1 Kings 19–20

Elijah’s Journey to Horeb

19Ahab told Jezebel ^eeverything that Elijah had done ^fand how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ^g2So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely ^hif I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”

³Then Elijah became afraid ^ijand immediately ran for his life. ^kWhen he came to Beer-sheba ^lthat belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, ^m4but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree ⁿand prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, ^ofor I’m no better than my fathers.” ⁵Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.

Suddenly, an angel touched him. ^pThe 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. ^qSo he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷Then the angel of the Lord ^rreturned 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 40 days and 40 nights ^sto Horeb, the mountain of God. ^t9He entered a cave ^uthere and spent the night.

Elijah’s Encounter with the Lord

Then the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ^v

¹⁰He replied, “I have been very zealous ^wfor the Lord God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, ^xtorn down Your altars, ^yand killed Your prophets ^zwith the sword. I alone am left, ^aand they are looking for me to take my life.” ^b

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

At that moment, the Lord passed by. ^dA great and mighty wind ^ewas 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, ^fbut the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake there was a fire, ^gbut the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. ^h13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle ⁱand 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 Hosts,” 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.” ^j

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 ^kas king over Aram. ¹⁶You are to anoint Jehu ^lson of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha ^mson of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. ¹⁷Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, ⁿand Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. ^o18But I will leave 7,000 in Israel ^p—every knee that has not bowed to Baal ^qand every mouth that has not kissed him.” ^r

Elisha’s Appointment as Elijah’s Successor

¹⁹Elijah left there and found Elisha ^sson 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. ^t20Elisha left the oxen, ran to follow Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you.” ^u

“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 them. With the oxen’s wooden yoke and plow, ^vhe cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he left, followed Elijah, and served him. ^w

Victory over Ben-hadad

20Now Ben-hadad ^xking of Aram assembled his entire army. Thirty-two kings, ^yalong with horses and chariots, were with him. He marched up, besieged Samaria, ^zand fought against it. ²He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king 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!’ ” ^a

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, 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, “Think it over and you will see that this one is only looking for trouble, ^bfor 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 ^cif Samaria’s dust ^damounts 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 ^elike the one who takes it off.’ ”

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

¹³A prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Watch, I am handing it over to you today so that you may know that I am Yahweh.’ ” ^g

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?” ^h

He said, “You.”

¹⁵So Ahab counted the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232. After them he counted all the Israelite troops: 7,000. ⁱ¹⁶They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings ^jwho were helping him were getting drunk in the tents. 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.” ^k

¹⁸So he said, “If they have marched out in peace, ^ltake 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. ^mSo the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, ⁿbut Ben-hadad king 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 great slaughter on Aram.

²²The prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go and strengthen yourself, then consider what you should do, for in the spring ^othe king of Aram will march against you.”

²³Now the king of Aram’s servants said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hill country. ^pThat’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 will be. 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 will be.” The king listened to them and did so.

²⁶In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek ^qto 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. ^r

²⁸Then the man of God ^sapproached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said: Yahweh is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys, ^tI will hand over all this great army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” ^u

²⁹They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, ^vthe battle took place, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—100,000 foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰The ones who remained fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell on those 27,000 remaining men.

Ben-hadad also fled and went into an inner room ^win 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 ^xand 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 ^yand 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, ^zand you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.” ^a

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 ^bsaid 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 voice of the Lord, mark my words: When you leave me, a lion will kill you.” ^cWhen he left him, a lion attacked and killed him.

³⁷The prophet found another man and said to him, “Strike…