1 Kings 20:35–22:8

35 And a certain man of ythe sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour zin the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. 36 Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, aa lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, †so that in smiting he wounded him. 38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and bdisguised himself with ashes upon his face. 39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then cshall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt †pay a talent of silver. 40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, †he was gone. And dthe king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and dthe king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. 42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, eBecause thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 43 And dthe king of Israel went fto his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.

21 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in aJezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 *And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, bGive me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it †seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, cthat I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. 4 And Ahab came dinto his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? 6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. 7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let ethine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 8 So she wrote letters fin Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto gthe elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth †on high among the people: 10 And set two men, hsons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, iThou didst jblaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12 kThey proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 And there came in two men, gchildren of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did jblaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. 15 And it came to pass, 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 thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 16 And it came to pass, 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.

17 And lthe word of the Lord came to Elijah mthe Tishbite, saying, 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in nSamaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. 19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, oIn the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, pHast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast qsold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, rI will bring evil upon thee, and will take away sthy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab thim that pisseth against the wall, and uhim that is shut up and left in Israel, 22 And will make thine house like xthe house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like ythe house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and zmade Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, aThe dogs shall eat Jezebel by the ||wall of Jezreel. 24 bHim that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. 25 But cthere was none like unto Ahab, which did dsell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife ||stirred up. 26 And he did very abominably in following eidols, according to all things fas did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that ghe rent his clothes, and hput sackcloth upon his flesh, and ifasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but kin his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

22 *And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. 2 aAnd it came to pass in the third year, that bJehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to cthe king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that dRamoth in Gilead is ours, and we be †still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? 4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, eI am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. 5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day. 6 Then the king of Israel fgathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. 7 And gJehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him? 8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.