The First Book Melakhim, starting at chapter 19
{19:1} Ach'av told Izevel all that Eliyah had done, and withal how
he had slain all the prophets with the sword. {19:2} Then Izevel send
a messenger to Eliyah, 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 Be'er-Sheva, which belongs to Yehudah, 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 drink, and laid him 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 drink, and went in the strength of that food forty days
and forty nights to Horev 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, Eliyah? {19:10} He said,
I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God [1>]Tzva'ot[<1],; for
the children of Yisra'el 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 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:
and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the
earthquake: {19:12} and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was
not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. {19:13} It
was so, when Eliyah 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, Eliyah?
{19:14} He said, I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God
[2>]Tzva'ot[<2],; for the children of Yisra'el 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} The LORD said to him, Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of Dammesek: and when you come, you shall anoint Haza'el to
be king over Aram; {19:16} and Yehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint
to be king over Yisra'el; and Elisha the son of Shafat of
Avel-Mecholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room. {19:17} It
shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword of Haza'el shall Yehu
kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Yehu shall Elisha kill.
{19:18} Yet will I leave [me] seven thousand in Yisra'el, all the
knees which have not bowed to Ba`al, and every mouth which has not
kissed him. {19:19} So he departed there, and found Elisha the son of
Shafat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke [of oxen] before him, and he
with the twelfth: and Eliyah passed over to him, and cast his mantle
on him. {19:20} He left the oxen, and ran after Eliyah, 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
Eliyah, and ministered to him.
{20:1} Ben-Hadad the king of Aram gathered all his host together;
and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and
he went up and besieged Shomron, and fought against it. {20:2} He sent
messengers to Ach'av king of Yisra'el, 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 Yisra'el 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 Yisra'el called all the Zakenim 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 Zakenim 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 Shomron shall suffice for handfuls for all the people
who follow me. {20:11} The king of Yisra'el 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 Ach'av king
of Yisra'el, 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} Ach'av 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: and after them he
mustered all the people, even all the children of Yisra'el, 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 Shomron. {20:18} He said,
Whether they are come out for shalom, 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
Aram fled, and Yisra'el pursued them: and Ben-Hadad the king of Aram
escaped on a horse with horsemen. {20:21} The king of Yisra'el went
out, and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Aram with a
great slaughter. {20:22} The prophet came near to the king of
Yisra'el, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see
what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come
up against you. {20:23} The servants of the king of Aram 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 Aram, and went up to Afek, to fight against
Yisra'el. {20:27} The children of Yisra'el were mustered, and were
provisioned, and went against them: and the children of Yisra'el
encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Aram
filled the country. {20:28} A man of God came near and spoke to the
king of Yisra'el, and said, Thus says the LORD, Because the Aram have
said, the LORD 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 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 Yisra'el killed of the Aram
one hundred thousand footmen in one day. {20:30} But the rest fled to
Afek, 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 Yisra'el are merciful kings: let us, we pray
you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to
the king of Yisra'el: peradventure he will save your life. {20:32} So
they girded sackcloth on their loins, and [put] ropes on their heads,
and came to the king of Yisra'el, 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 Dammesek, as my father made in Shomron.
I, [said Ach'av], 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 said he 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, 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 Yisra'el 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 Yisra'el
discerned him 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 Yisra'el
went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Shomron.
{21:1} It happened after these things, that Navot the Yizre`eli had
a vineyard, which was in Yizre`el, hard by the palace of Ach'av king
of Shomron. {21:2} Ach'av spoke to Navot, 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} Navot said to Ach'av, the LORD forbid it me, that I should give
the inheritance of my fathers to you. {21:4} Ach'av came into his
house heavy and displeased because of the word which Navot the
Yizre`eli 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 Izevel 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 Navot the Yizre`eli,
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} Izevel his wife said
to him, Do you now govern the kingdom of Yisra'el? arise, and eat
bread, and let your heart be merry: I will give you the vineyard of
Navot the Yizre`eli. {21:8} So she wrote letters in Ach'av's name, and
sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the Zakenim and to
the nobles who were in his city, [and] who lived with Navot. {21:9}
She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Navot 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 Zakenim and the nobles who lived in his city,
did as Izevel 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 Navot 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 Navot, in the presence of the people,
saying, Navot 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 Izevel, saying, Navot is stoned, and is dead. {21:15} It
happened, when Izevel heard that Navot was stoned, and was dead, that
Izevel said to Ach'av, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Navot
the Yizre`eli, which he refused to give you for money; for Navot is
not alive, but dead. {21:16} It happened, when Ach'av heard that Navot
was dead, that Ach'av rose up to go down to the vineyard of Navot the
Yizre`eli, to take possession of it. {21:17} The word of the LORD came
to Eliyah the Tishbi, saying, {21:18} Arise, go down to meet Ach'av
king of Yisra'el, who dwells in Shomron: behold, he is in the vineyard
of Navot, where he is 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 Navot shall dogs
lick your blood, even your. {21:20} Ach'av said to Eliyah, 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 Ach'av every man-child, and him who is shut
up and him who is left at large in Yisra'el: {21:22} and I will make
your house like the house of Yarov`am the son of Nevat, and like the
house of Ba`sha the son of Achiyah for the provocation with which you
have provoked me to anger, and have made Yisra'el to sin. {21:23} Of
Izevel also spoke the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Izevel by the
rampart of Yizre`el. {21:24} Him who dies of Ach'av 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 Ach'av, who did sell himself
to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, whom Izevel his
wife stirred up. {21:26} He did very abominably in following idols,
according to all that the Amori did, whom the LORD cast out before the
children of Yisra'el.) {21:27} It happened, when Ach'av 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 Eliyah the Tishbi, saying, {21:29} See you how Ach'av
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] {19:10} of hosts or of armies
[2] {19:14} of hosts or of armies
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