Bible in 90 Days

²¹ Civil War. The people of Israel were then divided into two factions. Half of them followed Tibni, the son of Ginath, as king, and the other half followed Omri. ²² The people who supported Omri defeated the people who followed Tibni, the son of Ginath. Tibni died, and Omri became the king.

²³ Omri’s Reign.^[a] It was during the thirty-first year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, that Omri began to reign over Israel. He reigned for twelve years, six of them from Tirzah.

²⁴ He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city upon the hill and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵ Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, worse than any of those who preceded him. ²⁶ He walked in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, in his sin, causing Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger over their worthless idols.

²⁷ As to the other deeds of Omri, what he did, and his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁸ Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigned in his stead.

²⁹ Ahab’s Reign.^[b]Ahab, the son of Omri, began to reign over Israel during the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah. Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.

³⁰ Ahab, the son of Omri, did more evil in the sight of the Lord than any of those who preceded him. ³¹ As if it were not enough that he committed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he also married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and he went after and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also set up an Asherah, and Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all of the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³⁴ During his time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundation over Abiram, his eldest, and he built its gates over Segub, his youngest. This was just as the word of the Lord had foretold through Joshua, the son of Nun.^[c]

Stories of Elijah and Ahab

Chapter 17

Elijah Predicts a Drought.^{[d] 1} Now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives before whom I stand, there shall be no dew or rain these years except at my word.”

² Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, ³ “Go forth from here and go eastward to the Wadi Kerith near the Jordan and hide there. ⁴ You can drink from the brook there, and I have commanded the ravens there to feed you.” ⁵ So he went and did what the Lord had said, and he dwelt in the Wadi Kerith near the Jordan. ⁶ The 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 the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise and go to Zarephath^[e] which belongs to Sidon and live there. I have commanded a woman there who is a widow to take care of you.”

¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the gate to the city, there was a woman there who was a widow. She was gathering sticks, and he called out to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a jar so that I can have something to drink.”

¹¹ As she went to get it for him, he called out to her and said, “Please also bring me a bit of bread in your hand.” ¹² But she said to him, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I do not have any bread. I only have a handful of flour in a jar and a little bit of oil in a jug. I am gathering two sticks so that I can prepare it for myself and my son so that we can eat it and die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do what you have said, but first make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. Afterwards, you can make some for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour will not be used up, the jug of oil will not go dry, up until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”

¹⁵ She went and did what Elijah had told her to do. She, and he, and her household ate for a long time. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not used up, and the jug of oil did not go dry, just as the word of the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

¹⁷ Elijah Restores Life to the Widow’s Son.^[f] After these things happened, the son of the woman who owned the house fell ill. The illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

¹⁸ She said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to make me remember my sins,^[g] and to put my son to death?” ¹⁹ He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her lap and carried him to the upper room, and he laid him upon his own bed. ²⁰ He called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you brought disaster upon the widow with whom I am living by killing her son?” ²¹ He stretched himself out upon the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord, my God, may this child’s life return to him.”

²² The Lord heard Elijah’s voice, and the child’s life returned to him and he revived. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and handed him over to his mother saying, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of God that is in your mouth is true.”

Chapter 18

Elijah and Ahab. ¹ Now after quite some time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” ² Elijah went and showed himself to Ahab. There was a severe famine in Samaria.

³ Ahab summoned Obadiah, the major-domo of his household. (Now Obadiah greatly feared the Lord. ⁴ When Jezebel cut down the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took one hundred of the prophets and he hid them by fifties in a cave, and he provided them with bread and water.) ⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land where there are springs of water and through all the wadis. Perhaps you will find some green grass for the horses and donkeys so that we might not lose all of the animals.”

⁶ They divided the land between them, and they went through it. Ahab went in one direction, and Obadiah went in the other direction by himself. ⁷ As Obadiah was going along, he met Elijah. He recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is that you, my lord, Elijah?” ⁸ He said to him, “It is I. Go and tell your lord: ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’ ”

⁹ But he answered, “How have I sinned that you would hand your servant over to Ahab so that he will kill me? ¹⁰ As the Lord, your God, lives, there is no land or kingdom into which my lord has not sent to search for you. When they said, ‘he is not here,’ he made the kingdom and the nation swear an oath that they could not find you. ¹¹ And now you are telling me, ‘Go tell your lord: “Behold, Elijah is here.” ’ ¹² When I have left you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you off to some unknown place. When I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill your servant who has feared the Lord from my youth. ¹³ Has it not been reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and provided them with bread and water? ¹⁴ But now you are telling me, ‘Go, tell your lord: “Behold, Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me.”

¹⁵ Elijah answered, “As the Lord of hosts before whom I stand lives, I will surely show myself to him today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” ¹⁸ He answered, “It is not I who have troubled Israel. It is you and your father’s household who have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and have followed after Baal. ¹⁹ Now send word, and gather together all of Israel for me on Mount Carmel, along with four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of Asherah, those who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

²⁰ Elijah Destroys the Evil Prophets. So Ahab sent word to all of the Israelites, and he gathered together the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah approached all of the people and said, “How long will you be stuck between two points of view? If the Lord is God, then follow him, but if it is Baal, then follow him.” But the people did not say a single thing to him.^[h]

²² Elijah then said to the people, “I am the only prophet of the Lord left, but there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. ²³ Now give us two oxen. They can choose which ox is theirs. Let them cut it up and lay it on the wood, but do not set it on fire. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, but I will not set it on fire. ²⁴ Call on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, that is God.” All of the people answered, “You have spoken well.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You can be the first to choose one of the oxen for yourselves and prepare it because you are more numerous. Call upon the name of your gods, but do not set it on fire.”

²⁶ They took the ox that had been given them, and they prepared it. They called upon the name of Baal from the morning until noontime. They said, “Hear us, O Baal.” But there was no voice, and no one answered. They then leapt around on the altar they had built. ²⁷ At noon, Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry out loud, for he is a god. He might be meditating, or maybe he has gone aside. Perhaps he is on a journey, or maybe he is asleep and needs to be woken up.”

²⁸ So they cried out loud, and they slashed themselves with knives and swords as was their custom until blood gushed out from their bodies. ²⁹ In the afternoon they prophesied until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice, no answer, no one listened.

³⁰ Elijah said to all the people, “Come over here to me.” So all the people went over to him. He repaired the altar of God that had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came saying, “Your name will be Israel.” ³² With the stones he built an altar to the name of the Lord. He dug a trench around the altar deep enough to hold two measures of seed. ³³ He piled up the wood, and cut up the ox into pieces. He laid them on the wood and said, “Fill four barrels with water and pour them on the burnt sacrifice and the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar, and the water filled the trench.

^36 [i]At the hour for the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet drew near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are the God of Israel, and that I am your servant, and I have done all of these things by your command. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me so that this people might know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

³⁸ The fire of the Lord fell down and consumed the burnt offering as well as the wood, the stones, the soil, and even the water that it licked up from the trench. ³⁹ When all of the people saw this, they fell down upon their faces and said, “The Lord is God; the Lord is God!”

⁴⁰ Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Wadi Kishon and killed them there.

⁴¹ Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat, and drink, for I hear the sound of heavy rain.” ⁴² Ahab went to eat and drink, and Elijah climbed up to the top of Carmel. He cast himself down to the ground and placed his face between his knees.

⁴³ He said to his servant, “Go, now, and look out toward the sea.” He went and looked and said, “There is nothing.” Seven times he told him, “Go again.” ⁴⁴ The seventh time he said, “Behold, there is a small cloud like the shape of a man’s hand rising from out of the sea.” He said, “Go tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the skies grew dark with clouds, the wind rose up, and it poured. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ The hand of the Lord was upon Elijah, and he girded up his loins^[j] and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Chapter 19

Elijah Flees to Horeb.^{[k] 1} Now Ahab told Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done, and all about how he had killed all of the prophets by the sword. ² Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, “May the gods do this to me and more if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like their lives.”

³ He rose up and fled for his life, going to Beer-sheba in Judah, and he left his servant there. ⁴ He went a day’s journey off into the desert. He came to a broom tree and sat down under it, and he asked to die. He said, “It is enough, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

⁵ As he lay there, he fell asleep under the broom tree, and, behold, an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ He looked around, and by his head there was a piece of bread that had been cooked on coals and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and then he laid down again.

⁷ The angel of the Lord touched him a second time and said, “Get up and eat, because the journey is too difficult for you.” ⁸ He got up, and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled for forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb. ⁹ He entered a cave and spent the night there. The word of the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰ He answered, “I have been zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant and torn down your altars and killed your prophets by the sword. I am the only survivor, and they are seeking to take my life away.”

¹¹ He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord will pass by.” There was a powerful, strong wind that tore the mountain apart and shattered rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a tiny whisper.

¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. The voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ He answered, “I have been zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant and torn down your altars and killed your prophets by the sword. I am the only survivor, and they are seeking to take my life away.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, return to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael as the king of Aram. ¹⁶ Also, anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as the king of Israel, and anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your stead. ¹⁷ Jehu will put to death those who escape from the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death those who escape from the sword of Jehu. ¹⁸ Yet, I have prepared a remnant in Israel of seven thousand,^[l] none of whom have bent their knees to Baal nor have any of their mouths kissed him.”

¹⁹ Elisha Follows Elijah. So Elijah left that place and found the son of Shaphat who was plowing with twelve yokes of oxen preceding him (he was driving the twelfth pair himself), and he tossed his mantle on him. ²⁰ Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother good-bye and then I will follow you.” But he said, “Go back, what have I done to you?”

²¹ He went back, and took a yoke of oxen and killed them. He used the oxen’s equipment to boil their meat, and he gave it to the people to eat. He then got up and followed Elijah, ministering to him.^[m]

Chapter 20

Ahab’s Victory over the Arameans.^{[n] 1} Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, gathered together his entire army. He had thirty-two kings with him along with their horses and chariots. They went up and besieged Samaria, fighting against it.

² He sent messengers into the city, to Ahab, the king of Israel, saying, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ³ ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, as are the best of your wives and your children.’ ” ⁴ The king of Israel answered, “O king, my lord, I and all that I own are yours.”

⁵ The messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ‘I have sent to you demanding that you send me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ Around this time tomorrow, I will send my servants to you. They will search through your palace and the houses of your servants. They will take hold of whatever they like and carry it away.’ ”

⁷ The king of Israel summoned all of the elders of the land and said, “See how this man is looking for trouble. He sent a message to me seeking my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I did not deny it to him.” ⁸ The elders and all of the people said to him, “Do not listen to him, do not agree!”

⁹ So he replied to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord, the king: ‘Your servant will do everything that you demanded the first time, but I cannot do this thing.’ ” The messengers went away and brought him the answer.

¹⁰ Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, “May the gods do this to me and more if there is enough dust remaining from Samaria to give a handful to each of those who follow me.”^[o]

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, “Say: ‘He who is putting on his armor should not boast like someone who is taking it off.’ ” ¹² He heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in the tents and he said to his servants, “Get ready!” So they prepared to attack the city.

¹³ In the meantime, a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do you see this enormous mob? Behold, I will deliver them into your hands today so that you might know that I am the Lord.’ ” ¹⁴ Ahab said, “Who will do it?” He answered, “Thus says the Lord: ‘The young officers from the provinces.’ ” He asked, “Who should start the battle?” He answered, “You!”^[p]

¹⁵ So he summoned the young officers from the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two of them. Then he counted all of the Israelites there, and there were seven thousand.

¹⁶ They set out at noon when Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings who were helping him were getting drunk in their tents. ¹⁷ The young officers from the provinces went out first. Ben-hadad sent out men who told him, “The men from Samaria are advancing.” ¹⁸ He said, “If they are coming out to make peace, take them alive, and even if they have come out to fight, take them alive.”

¹⁹ And so the young officers from the provinces came out from the city, and the army followed after them. ²⁰ Each of them killed his opponent, and the Arameans fled away with Israel pursuing them. Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse with some of his horsemen.

²¹ The king of Israel went out and defeated the horsemen and the chariots, and he killed a large number of the Arameans. ²² Afterwards, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen yourself, and see what must be done, for next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”

²³ The servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are the gods of the hills. That is why they were stronger than we were. We should fight against them in the plain, and we will surely be stronger than they are. ²⁴ Just do this, remove all of the kings from their command and replace them with the officers. ²⁵ You must assemble an army as large as the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will be able to fight against them in the plain. We will certainly be stronger than they are.” He listened to their advice and followed it.

²⁶ In the spring of the year, Ben-hadad assembled the Arameans and went to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ When the Israelites were assembled and given provisions, they went out against them. The Israelites camped opposite them, and they looked like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.

²⁸ The man of God arrived and spoke to the king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘The Arameans think that the Lord is the God of the hills but not the God of the lowlands. I will therefore deliver this enormous army into your hands, and thus you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

²⁹ They camped opposite one another for seven days, and then on the seventh day they joined in battle. The Israelites killed one hundred thousand of the Aramean infantry in one day. ³⁰ The rest of them escaped into the city of Aphek, but a wall collapsed upon twenty-seven thousand of the survivors.

Ben-hadad fled into the city and hid in an inner room. ³¹ His servants said to him, “Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.” ³² So they put sackcloth around their waists and they put ropes around their heads and they went out to the king of Israel and said, “Ben-hadad said, ‘Please let me live.’ ” He answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”^[q]

³³ The men were listening carefully and they quickly took up his refrain, “Ben-hadad is your brother!” He said, “Go and bring him here.” When Ben-hadad came out to him, he had him join him in the chariot.

³⁴ Ben-hadad said to him, “I will give back the cities that my father took from your father. You can set up marketplaces in Damascus just like my father did in Samaria.” He answered, “I will release you on the basis of this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and released him.

³⁵ Ahab Is Condemned by a Prophet.^[r] One of the sons of the prophets, inspired by the word of the Lord, said to his companion, “Please strike me,” but the man refused to strike him. ³⁶ So he said to him, “You have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, so as soon as you leave me, you will be killed by a lion.” As soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷ The prophet found another man and said, “Please strike me.” So the man struck and wounded him. ³⁸ The prophet left and waited for the king along the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.

³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried out to the king, “Your servant went out into the heat of the battle. A man came over and brought a man to me saying, ‘Guard this man. If he escapes, then you will pay a life for a life, or else you will have to pay a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰ While your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.” The king of Israel said to him, “That will be your judgment; you have decided it for yourself.” ⁴¹ He quickly removed the bandage from his face, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. ⁴² He then said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have released from your hands a man whom I had designated for total destruction, your life will stand for his life, your people for his people.’ ” ⁴³ The king of Israel, therefore, returned to his palace deeply troubled, and he arrived in Samaria.

Chapter 21

Naboth’s Vineyard. ¹ After these things, it happened that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel near the palace of Ahab, the king of Samaria. ² Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard so that I can use it as a vegetable garden since it is next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will pay you its worth in money.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

^4 [s]So Ahab entered his palace furious that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had said to him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He laid down upon his bed and turned his face away, refusing to eat anything.

⁵ Jezebel his wife entered and said to him, “Why is your spirit so depressed that you refuse to eat anything?” ⁶ He said to her, “It is because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and I said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard in exchange for money, or, if you like, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ But he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷ Jezebel, his wife, said to him, “Do you not reign over the kingdom of Israel? Get up and eat something. Cheer up, and I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote some letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city. ⁹ In the letters she wrote, “Proclaim a fast, and have Naboth sit in a prominent place among the people. ¹⁰ But place two sons of Belial opposite him to bear false witness, saying, ‘You blasphemed God and the king.’ Then carry him out and stone him to death.”

¹¹ So the men in his city, the elders, and the nobles who lived in his city did what had been written in the letters that had been sent to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and had Naboth sit in a prominent place among the people. ¹³ Two men then came in, sons of Belial, and they sat opposite him. The sons of Belial bore witness before the people saying, “Naboth blasphemed God and the king.” They carried him out of the city and they stoned him to death.

¹⁴ They then sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned to death.” ¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Get up, and take possession of the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you. Naboth is no longer alive; he is dead.” ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up and went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Get up, and go down to meet Ahab, the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. He is now in the vineyard of Naboth. He had gone down there to take possession of it. ¹⁹ Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you killed someone to take possession of his property?” ’ Say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your blood as well.” ’ ”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy.” He answered, “I have found you because you have sold yourself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord: ²¹ ‘Behold, I will bring disaster down upon you. I will consume your descendants and I will cut off from Ahab all of those who pee against the wall, whether slave or free. 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, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ ²³ And of Jezebel the Lord says, ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel.’ ²⁴ Those who belong to Ahab and who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”

²⁵ There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel, his wife. ²⁶ He was detestable in the way that he followed after idols, just as the Amorites had whom the Lord had cast out from before the Israelites.

²⁷ When Ahab heard these things, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay in sackcloth, and went around in mourning. ²⁸ The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster during his days. I will bring disaster upon his house during the days of his son.”

Chapter 22

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab. ¹ For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. ² But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. ³ The king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead belongs to us? We have kept quiet and have not taken it out of the hands of the king of Aram.” ⁴ He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go to Ramoth-gilead to fight with me?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am yours, and my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.”

⁵ Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire today concerning the word of the Lord.” ^6 [t]The king of Israel gathered together the prophets, four hundred of them, and he said to them, “Shall I go up to fight at Ramoth-gilead or shall I desist?” They answered, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into your hands.”

⁷ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not another prophet of the Lord from whom we can inquire?” ⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good things for me, only evil. He is Micaiah, the son of Imlah.” Jehoshaphat said, “Let the king not say this.” ⁹ The king of Israel summoned an officer and said to him, “Rush over to Micaiah, the son of Imlah.”

¹⁰ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were sitting upon their thrones, wearing their robes, at a threshing floor at the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All of the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹ Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made some iron horns for himself and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You will gore the Arameans^[u] with these until they are consumed.’ ” ¹² All the prophets prophesied in the same way, saying, “Go to Ramoth-gilead and triumph! The Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king.”

¹³ Micaiah Prophesies Doom. The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets are consistently favorable to the king. Let your pronouncement be like their words and speak favorably.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I will only say what the Lord says to me.”

¹⁵ When he arrived before the king and the king said to Micaiah, “Shall we go to fight at Ramoth-gilead or shall we desist,” he answered, “Go and triumph, for the Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king.” ¹⁶ But the king said to him, “How many times do I have to warn you not to tell me anything in the name of the Lord other than what is true.” ¹⁷ So he said, “I saw all of Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These have no master, let them return to their homes in peace.’ ”^[v]

¹⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you, he will not prophesy what is good for me, only what is evil?”

¹⁹ He said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, with all of the hosts of heaven standing on his right and his left. ²⁰ The Lord said, ‘Who will convince Ahab to go up to Ramoth-gilead so that he might fall?’ One said one thing, another said another. ²¹ Then a spirit came forth and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will convince him.’ ²² The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and put a lying spirit in the mouths of all of his prophets.’ He said, ‘You must convince him too, and you will succeed. Go and do it.’ ²³ Now therefore, the Lord has put a lying spirit into the mouths of all of these prophets. The Lord has spoken evil concerning you.”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, approached Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. He said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord depart from me to speak to you?” ²⁵ Micaiah answered, “Behold, the day will come when you will enter an inner chamber to hide yourself.”

²⁶ The king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah and take him to Amon, the city leader, and to Joash, the king’s son ²⁷ and say, ‘Thus says the king: Put this man in prison and feed him with punishment rations of bread and give him punishment rations of water to drink until I return in safety.’ ” ²⁸ Micaiah said, “If you return in safety, then the Lord has not spoken through me.” He also added, “Listen, all you people!”

²⁹ Ahab’s Death. 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 go into battle disguised, but you go into battle dressed in your robes.” So the king of Israel went into battle disguised.

³¹ Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of his thirty-two chariots, “Do not fight with the small nor the great; save yourselves for the king of Israel.” ³² When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “This is certainly the king of Israel.” They turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, ³³ the captains of the chariots realized that it was not the king of Israel. They turned away from pursuing him.

³⁴ But someone drew his bow, and by chance he hit the king of Israel in the joints of his armor. He said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”^{[w] 35} As the battle grew more savage that day, they propped the king up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound dripped onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.

³⁶ As the sun was setting, there was a cry that spread through the army: “Everyone to his own city, everyone to his own land.” ³⁷ And so the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ Someone washed out the chariot at the pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while the prostitutes were bathing. This fulfilled what the word of the Lord had said.

³⁹ Are not the rest of the deeds of Ahab and all that he did, the ivory house and all of the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his stead.

⁴¹ Jehoshaphat’s Reign. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, began to reign during the fourth year of the reign of Ahab, the king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ^43 [x]He walked in the ways of Asa, his father. He did not turn away from them, from doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. Still, he did not do away with the high places, and the people offered sacrifices and burned incense upon the high places. ⁴⁴ Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ Are not the rest of the deeds of Jehoshaphat, his achievements, and how he fought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

⁴⁶ As to the rest of the sacred prostitutes who remained in the days of Asa his father, he expelled them from the land. ⁴⁷ There was no king in Edom, only a representative of the king.

⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat built merchant ships that went to Ophir for gold, but in fact they never sailed, for the ships sank at Ezion-geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, “Let your servants go with my servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not allow it.

⁵⁰ Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the City of David, his father, and then Jehoram, his son, reigned in his stead.

⁵¹ Ahaziah’s Reign. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria during the seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. He reigned over Israel for two years. ⁵² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. ⁵³ He served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel to anger, just as his father had.

Chapter 1

Ahaziah Consults Baal-zebub. ¹ After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel.

² Now Ahaziah had fallen down through the lattice of his upper chamber in Samaria and he was injured, so he sent messengers, saying, “Go to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to inquire as to whether I will recover from this illness or not.”^[y]

³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the king of Samaria’s messengers and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no god in Israel that you are going to make inquiry of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Therefore, thus says the Lord: You shall not rise from the bed on which you lie; you will surely die.” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ The messengers then returned to him. He said to them, “Why have you come back?” ⁶ They answered him, “A man came up to meet us and he said, ‘Return to the king who sent you and say: Thus says the Lord: Is it because there is no god in Israel that you have sent to make inquiry of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? You shall not rise from the bed on which you lie; you will surely die.’ ”

⁷ The king asked them, “What sort of man was this who came up to meet you and who said these words to you?” ⁸ They replied, “He was wearing a garment made from hair^[z] and a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It was Elijah the Tishbite!”

⁹ The king then sent a captain of fifty along with his fifty men. He went up to him, and he found him sitting on a hilltop. He said to him, “O man of God, the king orders you, ‘Come down!’ ” ¹⁰ Elijah answered the captain of the fifty men, saying, “If I am truly a man of God, then let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty men.” Fire then came down from the heavens and it consumed him and his fifty men.

¹¹ He sent another captain of fifty along with his fifty men. He said to him, “O man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’ ” ¹² Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty men.” Then God’s fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹³ And so a third time he sent a captain of fifty along with his fifty men. The third captain of the fifty came and fell on his knees before Elijah and pleaded with him saying, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants, be considered to be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire has come down from the heavens, and it has consumed the previous two captains of the fifty along with their fifty men. Let my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So he went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ He said to the king, “Thus says the Lord: Is it because there is no God in Israel of whom you can inquire that you have sent messengers to make inquiry of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Because of this, you shall not rise from the bed on which you lie. You will surely die!”

¹⁷ He died, fulfilling the word of the Lord that Elijah had proclaimed. Because he had no son, Joram reigned in his stead during the second year of the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. ¹⁸ As for the rest of the deeds of Ahaziah, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Stories of Elisha and Joram

Chapter 2

Elijah Is Taken to Heaven.^{[aa] 1} Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal when the Lord was about to take Elijah into heaven in a whirlwind. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Wait here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha answered, “As the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³ The sons of the prophets came forth from Bethel to Elisha and they said to him, “Do you know that today is the day that the Lord is going to take away your master who is over you?” Elisha answered, “Yes, I know it. Be quiet!”

⁴ Elijah then said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he answered, “As the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

⁵ The sons of the prophets in Jericho came to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today is the day that the Lord is going to take away your master who is over you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet!”

⁶ Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” He answered, “As the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now fifty of the sons of the prophets went out and watched from a distance as the two of them stood at the Jordan. ⁸ Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up. He struck the waters with it, and they split apart, so the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah. ⁹ After they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me for whatever you want before I am taken away.” Elisha said, “Let me please have a double portion^[ab] of your spirit.” ¹⁰ He answered, “You have asked for something that is difficult. If you see me taken away from you, then it will be yours. If not, then it will not be so.”

¹¹ As they were walking along talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up into the heavens in a whirlwind. ¹² Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” And then he could not see him anymore. He took hold of his clothes and tore them apart.^[ac]

¹³ He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen off of him, and he went back and stood by the banks of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen off of him, and he struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When Elisha struck the waters, they split apart and he crossed over.

¹⁵ The sons of the prophets from Jericho who had been watching said, “The spirit of Elijah has come to rest upon Elisha.” They came out to meet him, and they bowed down to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Behold, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Let them go out and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on a mountain or in some valley.” But he answered, “Do not send them.”

¹⁷ They continued to insist until he became embarrassed and he said, “Send them.” The fifty men searched for three days, but they did not find him. ¹⁸ When they came back to him in Jericho where he was staying, he said to them, “Did I not tell you that you should not go?”

¹⁹ Healing the Water. The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, this city is in a pleasant location, as my lord sees, but the water is bad and the ground is barren.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ He went out to the spring of water, and he threw the salt into it, saying, “Thus says the Lord: I have healed these waters. They shall never again produce death or make the land barren.” ²² The waters have remained healed up to the present day, just as Elisha had declared.

^23 [ad]From there he traveled to Bethel. As he was on his way, some little children came out of the city and they mocked him crying out, “Go away, baldy! Go away, baldy!” ²⁴ He turned around and stared at them. He cursed them in the name of the Lord. Two female bears came out from the woods and mauled the children, forty-two of them.

²⁵ From there he went to Mount Carmel, and then he returned to Samaria.

Chapter 3

Joram’s Campaign against Moab. ¹ Joram, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. ² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as bad as his father and his mother. He removed the idol of Baal that his father had made. ³ Still, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, causing Israel to sin. He did not turn away from them.

⁴ Mesha, the king of Moab, tended sheep. He had to give the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool from one hundred thousand sheep. ⁵ When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶ King Joram went out from Samaria and he gathered together all of Israel. ⁷ He sent this message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you not go out with me to fight against Moab?” He answered, “I will go. My people are your people, and my horses are your horses.” ⁸ He said, “By which way should we go up?” He answered, “By way of the Desert of Edom.”

⁹ The king of Israel went out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They wandered around for seven days, but there was no water for the army or the animals that followed them. ¹⁰ The king of Israel said, “What? Has the Lord called three kings together only to hand them over into the hands of Moab?” ¹¹ Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord so that we can inquire of the Lord through him?” A servant of the king of Israel answered, “There is Elisha, the son of Shaphat. He used to pour water onto the hands of Elijah.”^{[ae] 12} Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.”

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³ But Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do you and I have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother.” The king of Israel said, “No, the Lord called together these three kings to deliver them into the hands of Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, if it were not for the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not even look at you or take notice of you. ¹⁵ Now, bring a harpist to me.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ He said, “Thus says the Lord: Fill this valley with ditches. ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: You will see neither wind nor rain, but this valley will fill up with water for you and your animals to drink. ¹⁸ This will be easy for the Lord, and he will also hand over the Moabites into your hands. ¹⁹ You will overthrow every fortified city and every larger city. You will cut down every good tree, stop up every well, and scatter stones in every good field.”

²⁰ In the morning while they were offering a sacrifice, water came flowing from Edom. The land was filled with water. ²¹ The Moabites heard that the kings were coming to fight against them, and they gathered together everyone who was old enough to put on armor and older and they stationed them on the border.

²² When they got up in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw that the water on the other side was as red as blood.^{[af] 23} They said, “This is blood. Surely the kings have attacked and killed one another. To the spoil, Moab!”

²⁴ When they arrived at the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and defeated the Moabites who fled before them. They pushed forward, cutting down the Moabites. ²⁵ They then destroyed the cities, and each cast his stone onto a good piece of land, filling it in. They stopped up all of the wells, and they cut down all of the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir-hareseth, although the slingers surrounded and attacked it.

²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took seven hundred swordsmen with him to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. ²⁷ They took his oldest son who would have reigned in his stead, and they offered him up as a burnt offering upon the wall. They were furious at Israel. They departed and returned to their own land.

Chapter 4

The Widow’s Oil.^{[ag] 1} Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant lived in fear of the Lord. His creditor is coming to take away his two sons to be his slaves.” ² Elisha said, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have at home?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing at home except for a flask of oil.” ³ He said, “Go around and borrow jars from all of your neighbors. Empty jars, and not too few of them. ⁴ Then go inside, and shut the door behind you and your sons. Fill all of those jars, and when a jar is full, set it to the side.”

⁵ So she left him, and she shut the door behind her and her sons who had brought her jars, and she kept pouring. ⁶ When all of the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.” He said, “There are no more jars,” and then the oil stopped flowing.

⁷ She went and recounted it to the man of God, and he said, “Go and sell the oil and pay your debt. You and your children can live on what is left over.”

Elisha and the Shunammite.^{[ah] 8} One day Elisha traveled to Shunem.^[ai] There was an important woman there, and she insisted that he stop to eat. Whenever he passed by there, he would stop to eat.

⁹ She said to her husband, “Behold, this man who often visits us is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ We should prepare a small room on the roof, and place a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it for him. Then he can stay there when he visits us.”

¹¹ One day he arrived, and he went into the room to lie down. ¹² He said to Gehazi, his servant, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³ He said to him, “Say to her, ‘You have put yourself through all this trouble for us. What could be done for you? Should we speak to the king or the commander of the army for you?’ ” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

¹⁴ He said, “Then what can be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “She and her husband are old, and they have no children.” ¹⁵ Elisha said, “Summon her.” He called her and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ He said, “You will embrace a son around this time next year.” She said, “No, my lord, O man of God. Do not lie to your servant.”

¹⁷ The woman became pregnant, and she had a son that time the next year, just as Elisha had predicted. ¹⁸ The child grew up, and one day he went out to his father who was with the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head! My head!” He said to a young man, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ He picked him up and brought him to his mother. He sat on her lap until noon when he died.

²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed belonging to the man of God. She closed him in the room and went out. ²² She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys so that I can hurry to the man of God and return.” ²³ He said, “Why would you go today? It is not a new moon or the Sabbath.” But she said, “It is all right.”^[aj]

²⁴ She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on, and do not slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she departed and came to the man of God on Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, it is the Shunammite. ²⁶ Run to her and say to her, ‘Is everything all right? Is your husband well? Is your child well?’ ” She answered, “It is all right.”

²⁷ When she reached the man of God on the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. Her spirit is in despair, but the Lord had hidden it from me and did not tell me.”

²⁸ She said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not lie to me.’ ”

²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hands, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him. And if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff upon the child’s face.”^{[ak] 30} But the boy’s mother said, “As the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

³¹ Gehazi went on before them, and he laid the staff upon the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. He went out to meet him, and he said to him, “The child did not wake up.”

³² When Elisha arrived at the house, the child was lying dead upon his bed. ³³ He went in, and he shut the door on the two of them, and then he prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ He got up and lay upon the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, and hands to hands. He stretched himself out upon the child, and the child’s flesh grew warm. ³⁵ He turned and walked back and forth in the room, and then he went and stretched himself out again. The boy sneezed seven times, and then the boy opened his eyes.

³⁶ Elisha called for Gehazi, and he said, “Call this Shunammite.” He called her, and she came, and he said to her, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came in and bowed down, falling to the ground at Elisha’s feet. She then took her son and left.