018:004 for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh,
that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty
in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
018:005 Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the springs
of water, and to all the brooks: peradventure we may find
grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose
all the animals.
018:006 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it:
Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another
way by himself.
018:007 As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him:
and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you,
my lord Elijah?
018:008 He answered him, It is I: go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is
here].
018:009 He said, Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver your
servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
018:010 As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom,
where my lord has not sent to seek you: and when they said,
He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation,
that they didn't find you.
018:011 Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].
018:012 It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit
of Yahweh will carry you I don't know where; and so when I
come and tell Ahab, and he can't find you, he will kill me:
but I your servant fear Yahweh from my youth.
018:013 Wasn't it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets
of Yahweh, how I hid one hundred men of Yahweh's prophets
by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
018:014 Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is here];
and he will kill me.
018:015 Elijah said, As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand,
I will surely show myself to him today.
018:016 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went
to meet Elijah.
018:017 It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him,
Is it you, you troubler of Israel?
018:018 He answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your
father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments
of Yahweh, and you have followed the Baals.
018:019 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel,
and the prophets of Baal four hundred fifty, and the prophets
of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table.
018:020 So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered
the prophets together to Mount Carmel.
018:021 Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you
waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him;
but if Baal, then follow him." The people answered him
not a word.
018:022 Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet
of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men.
018:023 Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull
for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood,
and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull,
and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under.
018:024 You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name
of Yahweh; and the God who answers by fire, let him be God."
All the people answered, "It is well said."
018:025 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull
for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many;
and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."
018:026 They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it,
and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying,
Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered.
They leaped about the altar which was made.
018:027 It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud;
for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside,
or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps and
must be awakened.
018:028 They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner
with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.
018:029 It was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until
the time of the offering of the [evening] offering; but there
was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any who regarded.
018:030 Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all
the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh
that was thrown down.
018:031 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes
of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh came, saying,
Israel shall be your name.
018:032 With the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh;
and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would
contain two measures of seed.
018:033 He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces,
and laid it on the wood. He said, Fill four jars with water,
and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.
018:034 He said, Do it the second time; and they did it the second time.
He said, Do it the third time; and they did it the third time.
018:035 The water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench
also with water.
018:036 It happened at the time of the offering of the [evening] offering,
that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Yahweh, the God
of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this
day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant,
and that I have done all these things at your word.
018:037 Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know
that you, Yahweh, are God, and [that] you have turned their
heart back again.
018:038 Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and consumed the burnt offering,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up
the water that was in the trench.
018:039 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces:
and they said, Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God.
018:040 and Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal; don't let
one of them escape. They took them; and Elijah brought them
down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
018:041 Elijah said to Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there
is the sound of abundance of rain.
018:042 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top
of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put
his face between his knees.
018:043 He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.
He went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing.
He said, Go again seven times.
018:044 It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold,
a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea."
He said, Go up, tell Ahab, Make ready [your chariot],
and get you down, that the rain not stop you.
018:045 It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black
with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.
Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel:
018:046 and the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; and he girded up his waist,
and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
019:001 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had
killed all the prophets with the sword.
019:002 Then Jezebel send a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let
the gods do to me, and more also, if I don't make your life
as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
019:003 When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came
to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
019:004 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 Yahweh,
take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
019:005 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold,
an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise and eat.
019:006 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.
019:007 The angel of Yahweh came again the second time, and touched him,
and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.
019:008 He arose, and ate and drink, and went in the strength of that
food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the Mount of God.
019:009 He came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold,
the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, What are
you doing here, Elijah?
019:010 He said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies;
for the children of Israel 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.
019:011 He said, Go forth, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.
Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore
the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh;
but Yahweh was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake;
but Yahweh was not in the earthquake:
019:012 and after the earthquake a fire; but Yahweh was not in the fire:
and after the fire a still small voice.
019:013 It was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face
in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance
of the cave. Behold, there came a voice to him, and said,
What are you doing here, Elijah?
019:014 He said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies;
for the children of Israel 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.
019:015 Yahweh said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness
of Damascus: and when you come, you shall anoint Hazael
to be king over Syria;
019:016 and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel;
and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah shall you anoint
to be prophet in your room.
019:017 It shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword of Hazael
shall Jehu kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu
shall Elisha kill.
019:018 Yet will I leave [me] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees
which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has
not kissed him.
019:019 So he departed there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat,
who was plowing, with twelve yoke [of oxen] before him,
and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed over to him,
and cast his mantle on him.
019:020 He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, 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?
019:021 He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen,
and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments
of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate.
Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.
020:001 Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together;
and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots:
and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
020:002 He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city,
and said to him, Thus says Ben Hadad,
020:003 Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children,
even the best, are mine.
020:004 The king of Israel answered, It is according to your saying,
my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have.
020:005 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;
020:006 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.
020:007 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land,
and said, Please notice how this man seeks mischief:
for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children,
and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him.
020:008 All the elders and all the people said to him, Don't you
listen, neither consent.
020:009 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.
020:010 Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me,
and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls
for all the people who follow me.
020:011 The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Don't let him who girds
on [his armor] boast himself as he who puts it off.
020:012 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.
020:013 Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said,
Thus says Yahweh, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold,
I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know
that I am Yahweh.
020:014 Ahab said, By whom? He said, Thus says Yahweh, By the young
men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall
begin the battle? He answered, You.
020:015 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 Israel,
being seven thousand.
020:016 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.
020:017 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 Samaria.
020:018 He said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive,
or whether they are come out for war, taken them alive.
020:019 So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes
of the provinces, and the army which followed them.
020:020 They killed everyone his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel
pursued them: and Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on
a horse with horsemen.
020:021 The king of Israel went out, and struck the horses and chariots,
and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.
020:022 The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him,
Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do;
for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come
up against you.
020:023 The servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their god is
a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we:
but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we
shall be stronger than they.
020:024 Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place,
and put captains in their room;
020:025 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.
020:026 It happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered
the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
020:027 The children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned,
and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped
before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians
filled the country.
020:028 A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel,
and said, Thus says Yahweh, Because the Syrians have said,
Yahweh 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 Yahweh.
020:029 They encamped one over against the other seven days.
So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined;
and the children of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred
thousand footmen in one day.
020:030 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell
on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled,
and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
020:031 His servants said to him, See now, we have heard that
the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings:
let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our bodies,
and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel:
peradventure he will save your life.
020:032 So they girded sackcloth on their bodies, and [put] ropes
on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said,
Your servant Ben Hadad says, please let me live.
He said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
020:033 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.
020:034 [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 Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.
I, [said Ahab], will let you go with this covenant.
So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
020:035 A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow
by the word of Yahweh, Please strike me. The man refused
to strike him.
020:036 Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice
of Yahweh, 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.
020:037 Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me.
The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.
020:038 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way,
and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.
020:039 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.
020:040 As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.
The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be;
yourself have decided it.
020:041 He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes;
and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
020:042 He said to him, Thus says Yahweh, 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.
020:043 The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry,
and came to Samaria.
021:001 It happened after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite
had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace
of Ahab king of Samaria.
021:002 Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may
have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house;
and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it:
or, if it seem good to you, I will give you the worth
of it in money.
021:003 Naboth said to Ahab, Yahweh forbid it me, that I should give
the inheritance of my fathers to you.
021:004 Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word
which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said,
I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.
He laid him down on his bed, and turned away his face,
and would eat no bread.
021:005 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is your
spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?
021:006 He said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite,
and said to him, Give me your vineyard for money; or else,
if it please you, I will give you [another] vineyard for it:
and he answered, I will not give you my vineyard.
021:007 Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now govern the kingdom
of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry:
I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
021:008 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal,
and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were
in his city, [and] who lived with Naboth.
021:009 She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set
Naboth on high among the people:
021:010 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.
021:011 The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived
in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according as it
was written in the letters which she had sent to them.
021:012 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
021:013 The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him:
and the base fellows bore witness against him, even against Naboth,
in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did curse God
and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city,
and stoned him to death with stones.
021:014 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned,
and is dead.
021:015 It happened, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned,
and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession
of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused
to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
021:016 It happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab
rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.
021:017 The word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
021:018 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria:
behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone
down to take possession of it.
021:019 You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, Have you
killed and also taken possession? You shall speak to him,
saying, Thus says Yahweh, In the place where dogs licked
the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours.
021:020 Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, my enemy?
He answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself
to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh.
021:021 Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you
away and will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against
a wall,{or, male} and him who is shut up and him who is left
at large in Israel:
021:022 and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah
for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger,
and have made Israel to sin.
021:023 Of Jezebel also spoke Yahweh, saying, The dogs shall eat
Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
021:024 Him who dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat;
and him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat.
021:025 (But there was none like Ahab, who did sell himself to do
that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel
his wife stirred up.
021:026 He did very abominably in following idols, according to
all that the Amorites did, whom Yahweh cast out before
the children of Israel.)
021:027 It happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes,
and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth,
and went softly.
021:028 The word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
021:029 See you how Ahab humbles himself before me? because he humbles
himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days;
but in his son's days will I bring the evil on his house.
022:001 They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
022:002 It happened in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king
of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
022:003 The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that
Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we are still, and don't take it
out of the hand of the king of Syria?"
022:004 He said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to battle to
Ramoth Gilead? Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am
as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
022:005 Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Please inquire first
for the word of Yahweh.
022:006 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together,
about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go
against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?
They said, Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand
of the king.
022:007 But Jehoshaphat said, Isn't there here a prophet of Yahweh besides,
that we may inquire of him?
022:008 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man
by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah:
but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me,
but evil. Jehoshaphat said, "Don't let the king say so."
022:009 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Get quickly
Micaiah the son of Imlah.
022:010 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes,
in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria;
and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
022:011 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said,
Thus says Yahweh, With these shall you push the Syrians,
until they be consumed.
022:012 All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead,
and prosper; for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand