1 Kings 19–20

Chapter 19

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

¹Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and ^1ahow he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

²Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “^aSo may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your ¹life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”

³And he ¹was afraid and arose and ran for his ²life and came to ^aBeersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a ¹juniper tree; and ^ahe requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my ²life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

⁵He lay down and slept under a ¹juniper tree; and behold, there was ^aan angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.”

⁶Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

⁸So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food ^aforty days and forty nights to ^bHoreb, the mountain of God.

Elijah at Horeb

⁹Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, ^athe word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰He said, “^aI have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, ^btorn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And ^cI alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹¹So He said, “^aGo forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And ^ba great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

¹²After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire ^aa sound of a gentle blowing.

¹³When Elijah heard it, ^ahe wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, ^ba voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴Then he said, “^aI have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

¹⁵The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, ^ayou shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;

¹⁶and ^aJehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and ^bElisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

¹⁷“It shall come about, the ^aone who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu ^bshall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.

¹⁸“^aYet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not ^bkissed him.”

¹⁹So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw ^ahis mantle on him.

²⁰He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please ^alet me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

²¹So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and ^aboiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

Chapter 20

War with Aram

¹Now ^aBen-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army, ^band there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and ^cbesieged Samaria and fought against it.

²Then he sent messengers to the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad,

³‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your most beautiful wives and children are also mine.’ ”

⁴The king of Israel replied, “It is according to your word, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have.”

⁵Then the messengers returned and said, “Thus says ¹Ben-hadad, ‘Surely, I sent to you saying, “You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children,”

⁶but about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants; and ¹whatever is desirable in your eyes, they will ²take in their hand and carry away.’ ”

⁷Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Please observe and ^asee how this man is looking for trouble; for he sent to me for my wives and my children and my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him.”

⁸All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.”

⁹So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ ” And the messengers departed and brought him word again.

¹⁰Ben-hadad sent to him and said, “May ^athe gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will suffice for handfuls for all the people who ¹follow me.”

¹¹Then the king of Israel replied, “Tell him, ‘^aLet not him who girds on his armor boast like him who takes it off.’ ”

¹²When Ben-hadad heard this message, as ^ahe was drinking ¹with the kings in the ²temporary shelters, he said to his servants, “Station yourselves.” So they stationed themselves against the city.

Ahab Victorious

¹³Now behold, a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, ^aI will deliver them into your hand today, and ^byou shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

¹⁴Ahab said, “By whom?” So he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘By the young men of the rulers of the provinces.’ ” Then he said, “Who shall ¹begin the battle?” And he ²answered, “You.”

¹⁵Then he mustered the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and there were 232; and after them he mustered all the people, even all the sons of Israel, 7,000.

¹⁶They went out at noon, while ^aBen-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the ¹temporary shelters ²with the thirty-two kings who helped him.

¹⁷The young men of the rulers of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out and they told him, saying, “Men have come out from Samaria.”

^18aThen he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹So these went out from the city, the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and the army which followed them.

²⁰They ¹killed each his man; and the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, and Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.

²¹The king of Israel went out and ¹struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans with a great slaughter.

²²Then ^athe prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for ^bat the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.”

²³Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “^aTheir gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

²⁴“Do this thing: remove the kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place,

²⁵and ¹muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.

Another Aramean War

^26aAt the turn of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to ^bAphek to fight against Israel.

²⁷The sons of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went to meet them; and the sons of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, ^abut the Arameans filled the country.

²⁸Then ^aa man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “^bThe Lord is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,” therefore ^cI will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

²⁹So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel ¹killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day.

³⁰But the rest fled to ^aAphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city ^binto an inner chamber.

^31aHis servants said to him, “Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings, please let us ^bput sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will save your ¹life.”

³²So ^athey girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, “^bYour servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³Now the men ¹took this as an omen, and quickly ²catching his word said, “Your brother Ben-hadad.” Then he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he ³took him up into the chariot.

³⁴Ben-hadad said to him, “^aThe cities which my father took from your father I will restore, and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” Ahab said, “And I will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

³⁵Now a certain man of ^athe sons of the prophets said to ¹another ^bby the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him.

³⁶Then he said to him, “Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, ^aa lion will ¹kill you.” And as soon as he had departed from him a…