Ahab Dies in Battle^(A)

²⁹ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

³¹ But the king of Aram ordered his thirty-two commanders who had control over his chariots, saying, “Fight neither against small nor great, but only against the king of Israel.” ³² So when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel.” And they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ When the commanders of the chariots realized that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from pursuing him.

³⁴ A certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor, and because of this, he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁵ The battle intensified that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot against the Arameans and died that evening, and the blood ran out of the wound into the floor of the chariot. ³⁶ A proclamation went throughout the army as the sun was setting, saying, “Every man is to return to his city, and every man is to return to his own country.”