Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

^(A)A Prayer for Protection from Enemies^[a]

²⁴ Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, “Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?”

²⁵ “You will find out when you go into some back room to hide,” Micaiah replied.

²⁶ Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. ²⁷ Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely.”

²⁸ “If you return safely,” Micaiah exclaimed, “then the Lord has not spoken through me!” And he added, “Listen, everyone, to what I have said!”

The Death of Ahab^(A)

²⁹ Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. ³⁰ Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments.” So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise.

³¹ The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. ³² So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But when he cried out, ³³ they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack. ³⁴ By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. “I'm wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn around and pull out of the battle!”

³⁵ While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood from his wound ran down and covered the bottom of the chariot, and at evening he died. ³⁶ Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: “Each of you go back to your own country and city!”

³⁷ So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried. ³⁸ His chariot was cleaned up at the pool of Samaria, where dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes washed themselves, as the Lord had said would happen.

³⁹ Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ⁴⁰ At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

God's Mercy on All

²⁵ There is a secret truth, my friends, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God. ^26 (A)And this is how all Israel will be saved. As the scripture says,

²⁸ Because they reject the Good News, the Jews are God's enemies for the sake of you Gentiles. But because of God's choice, they are his friends because of their ancestors. ²⁹ For God does not change his mind about whom he chooses and blesses. ³⁰ As for you Gentiles, you disobeyed God in the past; but now you have received God's mercy because the Jews were disobedient. ³¹ In the same way, because of the mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now^[a] receive God's mercy. ³² For God has made all people prisoners of disobedience, so that he might show mercy to them all.