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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.(A) 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[a] 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.”(B) 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.”(C) 11 The king of Israel answered, “Enough![b] One who puts on armor should not brag like one who takes it off.”(D) 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.(E)
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.”(F) 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.(G) 17 The young men who served the district governors went out first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts,[c] 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.”(H)
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.”(I)
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.(J) 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.(K) 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.”(L) 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.(M) 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.”(N) 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.”(O) 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[d] 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,[e] “I will let you go on those terms.” So he made a treaty with him and let him go.(P)
A Prophet Condemns Ahab
35 At the command of the Lord a certain member of a company of prophets[f] said to another, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him.(Q) 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.(R) 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.’(S) 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.”(T) 43 The king of Israel set out toward home, resentful and sullen, and came to Samaria.(U)
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.(V) 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.”(W) 3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.”(X) 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.(Y)
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.”(Z)
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.(AA) 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.”(AB) 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.(AC) 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,(AD) 18 “Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules[g] in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession.(AE) 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.”(AF)
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,(AG) 21 I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel,(AH) 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.(AI) 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.”(AJ)
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.)(AK)
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.(AL) 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.”(AM)
24 But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents.(A) 25 Then after completing their mission Barnabas and Saul returned to[a] Jerusalem and brought with them John, whose other name was Mark.(B)
Barnabas and Saul Commissioned
13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a childhood friend of Herod the ruler,[b] and Saul.(C) 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”(D) 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.(E)
The Apostles Preach in Cyprus
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.(F) 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And they had John also to assist them.(G) 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus.(H) 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.(I) 8 But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.(J) 9 But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him(K) 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?(L) 11 And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he fumbled about for someone to lead him by the hand.(M) 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem,(N) 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.(O) 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers,[c] if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.”
Psalm 137
Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down, and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 On the willows[a] there
we hung up our harps.
3 For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(B)
4 How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy.(C)
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Down to its foundations!”(D)
8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator![b]
Happy shall they be who pay you back
what you have done to us!(E)
9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock!(F)
16 Why should fools have a price in hand
to buy wisdom when they have no mind to learn?
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.