⁴² He told the king,^[a] “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you let the man whom I had dedicated to destruction go free, therefore your life is to be forfeited for his life, and your people for his people.’”

¹⁸ “Get up and go down to meet King Ahab of Israel. He’s in Samaria. Look! He’s in Naboth’s vineyard, where he’s gone to confiscate it. ¹⁹ Ask the king, ‘Did you commit murder? And now you’re going to steal as well?’ Also tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Where the dogs were licking up Naboth’s blood, dogs will also lick up your blood—that’s right—yours!”’”

²⁰ Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?”

But Elijah answered, “I’ve found you because you sold yourself to do what the Lord considers to be evil! ²¹ Now pay attention! I’m going to send evil in your direction! I will completely sweep you away and eliminate from Ahab every male, whether indentured servant or free, throughout Israel. ²² I will make your household resemble that of Nebat’s son Jeroboam, or like the household of Ahijah’s son Baasha, because of how you’ve provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin. ²³ The Lord also has this to say about Jezebel: ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel within the outer ramparts of Jezreel. ²⁴ Dogs will eat whoever belongs to Ahab and who dies in the city. The birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the fields.’”

³¹ Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to 32 of his chariot commanders: “Don’t attack unimportant soldiers or ranking officers. Go after only the king of Israel.”

³² So when the chariot commanders observed Jehoshaphat, they said by mistake,^[a] “It’s the king of Israel!” and they turned aside to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ When the chariot commanders saw that their target^[b] was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

³⁴ Meanwhile, somebody drew his bow aimlessly and struck the king of Israel between the scales where his armor breastplates joined, so he instructed his chariot driver, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, because I’ve been severely wounded.” ³⁵ The battle continued on for the rest of the day while the king of Israel was propped up in front of the Arameans until the sun set, at which time he died. The blood from Ahab’s wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot.

³⁶ As the day drew to a close, this order was circulated throughout the army telling the soldiers, “Everybody go back to his city and to his own land.” ³⁷ So the king died and was brought back to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the reservoir of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood near where the prostitutes went to bathe, in keeping with the message that the Lord had spoken.