¹² Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life.

¹³ Whereupon the Pharisees told Him, You are testifying on Your own behalf; Your testimony is not valid and is worthless.

¹⁴ Jesus answered, Even if I do testify on My own behalf, My testimony is true and reliable and valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

¹⁵ You [set yourselves up to] judge according to the flesh (by what you see). [You condemn by external, human standards.] I do not [set Myself up to] judge or condemn or sentence anyone.

¹⁶ Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true [My decision is right]; for I am not alone [in making it], but [there are two of Us] I and the Father, Who sent Me.

¹⁷ In your [own] Law it is written that the testimony (evidence) of two persons is reliable and valid.^(A)

¹⁸ I am One [of the Two] bearing testimony concerning Myself; and My Father, Who sent Me, He also testifies about Me.

¹⁹ Then they said to Him, Where is this ^[a]Father of Yours? Jesus answered, You know My Father as little as you know Me. If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.

²⁰ Jesus said these things in the treasury while He was teaching in the temple [^[b]court]; but no one ventured to arrest Him, because His hour had not yet come.

²¹ Therefore He said again to them, I am going away, and you will be looking for Me, and you will die in (under the curse of) your sin. Where I am going, it is not possible for you to come.

²² At this the Jews began to ask among themselves, Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, Where I am going, it is not possible for you to come?

²³ He said to them, You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world (of this earthly order); I am not of this world.

²⁴ That is why I told you that you will die in (under the curse of) your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He [Whom I claim to be—if you do not adhere to, trust in, and rely on Me], you will die in your sins.

²⁵ Then they said to Him, Who are You anyway? Jesus replied, [Why do I even speak to you!] I am exactly what I have been telling you from the first.

²⁶ I have much to say about you and to judge and condemn. But He Who sent Me is true (reliable), and I tell the world [only] the things that I have heard from Him.

²⁷ They did not perceive (know, understand) that He was speaking to them about the Father.

²⁸ So Jesus added, When you have lifted up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will realize (know, understand) that I am He [for Whom you look] and that I do nothing of Myself (of My own accord or on My own authority), but I say [exactly] what My Father has taught Me.

²⁹ And He Who sent Me is ever with Me; My Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.

³⁰ As He said these things, many believed in Him [trusted, relied on, and adhered to Him].

Read full chapter

20 Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, warring against it.

² He sent messengers into Samaria to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad:

³ Your silver and your gold are mine; your wives and your children, even the fairest, also are mine.

⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to what you say, I am yours, and all that I have.

⁵ The messengers came again and said, Thus says Ben-hadad: Although I have sent to you, saying, You shall deliver to me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children—

⁶ Yet I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants; and all the desire of your eyes they shall lay hands upon and take it away.

⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Notice now and see how this man is seeking our destruction. He sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.

⁸ And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not heed him or consent.

⁹ So he said to Ben-hadad’s messengers, Tell my lord the king, All you first sent for to your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do. And the messengers left; then they brought him word again.

¹⁰ Ben-hadad sent to him and said, May the gods do so to me, and more also, if the rubbish of Samaria shall be enough for each one of all the people who are at my feet and follow me to get a handful.

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, Tell him: Let not him who girds on his harness boast as he who puts it off.

¹² When Ben-hadad heard this message as he and the kings were drinking in the booths, he said to his servants, Set the army in array. And they set themselves in array against [Samaria].

¹³ Then a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and said, Thus says the Lord: Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know and realize that I am the Lord.

¹⁴ Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus says the Lord: By the young men [the attendants or bodyguards] of the governors of the districts. Then Ahab said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, You.

¹⁵ Ahab numbered the attendants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. After them he numbered all the people of [the army of] Israel, 7,000.^(A)

¹⁶ And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him.

¹⁷ The servants of the governors of the districts went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

¹⁸ And he said, Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.

¹⁹ So these [strong young guards] of the governors of the districts went out of [Samaria], and the army followed them.

²⁰ And each one killed his man; the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.

²¹ The king of Israel went out and smote [the riders of] the horses and chariots and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

²² The prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, Go, fortify yourself and become strong and give attention to what you must do, for at the first of next year the king of Syria will return against you.

²³ And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Israel’s gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

²⁴ And do this thing: Remove the kings, each from his place, and put governors in their stead.

²⁵ And muster yourself an army like the army you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. And we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he heeded their speech and did so.

²⁶ And at the return of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

²⁷ The Israelites were counted and, all present, went against them. The Israelites encamped before the enemy like two little flocks of lost kids [absolutely everything against them but Almighty God], but the Syrians filled the country.

²⁸ A man of God came and said to the king of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills but He is not God of the valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hands, and you shall know and recognize by experience that I am the Lord.^(B)

²⁹ They encamped opposite each other seven days. Then the battle was joined; and the Israelites slew of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.

³⁰ But the rest fled to the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. Ben-hadad fled into the city and from chamber to chamber.

³¹ His servants said to him, We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes about our necks, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.

³² So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their necks, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, I pray you, let me live. And King [Ahab] said, Is he yet alive? He is my brother.

³³ Now the men took it as an omen and they hastily took it up and said, Yes, your brother Ben-hadad. Then the king said, Go, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him, and the victorious king caused him to come up into the chariot.

³⁴ Ben-hadad [tempting him] said, The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may maintain bazaars of your own in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. Then, said Ahab, I will send you away on these terms. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.

³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, At the command of the Lord, strike me, I pray you. And the man refused to strike him.

³⁶ Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have left me a lion will slay you. And as soon as he departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷ Then [the prophet] found another man and said, Strike me, I pray you. And the man struck him, so that in striking, he wounded him.

³⁸ So the prophet departed and waited for King Ahab by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.

³⁹ And as the king passed by, the [prophet] cried out to him, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, Keep this man. If for any reason he is missing, then your life shall be required for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.

⁴⁰ But while your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, Such is your own verdict; you yourself have decided it.

⁴¹ The man hastily removed the ashes from his face, and Ahab king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

⁴² And he said to the king, Thus says the Lord: Because you have let go out of your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.

⁴³ And King [Ahab] of Israel went to his house resentful and sullen, and came to Samaria.^(C)

21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, close beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria; and after these things,

² Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give you its worth in money.

³ Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.

⁴ And Ahab [already depressed by the Lord’s message to him] came into his house [more] resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came and said to him, Why is your spirit so troubled that you eat no food?

⁶ And 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. And he answered, I will not give you my vineyard.

⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you not govern Israel? Arise, eat food, and let your heart be happy. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal and sent them to the elders and nobles who dwelt with Naboth in his city.

⁹ And in the letters she said, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth up high among the people.

¹⁰ And set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, You cursed and renounced God and the king. Then carry him out and stone him to death.

¹¹ And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt there, did as Jezebel had directed in the letters sent them.

¹² They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people.

¹³ Two base fellows came in and sat opposite him and they charged Naboth before the people, saying, Naboth cursed and renounced God and the king. Then he was carried out of the city and stoned to death.

¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.

¹⁵ Then Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

¹⁶ When Ahab heard that, he arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸ Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel in Samaria. He is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to possess it.

¹⁹ Say to him, Thus says the Lord: Have you killed and also taken possession? Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours.

²⁰ And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

²¹ See [says the Lord], I will bring evil on you and utterly sweep away and cut off from Ahab every male, bond and free,

²² And will make your household like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the household of Baasha son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger and made Israel to sin.

²³ Also the Lord said of Jezebel: The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

²⁴ Any belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and any who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat.^(D)

²⁵ For there was no one who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord as did Ahab, incited by his wife Jezebel.

²⁶ He did very abominably in going after idols, as had the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the Israelites.

²⁷ When Ahab heard those words of Elijah, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his flesh, fasted, lay in sackcloth, and went quietly.

²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

²⁹ Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before Me? Because he humbles himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his lifetime, but in his son’s day I will bring the evil upon his house.