1 Kings 16:29-22:40

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Reign of Ahab. ²⁹ Ahab, son of Omri, became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah. Ahab, son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.

³⁰ Ahab, son of Omri, did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than any of his predecessors. ³¹ It was not enough for him to follow the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal, and worship him. ³² Ahab set up an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria, ³³ and also made an asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than any of the kings of Israel before him. ^34 (A)During his reign, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram, his firstborn son, he laid the foundation, and at the cost of Segub, his youngest son, he set up the gates, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Joshua, son of Nun.^[a]

IV. The Story of Elijah^[b]

Chapter 17

Elijah Proclaims a Drought.^{[c] 1} Elijah the Tishbite,^[d](B) from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” ² The word of the Lord came to Elijah: ³ Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink of the wadi, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there. ⁵ So he left and did as the Lord had commanded. He left and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. ^6 (C)Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.

⁷ After some time, however, the wadi ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. ^8 (D)So the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to feed you. ¹⁰ He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” ¹¹ She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” ¹² She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” ¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” ¹⁵ She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. ¹⁶ The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.

^17 (E)Some time later the son of the woman, the owner of the house, fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?” ¹⁹ Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ He called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” ²² The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived. ²³ Taking the child, Elijah carried him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.” ²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God, and it is truly the word of the Lord that you speak.”

Chapter 18

Elijah Ends the Drought.^{[e] 1} Long afterward, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: Go, present yourself to Ahab, that I may send rain upon the earth. ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine in Samaria was severe, ³ and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, master of his palace, who greatly revered the Lord. ⁴ When Jezebel was slaughtering the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them away by fifties in caves, and supplied them with food and water. ⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all sources of water and to all the wadies. We may find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, so that we shall not have to slaughter any of the beasts.” ⁶ Dividing the land to explore between them, Ahab went one way by himself, Obadiah another way by himself. ⁷ As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Recognizing him, Obadiah fell prostrate and asked, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” ⁸ He said to him, “Yes. Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here!’”^{[f] 9} But Obadiah said, “What sin has your servant committed, that you are handing me over to Ahab to be killed? ¹⁰ As the Lord, your God, lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you. When they replied, ‘He is not here,’ he made each kingdom and nation swear they could not find you. ¹¹ And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!’ ¹² After I leave you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you to some place I do not know, and when I go to inform Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me—though your servant has revered the Lord from his youth! ¹³ Have you not been told, my lord, what I did when Jezebel was murdering the prophets of the Lord—that I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord, fifty each in caves, and supplied them with food and water? ¹⁴ And now you say, ‘Go tell your lord: Elijah is here!’ He will kill me!” ¹⁵ Elijah answered, “As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, I will present myself to him today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and informed him, and Ahab came to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is it you, you disturber of Israel?” ¹⁸ He answered, “It is not I who disturb Israel, but you and your father’s house, by forsaking the commands of the Lord and you by following the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, as well as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” ²⁰ So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and had the prophets gather on Mount Carmel.

²¹ Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you straddle the issue? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him. ²² So Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. ²³ Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire. ²⁴ You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire is God.” All the people answered, “We agree!”

²⁵ Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire.” ²⁶ Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it and called upon Baal from morning to noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answering. And they hopped around the altar they had prepared. ²⁷ When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: “Call louder, for he is a god; he may be busy doing his business, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” ²⁸ They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears according to their ritual until blood gushed over them. ²⁹ Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the time for offering sacrifice. But there was no sound, no one answering, no one listening.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” When they drew near to him, he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been destroyed. ³¹ He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said: Israel shall be your name. ³² He built the stones into an altar to the name of the Lord, and made a trench around the altar large enough for two measures of grain. ³³ When he had arranged the wood, he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood. ³⁴ He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar; even the trench was filled with the water. ³⁶ At the time for offering sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came forward and said, “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ^37 (F)Answer me, Lord! Answer me, that this people may know that you, Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back to you.” ³⁸ The Lord’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench. ³⁹ Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!” ^40 (G)Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape!” They seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and there he slaughtered them. ⁴¹ Elijah then said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink, while Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, crouched down to the earth, and put his head between his knees. ⁴³ He said to his servant, “Go up and look out to sea.” He went up and looked, but reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times he said, “Go look again!” ⁴⁴ And the seventh time the youth reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Elijah said, “Go and say to Ahab, ‘Harness up and go down the mountain before the rain stops you.’” ⁴⁵ All at once the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell. Ahab mounted his chariot and headed for Jezreel. ⁴⁶ But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah. He girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel.

Chapter 19

Flight to Horeb.^{[g] 1} Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done—that he had murdered all the prophets by the sword. ² Jezebel then sent a messenger to Elijah and said, “May the gods do thus to me and more, if by this time tomorrow I have not done with your life what was done to each of them.” ³ Elijah was afraid and fled for his life, going to Beer-sheba of Judah. He left his servant there ^4 (H)and went a day’s journey into the wilderness, until he came to a solitary broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: “Enough, Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵ He lay down and fell asleep under the solitary broom tree, but suddenly a messenger^[h] touched him and said, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, ⁷ but the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat or the journey will be too much for you!” ^8 (I)He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

⁹ There he came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the Lord came to him: Why are you here, Elijah? ¹⁰ He answered: “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” ^11 (J)Then the Lord said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord;^[i] the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing 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; ¹² after the earthquake, fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound.^[j]

¹³ When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? ^14 (K)He replied, “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” ^15 [k](L)The Lord said to him: Go back! Take the desert road to Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram. ^16 (M)You shall also anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel, and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you. ¹⁷ Anyone who escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill. Anyone who escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ^18 (N)But I will spare seven thousand in Israel—every knee that has not bent to Baal, every mouth that has not kissed him.

^19 [l]Elijah set out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak on him. ^20 (O)Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please, let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and I will follow you.” Elijah answered, “Go back! What have I done to you?” ²¹ Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to the people to eat. Then he left and followed Elijah to serve him.

V. The Story of Ahab^[m]

Chapter 20

Ahab’s Victories over Aram.^{[n] 1} Ben-hadad, king of Aram, gathered all his forces and, accompanied by thirty-two kings with horses and chariotry, set out to besiege and attack Samaria. ² He sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, within the city, ³ and said to him, “This is Ben-hadad’s message: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your wives and your fine children are mine.’” ⁴ The king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord king, I and all I have are yours.” ⁵ But the messengers came again and said, “This is Ben-hadad’s message: ‘I sent you word: Give me your silver and gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ But now I say: At this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they shall ransack your house and the houses of your servants. They shall seize and take away whatever you consider valuable.’” ⁷ The king of Israel then summoned all the elders of the land and said: “Understand clearly that this man is intent on evil. When he sent to me for my wives and children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him.” ⁸ All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen. Do not give in.” ⁹ Accordingly he directed the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Say this: ‘To my lord the king: I will do all that you demanded of your servant the first time. But this I cannot do.’” The messengers left and reported this. ¹⁰ Ben-hadad then responded, “May the gods do thus to me and more, if there will remain enough dust in Samaria to make handfuls for all my followers.” ¹¹ The king of Israel replied, “Tell him, ‘Let not one who puts on armor boast like one who takes it off.’” ¹² Ben-hadad was drinking in the pavilions with the kings when he heard this reply. He commanded his servants, “Get ready!”; and they got ready to storm the city.

¹³ Then a prophet came up to Ahab, king of Israel, and said: “The Lord says, Do you see all this vast army? Today I am giving it into your power, that you may know that I am the Lord.” ¹⁴ But Ahab asked, “Through whom will it be given over?” He answered, “The Lord says, Through the aides of the provincial governors.” Then Ahab asked, “Who is to attack?” He replied, “You are.” ¹⁵ So Ahab mustered the aides of the provincial governors, two hundred thirty-two of them. Behind them he mustered all the Israelite soldiery, who numbered seven thousand in all. ^16 [o]They marched out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking heavily in the pavilions with the thirty-two kings who were his allies. ¹⁷ When the aides of the provincial governors marched out first, Ben-hadad received word, “Some men have marched out of Samaria.” ¹⁸ He answered, “Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.” ¹⁹ But when these had come out of the city—the aides of the provincial governors with the army following them— ²⁰ each of them struck down his man. The Arameans fled with Israel pursuing them, while Ben-hadad, king of Aram, escaped on a chariot horse. ²¹ Then the king of Israel went out and destroyed the horses and chariots. Thus he inflicted a severe defeat on Aram.

²² Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him: “Go, regroup your forces. Understand clearly what you must do, for at the turning of the year^[p] the king of Aram will attack you.” ²³ Meanwhile the servants of the king of Aram said to him: “Their gods are mountain gods. That is why they defeated us. But if we fight them on level ground, we shall be sure to defeat them. ²⁴ This is what you must do: Take the kings from their posts and put prefects in their places. ²⁵ Raise an army as large as the army you have lost, horse for horse, chariot for chariot. Let us fight them on level ground, and we shall surely defeat them.” He took their advice and did this. ²⁶ At the turning of the year, Ben-hadad mustered Aram and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ The Israelites, too, were mustered and supplied with provisions; then they went out to meet the enemy. The Israelites, encamped opposite, looked like little flocks of goats, while Aram covered the land. ²⁸ A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel: “The Lord says, Because Aram has said the Lord is a god of mountains, not a god of plains, I will give all this vast army into your power that you may know I am the Lord.” ²⁹ They were encamped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day battle was joined, and the Israelites struck down one hundred thousand foot soldiers of Aram in one day. ³⁰ The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. Ben-hadad, too, fled, and took refuge within the city, in an inner room.

³¹ His servants said to him: “We have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Allow us, therefore, to garb ourselves in sackcloth, with cords around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.” ³² Dressed in sackcloth girded at the waist and wearing cords around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Spare my life!’” He asked, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”^{[q] 33} Hearing this as a good omen, the men quickly took him at his word and said, “Ben-hadad is your brother.” He answered, “Go and get him.” When Ben-hadad came out to him, the king had him mount his chariot. ³⁴ Ben-hadad said to him, “The cities my father took from your father I will restore, and you may set up bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” Ahab replied, “For my part, I will set you free on those terms.” So he made a covenant with him and then set him free.

Prophetic Condemnation. ³⁵ Acting on the word of the Lord, one of the guild prophets said to his companion, “Strike me.” But he refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Since you did not obey the voice of the Lord, a lion will attack you when you leave me.” When he left him, a lion came upon him and attacked him.^{(P) 37} Then the prophet met another man and said, “Strike me.” The man struck him a blow and wounded him. ³⁸ The prophet went on and waited for the king on the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king was passing, he called out to the king and said: “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and suddenly someone turned and brought me a man and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, you shall have to pay for his life with your life or pay out a talent of silver.’^{[r] 40} But while your servant was occupied here and there, the man disappeared.” The king of Israel said to him, “That is your sentence. You have decided it yourself.” ⁴¹ He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ^42 (Q)He said to him: “The Lord says, Because you have set free the man I put under the ban,^[s] your life shall pay for his life, your people for his people.” ^43 (R)Disturbed and angry, the king of Israel set off for home and entered Samaria.

Chapter 21

Seizure of Naboth’s Vineyard.^{[t] 1} Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. Some time later, ² Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” ³ Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”^{[u] 4} Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer Naboth the Jezreelite had given him: “I will not give you my ancestral heritage.” Lying down on his bed, he turned away and would not eat. ⁵ His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, “Why are you so sullen that you will not eat?” ⁶ He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, “What a king of Israel you are! Get up! Eat and be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and, having sealed them with his seal, sent them to the elders and to the nobles who lived in the same city with Naboth. ⁹ This is what she wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰ Next, set two scoundrels opposite him to accuse him: ‘You have cursed God and king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

¹¹ His fellow citizens—the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city—did as Jezebel had ordered in the letters she sent them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ Two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and the scoundrels accused him in the presence of the people, “Naboth has cursed God and king.” And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

¹⁵ When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, because Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he started on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Prophetic Condemnation. ¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ¹⁸ Go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ^19 (S)Tell him: “Thus says the Lord: After murdering, do you also take possession?” And tell him, “Thus says the Lord: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.”

^20 [v]Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me out, my enemy?” He said, “I have found you. Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the Lord’s sight, ^21 (T)I am bringing evil upon you: I will consume you and will cut off every male belonging to Ahab, whether bond or free, in Israel. ²² I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin.”

²³ Against Jezebel, too, the Lord declared: The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the confines of Jezreel.

²⁵ Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the Lord as did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel. ²⁶ He became completely abominable by going after idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord drove out of the Israelites’ way.

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. ²⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, ^29 (U)Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s time.

Chapter 22

Ahab’s Defeat by Aram.^{[w] 1} Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. ² In the third year, however, King Jehoshaphat of Judah came down to the king of Israel. ³ The king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours and we are doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram?” ⁴ He asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you come with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “You and I are as one, and your people and my people, your horses and my horses as well.”

Prophetic Condemnation. ⁵ Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Seek the word of the Lord at once.” ⁶ The king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked, “Shall I go to fight against Ramoth-gilead or shall I refrain?” They said, “Attack. The Lord will give it into the power of the king.”^{[x] 7} But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no other prophet of the Lord here we might consult?” ⁸ The king of Israel answered, “There is one other man through whom we might consult the Lord; but I hate him because he prophesies not good but evil about me. He is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say that.” ⁹ So the king of Israel called an official and said to him, “Get Micaiah, son of Imlah, at once.”

¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were seated, each on his throne, clothed in their robes of state in the square at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ^11 (V)Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, made himself two horns of iron^[y] and said, “The Lord says, With these you shall gore Aram until you have destroyed them.” ¹² The other prophets prophesied in a similar vein, saying: “Attack Ramoth-gilead and conquer! The Lord will give it into the power of the king.”

¹³ Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah said to him, “Look now, the prophets are unanimously predicting good for the king. Let your word be the same as any of theirs; speak a good word.” ¹⁴ Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I shall speak whatever the Lord tells me.”

¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to fight at Ramoth-gilead, or shall we refrain?” He said, “Attack and conquer! The Lord will give it into the power of the king.” ¹⁶ But the king answered him, “How many times must I adjure you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ^17 [z]So Micaiah said:

¹⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you, he does not prophesy good about me, but only evil?” ^19 [aa]Micaiah continued: “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his throne, with the whole host of heaven standing to his right and to his left. ²⁰ The Lord asked: Who will deceive Ahab, so that he will go up and fall on Ramoth-gilead?^[ab] And one said this, another that, ²¹ until this spirit came forth and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked: How? ²² He answered, ‘I will go forth and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord replied: You shall succeed in deceiving him. Go forth and do this. ²³ So now, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; the Lord himself has decreed evil against you.”

²⁴ Thereupon Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, came up and struck Micaiah on the cheek, saying, “Has the spirit of the Lord, then, left me to speak with you?” ²⁵ Micaiah said, “You shall find out on the day you go into an inner room to hide.” ²⁶ The king of Israel then said, “Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon, prefect of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son, ²⁷ and say, ‘This is the king’s order: Put this man in prison and feed him scanty rations of bread and water until I come back in safety.’” ^28 (W)But Micaiah said, “If you return in safety, the Lord has not spoken through me.” (He also said, “Hear, O peoples, all of you.”)^[ac]

Ahab at Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead, ³⁰ and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your own robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and entered the battle. ³¹ In the meantime the king of Aram had given his thirty-two chariot commanders the order, “Do not fight with anyone, great or small, except the king of Israel alone.”

³² When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they cried out, “There is the king of Israel!” and wheeled to fight him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, ³³ and the chariot commanders, seeing that he was not the king of Israel, turned away from him. ³⁴ But someone drew his bow at random, and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his breastplate. He ordered his charioteer, “Rein about and take me out of the ranks, for I am wounded.”

^35 (X)The battle grew fierce during the day, and the king, who was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans, died in the evening. The blood from his wound flowed to the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶ At sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, every man to his land!”

³⁷ And so the king died, and came back to Samaria, and they buried him there. ^38 (Y)When they washed out the chariot at the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes bathed there, as the Lord had prophesied.

³⁹ The rest of the acts of Ahab, with all that he did, including the ivory house he built and all the cities he built, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ⁴⁰ Ahab rested with his ancestors, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.