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 sent 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 LORD, 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 drank, and lay down again.
{19:7} The angel of the LORD 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 drank, 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 the
LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here,
Elijah?"
{19:10} He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of
Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown
down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I
only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
{19:11} He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD."
Behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the
mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD
was not in the wind. After the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was
not in the earthquake. {19:12} After the earthquake a fire passed; but
the LORD 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, a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here,
Elijah?"
{19:14} He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of
Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown
down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I
only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
{19:15} The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be
king over Syria. {19:16} You shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be
king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of
Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place. {19:17} It shall happen,
that he who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he
who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. {19:18} Yet will
I leave 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
please 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 served 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, "Ben Hadad says, '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 listen,
neither consent."
{20:9} Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, "Tell my
lord the king, 'All that you sent for to your servant at the first I
will do; but this thing I cannot do.'"
The messengers departed, and brought him back the message. {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
puts on his armor brag like he who takes 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, "Prepare to attack!" They prepared to attack the city.
{20:13} Behold, a prophet came near 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 this day; and you shall know
that I am the LORD.'"
{20:14} Ahab said, "By whom?"
He said, "Thus says the LORD, '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. 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,
"Men are coming out from Samaria."
{20:18} He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive;
or if they have come out for war, take 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 each
killed his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. 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 place. {20:25} Muster an army, like
the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot.
We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be
stronger than them."
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. The children of
Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats; 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 the LORD, 'Because
the Syrians have said, "The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not
a god of the valleys;" therefore I will deliver all this great
multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"
{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 one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians 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 room. {20:31} His servants said to
him, "See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are
merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes
on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save
your life."
{20:32} So they put sackcloth on their bodies and 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 still alive? He is my brother."
{20:33} Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to take this
phrase; and they said, "Your brother Ben Hadad."
Then he said, "Go, bring him."
Then Ben Hadad came out 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. You shall make streets
for yourself 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 the LORD, "Please strike me!"
The man refused to strike him. {20:36} Then he said to him, "Because
you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, 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, 'Guard this man! If by any means he be missing, then
your life shall 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 your judgment shall be; you
yourself have decided it."
{20:41} He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and
the king of Israel recognized that he was of the prophets. {20:42} He
said to him, "Thus says the LORD, '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 seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money."
{21:3} Naboth said to Ahab, "May the LORD forbid 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 himself 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
pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' 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, 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} Set two men,
base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying,
'You cursed 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. The base
fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of
the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" Then they
carried him out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.
{21:14} Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been 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 the LORD 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 has gone down to take possession of it. {21:19} You shall speak to
him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed and also taken
possession?"' You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "In
the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will 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 the LORD. {21:21} Behold, I will
bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off
from Ahab everyone [1>]who urinates against a wall,[<1] and him who is
shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. {21:22} 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} The
LORD also spoke of Jezebel, saying, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the
rampart of Jezreel. {21:24} The dogs will eat he who dies of Ahab in
the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field."
{21:25} But there was none like Ahab, who sold himself to do that
which was evil in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred
up. {21:26} He did very abominably in following idols, according to
all that the Amorites did, whom the LORD 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 the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
{21:29} "See 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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Footnotes:
[1] {21:21} or, male
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