1 Kings 19–20

ELIJAH’S JOURNEY TO HOREB

19Ahab told Jezebel^v everything that Elijah had done^w and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.^{x 2}So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely^y if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”

³Then Elijah became afraid^Az and immediately ran for his life.^aa When he came to Beer-sheba^ab that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there,^{ac 4}but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree^ad and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life,^ae for I’m no better than my ancestors.” ⁵Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.

Suddenly, an angel touched him.^af The angel told him, “Get up and eat.” ⁶Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water.^ag So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷Then the angel of the Lord^ah returned for a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” ⁸So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked forty days and forty nights^ai to Horeb, the mountain of God.^{aj 9}He entered a cave^ak there and spent the night.

ELIJAH’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE LORD

Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”^al

¹⁰He replied, “I have been very zealous^am for the Lord God of Armies, but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant,^an torn down your altars,^ao and killed your prophets^a with the sword. I alone am left,^b and they are looking for me to take my life.”^c

¹¹Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”^d

At that moment, the Lord passed by.^e A great and mighty wind^f was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake,^g but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake there was a fire,^h but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.^{i 13}When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle^j and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Suddenly, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴“I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Armies,” he replied, “but the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they’re looking for me to take my life.”^k

¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, “Go and return by the way you came to the Wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael^l as king over Aram. ¹⁶You are to anoint Jehu^m son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elishaⁿ son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael,^o and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.^{p 18}But I will leave seven thousand in Israel^q—every knee that has not bowed to Baal^r and every mouth that has not kissed him.”^s

ELISHA’S APPOINTMENT AS ELIJAH’S SUCCESSOR

¹⁹Elijah left there and found Elisha^t son of Shaphat as he was plowing. Twelve teams of oxen were in front of him, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah walked by him and threw his mantle over him.^{u 20}Elisha left the oxen, ran to follow Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you.”^v

“Go on back,” he replied, “for what have I done to you?”

²¹So he turned back from following him, took the team of oxen, and slaughtered^A them. With the oxen’s wooden yoke and plow,^w he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he left, followed Elijah, and served him.^x

VICTORY OVER BEN-HADAD

20Now King Ben-hadad^y of Aram assembled his entire army. Thirty-two kings,^z along with horses and chariots, were with him. He marched up, besieged Samaria,^aa and fought against it. ²He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel and said to him, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ³‘Your silver and your gold are mine! And your best wives and children are mine as well!’ ”^ab

⁴Then the king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”

⁵The messengers then returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have sent messengers to you, saying, “You are to give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.” ⁶But at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you,^Aac and they will search your palace and your servants’ houses. They will lay their hands on and take away whatever is precious to you.’ ”

⁷Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Recognize^B that this one is only looking for trouble,^ad for he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn’t turn him down.”

⁸All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen or agree.”

⁹So he said to Ben-hadad’s messengers, “Say to my lord the king, ‘Everything you demanded of your servant the first time, I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ ” So the messengers left and took word back to him.

¹⁰Then Ben-hadad sent messengers to him and said, “May the gods punish me and do so severely^ae if Samaria’s dust^af amounts to a handful for each of the people who follow me.”

¹¹The king of Israel answered, “Say this: ‘Don’t let the one who puts on his armor boast^ag like the one who takes it off.’ ”

¹²When Ben-hadad heard this response, while he and the kings were drinking^ah in their quarters, he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they took their positions against the city.

¹³A prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this whole huge army? Watch, I am handing it over to you today so that you may know that I am the Lord.’ ”^a

¹⁴Ahab asked, “By whom?”

And the prophet said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘By the young men of the provincial leaders.’ ”

Then he asked, “Who is to start the battle?”^b

He said, “You.”

¹⁵So Ahab mobilized the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232. After them he mobilized all the Israelite troops: 7,000.^{c 16}They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings^d who were helping him were getting drunk in their quarters. ¹⁷The young men of the provincial leaders marched out first. Then Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, saying, “Men are marching out of Samaria.”^e

¹⁸So he said, “If they have marched out in peace,^f take them alive, and if they have marched out for battle, take them alive.”

¹⁹The young men of the provincial leaders and the army behind them marched out from the city, ²⁰and each one struck down his opponent.^g So the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them,^h but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. ²¹Then the king of Israel marched out and attacked the cavalry and the chariots. He inflicted a severe slaughter on Aram.

²²The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and strengthen yourself, then consider carefully^A what you should do, for in the springⁱ the king of Aram will attack you.”

²³Now the king of Aram’s servants said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hill country.^j That’s why they were stronger than we were. Instead, we should fight with them on the plain; then we will certainly be stronger than they are. ²⁴Also do this: remove each king from his position and appoint captains in their place. ²⁵Raise another army for yourself like the army you lost—horse for horse, chariot for chariot—and let’s fight with them on the plain; and we will certainly be stronger than they are.” The king listened to them and did it.

²⁶In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek^k to battle Israel. ²⁷The Israelites mobilized, gathered supplies, and went to fight them. The Israelites camped in front of them like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the landscape.^l

²⁸Then the man of God^m approached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,”ⁿ I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”^o

²⁹They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day,^p the battle took place, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰The ones who remained fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on those twenty-seven thousand remaining men.

Ben-hadad also fled and went into an inner room^q in the city. ³¹His servants said to him, “Consider this: we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. So let’s put sackcloth around our waists^r and ropes around our heads, and let’s go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

³²So they dressed with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’ ”

So he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, so they quickly picked up on this^B and responded, “Yes, it is your brother Ben-hadad.”

Then he said, “Go and bring him.”

So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into the chariot. ³⁴Then Ben-hadad said to him, “I restore to you the cities that my father took from your father,^s and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.”^t

Ahab responded, “On the basis of this treaty, I release you.” So he made a treaty with him and released him.

AHAB REBUKED BY THE LORD

³⁵One of the sons of the prophets^u said to his fellow prophet by the word of the Lord, “Strike me!” But the man refused to strike him.

³⁶He told him, “Because you did not listen to the Lord, mark my words: When you leave me, a lion will kill you.”^v When he left him, a lion…