 8} But the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place.^{(AD) 9} For thus I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.’ ” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.

¹¹ Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel. One of his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words also that he had spoken to the king, they told to their father.^{(AE) 12} Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey for him, and he mounted it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He answered, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.” ¹⁶ But he said, “I cannot return with you or go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water with you in this place,^{(AF) 17} for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat food or drink water there or return by the way that you came.’ ”^{(AG) 18} Then the other^[d] said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat food and drink water.’ ” But he was deceiving him. ¹⁹ Then the man of God^[e] went back with him and ate food and drank water in his house.

²⁰ As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹ and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord: Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment that the Lord your God commanded you^{(AH) 22} but have come back and have eaten food and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, ‘Eat no food, and drink no water,’ your body shall not come to your ancestral tomb.” ²³ After the man of God^[f] had eaten food and had drunk, they saddled for him a donkey belonging to the prophet who had brought him back. ²⁴ Then as he went away, a lion met him on the road and killed him. His body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.^{(AI) 25} People passed by and saw the body thrown in the road, with the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the town where the old prophet lived.^(AJ)

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.”^{(AK) 27} Then he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled one, ²⁸ and he went and found the body thrown in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The prophet took up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to the city^[g] to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”^{(AL) 31} After he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.^{(AM) 32} For the saying that he proclaimed by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”^(AN)

³³ Even after this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who wanted to be priests he consecrated for the high places.^{(AO) 34} This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.^(AP)

Judgment on the House of Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam fell sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself so that it will not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh, for the prophet Ahijah is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.^{(AQ) 3} Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what shall happen to the child.”^(AR)

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so; she set out and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.^{(AS) 5} But the Lord said to Ahijah, “The wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her when she comes. She will pretend to be another woman.”^(AT)

⁶ But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with heavy tidings for you. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, made you leader over my people Israel,^{(AU) 8} and tore the kingdom away from the house of David to give it to you, yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my sight,^{(AV) 9} but you have done evil above all those who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and cast images, provoking me to anger, and have thrust me behind your back,^{(AW) 10} therefore I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will consume the house of Jeroboam, just as one burns up dung until it is all gone.^{(AX) 11} Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat, for the Lord has spoken.’^{(AY) 12} Therefore set out, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.^{(AZ) 13} All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.^{(BA) 14} Moreover the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today, even right now!^[h](BB)

¹⁵ “The Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water; he will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their sacred poles,^[i] provoking the Lord to anger.^{(BC) 16} He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he caused Israel to commit.”^(BD)

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and went away, and she came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant the prophet Ahijah.

Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^{(BE) 20} The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; then he slept with his ancestors, and his son Nadab succeeded him.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah

²¹ Now Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.^{(BF) 22} Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their ancestors had done.^{(BG) 23} For they also built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles^[j] on every high hill and under every green tree;^{(BH) 24} there were also illicit priests in the land. They committed all the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.^(BI)

²⁵ In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;^{(BJ) 26} he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,^{(BK) 27} so King Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. ²⁸ As often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?^{(BL) 30} There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.^{(BM) 31} Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam succeeded him.^(BN)

Abijam Reigns over Judah: Idolatry and War

15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.^{(BO) 2} He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. ³ He committed all the sins that his father did before him; his heart was not true to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David.^{(BP) 4} Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem,^{(BQ) 5} because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.^{(BR) 6} The war begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued all the days of his life.^{(BS) 7} The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.^{(BT) 8} Abijam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Then his son Asa succeeded him.^(BU)

Asa Reigns over Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah; ¹⁰ he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.^{(BV) 11} Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done.^{(BW) 12} He put away the illicit priests out of the land and removed all the idols that his ancestors had made.^{(BX) 13} He also removed his mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah; Asa cut down her image and burned it at the Wadi Kidron.^{(BY) 14} But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his days.^{(BZ) 15} He brought into the house of the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts—silver, gold, and utensils.^(CA)

Alliance with Aram against Israel

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days.^{(CB) 17} King Baasha of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah.^{(CC) 18} Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. King Asa sent them to King Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying,^{(CD) 19} “Let there be an alliance between me and you, like that between my father and your father: I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.^{(CE) 21} When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and lived in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah; none was exempt: they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building; with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.^{(CF) 23} Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his power, all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet.^{(CG) 24} Then Asa slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his father David; his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him.^(CH)

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Judah; he reigned over Israel two years.^{(CI) 26} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of his ancestor and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit.^(CJ)

²⁷ Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.^{(CK) 28} So Baasha killed Nadab^[k] in the third year of King Asa of Judah and succeeded him. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam; he left to the house of Jeroboam not one who breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite^(CL)— ³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.^(CM)

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?^{(CN) 32} There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days.

Second Dynasty: Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³ In the third year of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah; he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit.^(CO)

16 The word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,^{(CP) 2} “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins,^{(CQ) 3} therefore I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.^{(CR) 4} Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat.”^(CS)

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his power, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?^{(CT) 6} Baasha slept with his ancestors and was buried at Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him.^{(CU) 7} Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it.^(CV)

Elah Reigns over Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah; he reigned two years. ⁹ But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace at Tirzah,^{(CW) 10} Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, and succeeded him.

¹¹ When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he killed all the house of Baasha; he did not leave him a single male of his kindred or his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken against Baasha by the prophet Jehu,^{(CX) 13} because of all the sins of Baasha and the sins of his son Elah that they committed and that they caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.^{(CY) 14} Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?^(CZ)

Third Dynasty: Zimri Reigns over Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines,^{(DA) 16} and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king”; therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ So Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house; he burned down the king’s house over himself with fire and died^(DB)— ¹⁹ because of the sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for the sin that he committed, causing Israel to sin.^{(DC) 20} Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?^(DD)

Fourth Dynasty: Omri Reigns over Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni son of Ginath, so Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of King Asa of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel; he reigned for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.^(DE)

Samaria the New Capital

²⁴ He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; he fortified the hill and called the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.^(DF)

²⁵ Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did more evil than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in the sins that he caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.^{(DG) 27} Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did and the power that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ Omri slept with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria; his son Ahab succeeded him.

Ahab Reigns over Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel; Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.^(DH)

Ahab Marries Jezebel and Worships Baal

³¹ And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as his wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians and went and served Baal and worshiped him.^{(DI) 32} He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal that he built in Samaria.^{(DJ) 33} Ahab also made a sacred pole.^[l] Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.^{(DK) 34} In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Joshua son of Nun.^(DL)

Elijah Predicts a Drought

17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe^[m] in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”^{(DM) 2} The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³ “Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. ⁷ But after a while the wadi dried up because there was no rain in the land.

The Widow of Zarephath

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there, for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”^{(DN) 10} So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” ¹¹ As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”^{(DO) 13} Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.”^{(DP) 15} She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son

¹⁷ After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”^{(DQ) 19} But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”^{(DR) 22} The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.^{(DS) 23} Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”^(DT)

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18 After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought,^[n] saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.”^{(DU) 2} So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah revered the Lord greatly; ⁴ when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)^{(DV) 5} Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.

⁷ As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”^{(DW) 8} He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.” ⁹ And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab to kill me? ¹⁰ As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you, and when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you.^{(DX) 11} But now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.’ ¹² As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth.^{(DY) 13} Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets fifty to a cave and provided them with bread and water?^{(DZ) 14} Yet now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here’; he will surely kill me.” ¹⁵ Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”^{(EA) 16} So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”^{(EB) 18} He answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.^{(EC) 19} Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”^(ED)

Elijah’s Triumph over the Priests of Baal

²⁰ So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah then came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word.^{(EE) 22} Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty.^{(EF) 23} Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!”^{(EG) 25} Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” ²⁶ So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made.^{(EH) 27} At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” ²⁸ Then they cried aloud, and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them.^{(EI) 29} As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.^(EJ)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me,” and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down;^{(EK) 31} Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”;^{(EL) 32} with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed.^{(EM) 33} Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”^{(EN) 34} Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time, ³⁵ so that the water ran all around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

³⁶ At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding.^{(EO) 37} Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.” ³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust and even licked up the water that was in the trench.^{(EP) 39} When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”^{(EQ) 40} Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” Then they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and killed them there.^(ER)

The Drought Ends

⁴¹ Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of rushing rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees.^{(ES) 43} He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Then he said, “Go again seven times.” ⁴⁴ At the seventh time he said, “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” Then he said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ” ⁴⁵ In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.^(ET)

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.^{(EU) 2} Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”^{(EV) 3} Then he was afraid;^[o] he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

⁴ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”^{(EW) 5} Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” ⁸ He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.^{(EX) 9} At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”^(EY)

Elijah Meets God at Horeb

¹¹ He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake,^{(EZ) 12} and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”^{(FA) 14} He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”^{(FB) 15} Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.^{(FC) 16} Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.^{(FD) 17} Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill, and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.^{(FE) 18} Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”^(FF)

Elisha Becomes Elijah’s Disciple

¹⁹ So he set out from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him.^{(FG) 20} He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah^[p] said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”^{(FH) 21} He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah and became his servant.^(FI)

Ahab’s Wars with the Arameans

20 King Ben-hadad of Aram gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria, laid siege to it, and attacked it.^{(FJ) 2} Then he sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ³ Your silver and gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine.” ⁴ The king of Israel answered, “As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.” ⁵ The messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad: I sent to you, saying, ‘Deliver to me your silver and gold, your wives and children’; ⁶ now I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases them^[q] and take it away.”

⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Look now! See how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.”^{(FK) 8} Then all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.” ⁹ So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king: All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do.” The messengers left and brought him word again. ¹⁰ Ben-hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will provide a handful for each of the people who follow me.”^{(FL) 11} The king of Israel answered, “Enough!^[r] One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off.”^{(FM) 12} When Ben-hadad heard this message—now he had been drinking with the kings in the booths—he said to his men, “Take your positions!” And they took their positions against the city.^(FN)

Prophetic Opposition to Ahab

¹³ Then a certain prophet came up to King Ahab of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord: Have you seen all this great multitude? Look, I will give it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”^{(FO) 14} Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord: By the young men who serve the district governors.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” ¹⁵ Then he mustered the young men who served the district governors, two hundred thirty-two; after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand.

¹⁶ They went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings allied with him.^{(FP) 17} The young men who served the district governors went out first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts,^[s] and they reported to him, “Men have come out from Samaria.” ¹⁸ He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”^(FQ)

¹⁹ But these had already come out of the city: the young men who served the district governors and the army that followed them. ²⁰ Each killed his man; the Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. ²¹ The king of Israel went out, attacked the horses and chariots, and inflicted a massive defeat on the Arameans.

²² Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you.”^(FR)

The Arameans Are Defeated

²³ The servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills, so they were stronger than we, but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.^{(FS) 24} Also do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in place of them; ²⁵ and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” He heeded their voice and did so.

²⁶ In the spring Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.^{(FT) 27} After the Israelites had been mustered and provisioned, they went out to engage them; the people of Israel encamped opposite them like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the country. ²⁸ A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord: Because the Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys,’ therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”^{(FU) 29} They encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle began; the Israelites killed one hundred thousand Aramean foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ The rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left.

Ben-hadad also fled and entered the city to hide.^{(FV) 31} His servants said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.”^{(FW) 32} So they tied sackcloth around their waists, put ropes on their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”^{(FX) 33} Now the men were watching for an omen; they quickly took it up from him and said, “Yes, Ben-hadad is your brother.” Then he said, “Go and bring him.” So Ben-hadad came out to him, and he had him come up into the chariot. ³⁴ Ben-hadad^[t] said to him, “I will restore the towns that my father took from your father, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” The king of Israel responded,^[u] “I will let you go on those terms.” So he made a treaty with him and let him go.^(FY)

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

³⁵ At the command of the Lord a certain member of a company of prophets^[v] said to another, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him.^{(FZ) 36} Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill you.” And when he had left him, a lion met him and killed him.^{(GA) 37} Then he found another man and said, “Strike me!” So the man hit him, striking and wounding him. ³⁸ Then the prophet departed and waited for the king along the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the thick of the battle; then a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if he is missing, your life shall be given for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’^{(GB) 40} While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.” ⁴¹ Then he quickly took the bandage away from his eyes. The king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴² Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Because you have let the man go whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life and your people for his people.”^{(GC) 43} The king of Israel set out toward home, resentful and sullen, and came to Samaria.^(GD)

Naboth’s Vineyard

21 Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.^{(GE) 2} And Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it, or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.”^{(GF) 3} But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.”^{(GG) 4} Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you my ancestral inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.^(GH)

⁵ His wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?” ⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it,’ but he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ” ⁷ His wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”^(GI)

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.^{(GJ) 9} She wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; ¹⁰ seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”^{(GK) 11} The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, ¹² they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. ¹³ The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him, and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.^{(GL) 14} Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead.” ¹⁶ As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Elijah Pronounces God’s Sentence

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,^{(GM) 18} “Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules^[w] in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession.^{(GN) 19} You shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Have you killed and also taken possession? You shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood.”^(GO)

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord,^{(GP) 21} I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel,^{(GQ) 22} and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin. ²³ Also concerning Jezebel the Lord said: The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.^{(GR) 24} Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat.”^(GS)

²⁵ (Indeed, there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel. ²⁶ He acted most abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.)^(GT)

²⁷ When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his bare flesh; he fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.^{(GU) 28} Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster on his house.”^(GV)

Joint Campaign with Judah against Aram

22 For three years Aram and Israel continued without war. ² But in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah came down to the king of Israel.^{(GW) 3} The king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, yet we are doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?”^{(GX) 4} He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are; my people are your people; my horses are your horses.”^(GY)

⁵ But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” ⁶ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred of them, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” They said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”^{(GZ) 7} But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no other prophet of the Lord here of whom we may inquire?”^{(HA) 8} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one other by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything favorable about me but only disaster.” Jehoshaphat said, “Let the king not say such a thing.” ⁹ Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.” ¹⁰ Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.^{(HB) 11} Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, “Thus says the Lord: With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.”^{(HC) 12} All the prophets were prophesying the same and saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

Micaiah Predicts Failure

¹³ The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”^(HD)

¹⁵ When he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” He answered him, “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”^{(HE) 16} But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷ Then Micaiah^[x] said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each one go home in peace.’ ”^{(HF) 18} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favorable about me but only disaster?”^(HG)

¹⁹ Then Micaiah^[y] said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him.^{(HH) 20} And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ Then one said one thing, and another said another, ²¹ until a certain spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² ‘How?’ the Lord asked him. He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord^[z] said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.’^{(HI) 23} So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has decreed disaster for you.”^(HJ)

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up to Micaiah, slapped him on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?”^{(HK) 25} Micaiah replied, “You will find out on that day when you go in to hide in an inner chamber.”^{(HL) 26} The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, ²⁷ and say: Thus says the king: Put this fellow in prison, and feed him on reduced rations of bread and water until I come in peace.”^{(HM) 28} Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, you peoples, all of you!”^(HN)

Defeat and Death of Ahab

²⁹ So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.^{(HO) 30} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. ³¹ Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel.”^{(HP) 32} When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out.^{(HQ) 33} When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³⁴ But a certain man drew his bow and unknowingly struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate; so he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁵ The battle grew hot that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans until at evening he died; the blood from the wound had flowed into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶ Then about sunset a shout went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

³⁷ So the king died and was brought to Samaria; they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it,^[aa] according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.^{(HR) 39} Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?^{(HS) 40} So Ahab slept with his ancestors, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him.

Jehoshaphat Reigns over Judah

⁴¹ Jehoshaphat son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of King Ahab of Israel.^{(HT) 42} Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ He walked in all the way of his father Asa; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and offered incense on the high places.^{(HU) 44} Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.^(HV)

⁴⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat and his power that he showed and how he waged war, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?^{(HW) 46} The remnant of the illicit priests who remained from the days of his father Asa, he purged from the land.^(HX)

⁴⁷ There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king.^{(HY) 48} Jehoshaphat made ships of the Tarshish type to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.^{(HZ) 49} Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat was not willing. ⁵⁰ Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his father David; his son Jehoram succeeded him.^(IA)

Ahaziah Reigns over Israel

⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah; he reigned two years over Israel.^{(IB) 52} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and mother and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.^{(IC) 53} He served Baal and worshiped him; he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.^(ID)