Elijah’s Journey to Horeb

19 Ahab told Jezebel^(A) everything that Elijah had done^(B) and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.^{(C) 2} So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely^(D) if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”

³ Then Elijah became afraid^[a](E) and immediately ran for his life.^(F) When he came to Beer-sheba^(G) that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there,^{(H) 4} but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree^(I) and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life,^(J) for I’m no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.

Suddenly, an angel touched him.^(K) The angel told him, “Get up and eat.” ⁶ Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water.^(L) So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷ Then the angel of the Lord^(M) returned for a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” ⁸ So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked forty days and forty nights^(N) to Horeb, the mountain of God.^{(O) 9} He entered a cave^(P) there and spent the night.

Elijah’s Encounter with the Lord

Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ^(Q)

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous^(R) for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant,^(S) torn down your altars,^(T) and killed your prophets^(U) with the sword. I alone am left,^(V) and they are looking for me to take my life.”^(W)

¹¹ Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”^(X)

At that moment, the Lord passed by.^(Y) A great and mighty wind^(Z) was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake,^(AA) but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake there was a fire,^(AB) but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.^{(AC) 13} When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle^(AD) and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life.”^(AE)

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael^(AF) as king over Aram. ¹⁶ You are to anoint Jehu^(AG) son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha^(AH) son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael,^(AI) and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.^{(AJ) 18} But I will leave seven thousand in Israel^(AK)—every knee that has not bowed to Baal^(AL) and every mouth that has not kissed him.”^(AM)

Elisha’s Appointment as Elijah’s Successor

¹⁹ Elijah left there and found Elisha^(AN) son of Shaphat as he was plowing. Twelve teams of oxen were in front of him, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah walked by him and threw his mantle over him.^{(AO) 20} Elisha left the oxen, ran to follow Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you.”^(AP)

“Go on back,” he replied, “for what have I done to you?”

²¹ So he turned back from following him, took the team of oxen, and slaughtered^[b] them. With the oxen’s wooden yoke and plow,^(AQ) he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he left, followed Elijah, and served him.^(AR)

Victory over Ben-hadad

20 Now King Ben-hadad^(AS) of Aram assembled his entire army. Thirty-two kings,^(AT) along with horses and chariots, were with him. He marched up, besieged Samaria,^(AU) and fought against it. ² He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel and said to him, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ³ ‘Your silver and your gold are mine! And your best wives and children are mine as well!’” ^(AV)

⁴ Then the king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”

⁵ The messengers then returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have sent messengers to you, saying, “You are to give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.” ⁶ But at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you,^[c](AW) and they will search your palace and your servants’ houses. They will lay their hands on and take away whatever is precious to you.’”

⁷ Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Recognize^[d] that this one is only looking for trouble,^(AX) for he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn’t turn him down.”

⁸ All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen or agree.”

⁹ So he said to Ben-hadad’s messengers, “Say to my lord the king, ‘Everything you demanded of your servant the first time, I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” So the messengers left and took word back to him.

¹⁰ Then Ben-hadad sent messengers to him and said, “May the gods punish me and do so severely^(AY) if Samaria’s dust^(AZ) amounts to a handful for each of the people who follow me.”

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, “Say this: ‘Don’t let the one who puts on his armor boast^(BA) like the one who takes it off.’”

¹² When Ben-hadad heard this response, while he and the kings were drinking^(BB) in their quarters,^[e] he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they took their positions against the city.

¹³ A prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this whole huge army? Watch, I am handing it over to you today so that you may know that I am the Lord.’”^(BC)

¹⁴ Ahab asked, “By whom?”

And the prophet said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘By the young men of the provincial leaders.’”

Then he asked, “Who is to start the battle?” ^(BD)

He said, “You.”

¹⁵ So Ahab mobilized the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232. After them he mobilized all the Israelite troops: 7,000.^{(BE) 16} They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings^(BF) who were helping him were getting drunk in their quarters. ¹⁷ The young men of the provincial leaders marched out first. Then Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, saying, “Men are marching out of Samaria.”^(BG)

¹⁸ So he said, “If they have marched out in peace,^(BH) take them alive, and if they have marched out for battle, take them alive.”

¹⁹ The young men of the provincial leaders and the army behind them marched out from the city, ²⁰ and each one struck down his opponent.^(BI) So the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them,^(BJ) but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. ²¹ Then the king of Israel marched out and attacked the cavalry and the chariots. He inflicted a severe slaughter on Aram.

²² The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and strengthen yourself, then consider carefully^[f] what you should do, for in the spring^(BK) the king of Aram will attack you.”

²³ Now the king of Aram’s servants said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hill country.^(BL) That’s why they were stronger than we were. Instead, we should fight with them on the plain; then we will certainly be stronger than they are. ²⁴ Also do this: remove each king from his position and appoint captains in their place. ²⁵ Raise another army for yourself like the army you lost—horse for horse, chariot for chariot—and let’s fight with them on the plain; and we will certainly be stronger than they are.” The king listened to them and did it.

²⁶ In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek^(BM) to battle Israel. ²⁷ The Israelites mobilized, gathered supplies, and went to fight them. The Israelites camped in front of them like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the landscape.^(BN)

²⁸ Then the man of God^(BO) approached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,”^(BP) I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”^(BQ)

²⁹ They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day,^(BR) the battle took place, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ The ones who remained fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on those twenty-seven thousand remaining men.

Ben-hadad also fled and went into an inner room^(BS) in the city. ³¹ His servants said to him, “Consider this: we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let’s put sackcloth around our waists^(BT) and ropes around our heads, and let’s go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

³² So they dressed with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’”

So he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³ Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, so they quickly picked up on this^[g] and responded, “Yes, it is your brother Ben-hadad.”

Then he said, “Go and bring him.”

So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into the chariot. ³⁴ Then Ben-hadad said to him, “I restore to you the cities that my father took from your father,^(BU) and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.”^(BV)

Ahab responded, “On the basis of this treaty, I release you.” So he made a treaty with him and released him.

Ahab Rebuked by the Lord

³⁵ One of the sons of the prophets^(BW) said to his fellow prophet by the word of the Lord, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him.

³⁶ He told him, “Because you did not listen to the Lord, mark my words: When you leave me, a lion will kill you.”^(BX) When he left him, a lion attacked and killed him.

³⁷ The prophet found another man and said to him, “Strike me!” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. ³⁸ Then the prophet went and waited for the king on the road. He disguised^(BY) himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life,^(BZ) or you will weigh out seventy-five pounds^[h] of silver.’ ⁴⁰ But while your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.”

The king of Israel said to him, “That will be your sentence; you yourself have decided it.”^(CA)

⁴¹ He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes. The king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. ⁴² The prophet said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you released from your hand the man I had set apart for destruction,^(CB) it will be your life in place of his life and your people in place of his people.’” ⁴³ The king of Israel left for home resentful and angry,^(CC) and he entered Samaria.

The Unbelief of Jesus’s Brothers

7 After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee,^(A) since he did not want to travel in Judea^(B) because the Jews^(C) were trying to kill him.^{(D) 2} The Jewish Festival of Shelters^[a](E) was near. ³ So his brothers^(F) said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works^(G) that you are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

⁶ Jesus told them, “My time^(H) has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. ⁷ The world cannot hate^(I) you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. ⁸ Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival,^[b] because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Shelters

¹⁰ After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly. ¹¹ The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good^(J) man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceiving^(K) the people.” ¹³ Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple^(L) and began to teach. ¹⁵ Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned,^(M) since he hasn’t been trained?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me.^{(N) 17} If anyone wants to do his will,^(O) he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory;^(P) but he who seeks the glory^(Q) of the one who sent him is true,^(R) and there is no unrighteousness in him.^{(S) 19} Didn’t Moses^(T) give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.^(U) Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ “I performed one work,^(V) and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. ²² “This is why Moses has given you circumcision^(W) —not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers^(X) —and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.^{(Y) 23} If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath^(Z) so that the law of Moses^(AA) won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging^(AB) according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”