The First Book of Kings, starting at chapter 19
{19:1} Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had
killed all the prophets with the sword. {19:2} Then Jezebel send a
messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also,
if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about
this time. {19:3} When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life,
and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant
there. {19:4} But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for
himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take
away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. {19:5} He lay down
and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and
said to him, Arise and eat. {19:6} He looked, and behold, there was at
his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and
drink, and laid him down again. {19:7} The angel of Yahweh came again
the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the
journey is too great for you. {19:8} He arose, and ate and drink, and
went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb
the Mount of God. {19:9} He came there to a cave, and lodged there;
and behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, What
are you doing here, Elijah? {19:10} He said, I have been very jealous
for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have
forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your
prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my
life, to take it away. {19:11} He said, Go forth, and stand on the
mountain before Yahweh. Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and
strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before
Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind: and after the wind an
earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake: {19:12} and after
the earthquake a fire; but Yahweh was not in the fire: and after the
fire a still small voice. {19:13} It was so, when Elijah heard it,
that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the
entrance of the cave. Behold, there came a voice to him, and said,
What are you doing here, Elijah? {19:14} He said, I have been very
jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have
forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your
prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my
life, to take it away. {19:15} Yahweh said to him, Go, return on your
way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you come, you shall anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria; {19:16} and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall
you anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of
Abel Meholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room. {19:17} It
shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu
kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha kill.
{19:18} Yet will I leave [me] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees
which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed
him. {19:19} So he departed there, and found Elisha the son of
Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke [of oxen] before him, and
he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed over to him, and cast his
mantle on him. {19:20} He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and
said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I
will follow you. He said to him, Go back again; for what have I done
to you? {19:21} He returned from following him, and took the yoke of
oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of
the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and
went after Elijah, and ministered to him.
{20:1} Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together;
and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and
he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. {20:2} He sent
messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him,
Thus says Ben Hadad, {20:3} Your silver and your gold is mine; your
wives also and your children, even the best, are mine. {20:4} The king
of Israel answered, It is according to your saying, my lord, O king; I
am yours, and all that I have. {20:5} The messengers came again, and
said, Thus speaks Ben Hadad, saying, I sent indeed to you, saying, You
shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your
children; {20:6} but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about
this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your
servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes,
they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. {20:7} Then the
king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please
notice how this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives,
and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't
deny him. {20:8} All the elders and all the people said to him, Don't
you listen, neither consent. {20:9} Therefore he said to the
messengers of Ben Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send
for to your servant at the first I will do; but this thing I may not
do. The messengers departed, and brought him word again. {20:10} Ben
Hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if
the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who
follow me. {20:11} The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Don't let
him who girds on [his armor] boast himself as he who puts it off.
{20:12} It happened, when [Ben Hadad] heard this message, as he was
drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his
servants, Set [yourselves in array]. They set [themselves in array]
against the city. {20:13} Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of
Israel, and said, Thus says Yahweh, Have you seen all this great
multitude? behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you
shall know that I am Yahweh. {20:14} Ahab said, By whom? He said, Thus
says Yahweh, By the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he
said, Who shall begin the battle? He answered, You. {20:15} Then he
mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were
two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he mustered all the people,
even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. {20:16} They
went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the
pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.
{20:17} The young men of the princes of the provinces went out first;
and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come
out from Samaria. {20:18} He said, Whether they are come out for
peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, taken
them alive. {20:19} So these went out of the city, the young men of
the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.
{20:20} They killed everyone his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel
pursued them: and Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with
horsemen. {20:21} The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses
and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. {20:22}
The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go,
strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return
of the year the king of Syria will come up against you. {20:23} The
servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their god is a god 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. {20:24}
Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and
put captains in their room; {20:25} and number you an army, like the
army that 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. He listened to their voice, and did so. {20:26} It
happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered the
Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. {20:27} The
children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went
against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two
little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. {20:28} A
man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus
says Yahweh, Because the Syrians have said, Yahweh is a god of the
hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver
all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am
Yahweh. {20:29} They encamped one over against the other seven days.
So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the
children of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen
in one day. {20:30} But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the
wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled,
and came into the city, into an inner chamber. {20:31} His servants
said to him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of
Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our
bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel:
peradventure he will save your life. {20:32} So they girded sackcloth
on their bodies, and [put] ropes on their heads, and came to the king
of Israel, and said, Your servant Ben Hadad says, please let me live.
He said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. {20:33} Now the men
observed diligently, and hurried to catch whether it were his mind;
and they said, Your brother Ben Hadad. Then he said, Go you, bring
him. Then Ben Hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up
into the chariot. {20:34} [Ben Hadad] said to him, The cities which my
father took from your father I will restore; and you shall make
streets for you in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. I, [said
Ahab], will let you go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with
him, and let him go. {20:35} A certain man of the sons of the prophets
said to his fellow by the word of Yahweh, Please strike me. The man
refused to strike him. {20:36} Then said he to him, Because you have
not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, behold, as soon as you are departed
from me, a lion shall kill you. As soon as he was departed from him, a
lion found him, and killed him. {20:37} Then he found another man, and
said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.
{20:38} So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way,
and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. {20:39} As the
king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said, 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 by any means he be
missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a
talent of silver. {20:40} As your servant was busy here and there, he
was gone. The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be;
yourself have decided it. {20:41} He hurried, and took the headband
away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was
of the prophets. {20:42} He said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Because you
have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to
destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your
people for his people. {20:43} The king of Israel went to his house
sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
{21:1} It happened after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite
had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king
of Samaria. {21:2} Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your
vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near
to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it: or,
if it seem good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money.
{21:3} Naboth said to Ahab, Yahweh forbid it me, that I should give
the inheritance of my fathers to you. {21:4} Ahab came into his house
sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had
spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of
my fathers. He laid him down on his bed, and turned away his face, and
would eat no bread. {21:5} But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said
to him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread? {21:6} He
said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to
him, Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I
will give you [another] vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not
give you my vineyard. {21:7} Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now
govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let your heart
be merry: I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
{21:8} So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his
seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in
his city, [and] who lived with Naboth. {21:9} She wrote in the
letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the
people: {21:10} and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let
them testify against him, saying, You did curse God and the king. Then
carry him out, and stone him to death. {21:11} The men of his city,
even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel
had sent to them, according as it was written in the letters which she
had sent to them. {21:12} They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on
high among the people. {21:13} The two men, the base fellows, came in
and sat before him: and the base fellows bore witness against him,
even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did
curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city,
and stoned him to death with stones. {21:14} Then they sent to
Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. {21:15} It happened,
when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel
said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not
alive, but dead. {21:16} It happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was
dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite, to take possession of it. {21:17} The word of Yahweh came
to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, {21:18} Arise, go down to meet Ahab
king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard
of Naboth, where he is gone down to take possession of it. {21:19} You
shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, Have you killed and also
taken possession? You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, In
the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your
blood, even yours. {21:20} Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, my
enemy? He answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself
to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh. {21:21} Behold, I
will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut
off from Ahab every boy, and him who is shut up and him who is left at
large in Israel: {21:22} and I will make your house like the house of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of
Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger,
and have made Israel to sin. {21:23} Of Jezebel also spoke Yahweh,
saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. {21:24}
Him who dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him who dies
in the field shall the birds of the sky eat. {21:25} (But there was
none like Ahab, who did sell himself to do that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. {21:26} He did very
abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did,
whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.) {21:27} It
happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and
put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went
softly. {21:28} The word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite,
saying, {21:29} See you how Ahab humbles himself before me? because he
humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but
in his son's days will I bring the evil on his house.
___
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