Defeat and Death of Ahab

²⁹ So [Ahab] the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter the battle, but you put on your [royal] clothing.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. ³¹ Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with [anyone, either] small or great, but with [Ahab] the king of Israel alone.” ³² When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel.” They turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat shouted out [in fear]. ³³ When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

³⁴ But one man drew a bow at ^[a]random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the fight, because I have been seriously wounded.” ³⁵ The battle raged that day, and [Ahab] the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans (Syrians). And in the evening he died, and the blood from his wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶ Then about sundown a resounding cry passed throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his own country!”

³⁷ So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the pool [on the outskirts] of Samaria, where the prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked up his blood, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken.^{(A) 39} Now the rest of Ahab’s acts, and everything that he did, the ivory palace which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ So Ahab slept with his fathers [in death], and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.