1 Kings 21:1–22:40

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. 9 Then the king of Israel called an ||officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah. 10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a †void place in the entrance of the gate of hSamaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him ihorns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these kshalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them. 12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king’s hand.

13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. 14 And Micaiah said, lAs the Lord liveth, mwhat the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. 15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. 16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord? 17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, nas sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace. 18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, oDid I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? 19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: pI saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and qall the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, Who shall ||persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. 21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. 22 And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be ra lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 23 Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. 24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and ssmote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? 25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go ||into an inner chamber to hide thyself. 26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son; 27 And say, Thus saith the king, tPut this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until uI come in peace. 28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, wthe Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, ||I will xdisguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel xdisguised himself, and went into the battle. 31 But the king of Syria commanded his ythirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, zFight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. 32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they aturned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat acried out. 33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 34 And a certain man drew a …