²So Jezebel sent a message to Elijah. She said, “You can be sure that I will kill you, just as I killed the other prophets. I’ll do it by this time tomorrow. If I don’t, may the gods punish me greatly.”

³Elijah was afraid. So he ran for his life. He came to Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant there.

⁴Then he traveled for one day into the desert. He came to a small tree. He sat down under it. He prayed that he would die. “Lord, I’ve had enough,” he said. “Take my life. I’m no better than my people of long ago.” ⁵Then he lay down under the tree. And he fell asleep.

Suddenly an angel touched him. The angel said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶Elijah looked around. Near his head he saw a flat cake of bread. It had been baked over hot coals. A jar of water was also there. So Elijah ate and drank. Then he lay down again.

⁷The angel of the Lord came to him a second time. He touched him and said, “Get up and eat. Your journey will be long and hard.”

⁸So he got up. He ate and drank. The food gave him new strength. He traveled for 40 days and 40 nights. He kept going until he arrived at Horeb. It was the mountain of God. ⁹There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

A message came to Elijah from the Lord. He said, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

¹⁰He replied, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The people of Israel have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”

¹¹The Lord said, “Go out. Stand on the mountain in front of me. I am going to pass by.”

As the Lord approached, a very powerful wind tore the mountains apart. It broke up the rocks. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake.

¹²After the earthquake a fire came. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire.

And after the fire there was only a gentle whisper. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he pulled his coat over his face. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

¹⁴He replied, “Lord God who rules over all, I’ve been very committed to you. The people of Israel have turned their backs on your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They’ve put your prophets to death with their swords. I’m the only one left. And they are trying to kill me.”

¹⁵The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came. Go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram. ¹⁶Also anoint Jehu as king over Israel. He is the son of Nimshi. And anoint Elisha from Abel Meholah as the next prophet after you. He is the son of Shaphat. ¹⁷Jehu will put to death anyone who escapes Hazael’s sword. And Elisha will put to death anyone who escapes Jehu’s sword.

¹⁸“But I will keep 7,000 people in Israel for myself. They have not bowed down to Baal. And they have not kissed him.”

The Lord Chooses Elisha

¹⁹Elijah left Mount Horeb. He saw Elisha, the son of Shaphat. Elisha was plowing in a field. He was driving the last of 12 pairs of oxen. Elijah went up to him. He threw his coat around him. ²⁰Then Elisha left his oxen. He ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said. “Then I’ll come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

²¹So Elisha left him and went back. He got his two oxen and killed them. He burned the plow to cook the meat. He gave it to the people, and they ate it. Then he started to follow Elijah. He became Elijah’s assistant.

Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria

20Ben-Hadad brought his whole army together. He was king of Aram. He went up to Samaria. He took 32 kings and their horses and chariots with him. All of them surrounded Samaria and attacked it.

²Ben-Hadad sent messengers into the city. They spoke to Ahab, the king of Israel. They told him, “Ben-Hadad says, ³‘Your silver and gold belong to me. The best of your wives and children also belong to me.’ ”

⁴The king of Israel replied, “What you say is true. You are my king and master. I belong to you. And everything I have belongs to you.”

⁵The messengers came again. They told Ahab, “Ben-Hadad says, ‘I commanded you to give me your silver and gold. I also commanded you to give me your wives and children. ⁶But now I’m going to send my officials to you. They will come about this time tomorrow. They’ll search your palace. They’ll search the houses of your officials. They’ll take everything you value. And they’ll carry all of it away.’ ”

⁷The king of Israel sent for all of the elders of the land. He said to them, “This man is really looking for trouble! He sent for my wives and children. He sent for my silver and gold. And I agreed to give them to him.”

⁸All of the elders and people answered, “Don’t listen to him. Don’t agree to give him what he wants.”

⁹So Ahab replied to Ben-Hadad’s messengers. He said, “Tell my king and master, ‘I will do everything you commanded me to do the first time. But this time, I can’t do what you want me to do.’ ”

They took Ahab’s answer back to Ben-Hadad.

¹⁰Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab. It said, “There won’t be enough dust left in Samaria to give each of my followers even a handful. If there is, may the gods punish me greatly.”

¹¹The king of Israel replied. He said, “Tell him, ‘Someone who puts his armor on shouldn’t brag like someone who takes it off.’ ”

¹²Ben-Hadad and the kings were in their tents drinking. That’s when he heard the message. He ordered his men, “Get ready to attack.” So they prepared to attack the city.

Ahab Wins the Battle Over Ben-Hadad

¹³During that time a prophet came to Ahab, the king of Israel. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘Do you see this huge army? I will hand it over to you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

¹⁴“But who will do it?” Ahab asked.

The prophet answered, “The Lord says, ‘The young officers who are under the area commanders will do it.’ ”

“And who will start the battle?” he asked.

The prophet answered, “You will.”

¹⁵So Ahab sent for the young officers who were under the area commanders. The total number of officers was 232. Ahab gathered together the rest of the men of Israel. The total number of them was 7,000. ¹⁶They started out at noon. At that time Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings who were helping him were in their tents. They were getting drunk. ¹⁷The young officers who were under Ahab’s area commanders marched out first.

Ben-Hadad had sent out scouts. They came back and reported, “Men are marching against us from Samaria.”

¹⁸Ben-Hadad said, “They might be coming to make peace. If they are, take them alive. Or they might be coming to make war. If they are, take them alive.”

¹⁹The young officers marched out of the city. The army was right behind them. ²⁰Each man struck down the one who was fighting against him. When that happened, the army of Aram ran away. The men of Israel chased them. But Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, escaped on a horse. Some of his horsemen escaped with him.

²¹The king of Israel attacked them. He overpowered the horses and chariots. Large numbers of the men of Aram were wounded or killed.

²²After that, the prophet came to the king of Israel again. He said, “Make your position stronger. Do what needs to be done. Next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”

²³During that time, the officials of the king of Aram gave him advice. They said, “The gods of Israel are gods of the hills. That’s why they were too strong for us. But suppose we fight them on the flatlands. Then we’ll certainly be stronger than they are.

²⁴“Here’s what you should do. Don’t let any of the kings continue as military leaders. Have other officers take their places. ²⁵You must also put another army together. It should be just like the one you lost. It should have the same number of horses and chariots. Then we’ll be able to fight against Israel on the flatlands. And we’ll certainly be stronger than they are.”

Ben-Hadad agreed with their advice. He did what they suggested.

²⁶The next spring Ben-Hadad brought together the men of Aram. They went up to the city of Aphek to fight against Israel.

²⁷The men of Israel were also brought together. They were given supplies. They marched out to fight against their enemies. Israel’s army camped across from Aram’s army. The men of Israel looked like two small flocks of goats that had become separated from the others. But the men of Aram covered the countryside.

²⁸The man of God came up to the king of Israel again. He told him, “The Lord says, ‘The men of Aram think I am a god of the hills. They do not think I am a god of the valleys. So I will hand their huge army over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

²⁹For seven days the two armies camped across from each other. On the seventh day the battle began. The men of Israel wounded or killed 100,000 Aramean soldiers on foot. That happened in a single day. ³⁰The rest of the men of Aram escaped to the city of Aphek. Its wall fell down on 27,000 of them. Ben-Hadad ran to the city. He hid in a secret room.

³¹His officials said to him, “Look, we’ve heard that the kings of Israel’s royal house often show mercy. So let’s go to the king of Israel. Let’s wear black clothes. Let’s tie ropes around our heads. Perhaps Ahab will spare your life.”

³²So they wore black clothes. They tied ropes around their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel. They told him, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ”

The king answered, “Is he still alive? He used to be my friend.”

³³The men thought that was good news. So they quickly used the word Ahab had used. “Yes! Your friend Ben-Hadad!” they said.

“Go and get him,” the king said.

Ben-Hadad came out of the secret room. Then Ahab had him get into his chariot.

³⁴“I’ll return the cities my father took from your father,”…

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