16And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad wasdrinkhig himself drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 17And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying? ' There are men come out from Samaria.' 18And he said: 'Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they are come out for war, take them alive.7 19So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which fol- lowed them. 20And they slew every one his man; and the Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them;.and Ben- hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen. ^And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Arameans with a great slaughter. ^And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him: 'Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest; for at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against thee.'
^And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him: 'Their God is a God of the Mils; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 24And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their room: ^nd num- ber thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.' And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so, 26And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27And the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, and went against them; and the children of Israel en- camped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Arameans filled the country, 28And a man of God came near and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said: 'Thus saith the LORD: Because the Arameans have said: The LOBD is a God of the hills, but he is not a God of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am the LOBD/ 29And they encamped one over against the other seven* days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel slew of the Arameans a hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber 31And his servants said unto him: 'Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merci- ful kings; let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will save thy life.' ^So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said: *Thy servant Ben-hadad saith: I pray thee, let me live.' And he said: 'Is he yet alive? he is my brother.' MNow the men took it for a sign, and hastened to catch it from FIRST KINGS him; and they said: 'Thy brother Ben-hadad/ Then he said: 'Go ye, bring him.' Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into his chariot. wAnd [Ben- hadad] said unto him: 'The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.' 'And I [,said Ahab,] will let thee go with this covenant/ So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
^And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of the LOED: 'Smite me, I pray thee.' And the man refused to smite him. ^hen said he unto him* 'Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee.' And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him; and slew him. *7Then he found another man, and said: 'Smite me, I pray thee.' And the man smote him., smiting and wounding him. 88So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised him- self with his headband over his eyes. 39And as the kmg 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 shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 40And as thy serv- ant was busy here and there, he was gone.' And the king of Israel said unto him: 'So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.' ^And he hastened, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. ^And he said unto him: "Thus saith the LORD: Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people/ ^And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria. O ~j And it came to pass after these x things, that Naboth the Jez- reelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. _ 2And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying: 'Give 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/ 3And Naboth said to Ahab: 'The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee/ 4And Ahab came into his house sullen 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.
5But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him: 'Why is thy spirit so sullen, that thou eatest no bread?' 6And he said unto her: 'Because I spoke 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/ 7And Jezebel his wife said unto him: ' Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thy heart be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite/ 8So she wrote letters in FIRST KINGS Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. 9And she wrote in the letters, saying. 'Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people; 10and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying: Thou didst curse God and the king. Ajid then carry him out, and stone him, that he die.'
nAnd the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, according as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. ^They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. wAnd the two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him; and the base fellows bore witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying: 'Naboth did curse God and the king.' Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. 14Then they sent to Jezebel, sayjng: 'Naboth is stoned, and is dead.7 uAnd 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.' 16And 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.
17Ajid the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18' Arise, go down to meet A-hab king of Israel, who dwelleth in Samaria; be- hold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to take possession of it. 19And 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: In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.' ^And Ahab said to Elijah: ' Hast thou found me, 0 mine enemy?' And he an- swered: 'I have found thee; because thou hast given thyself over to do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD. ^Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will utterly sweep thee away, and will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. ^And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked Me, and hast made Israel to sin. ^And of Jezebel also spoke the LORD, say- ing: The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the moat of JezreeL ^Him 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.' ^But there was none like un- to Ahab, who did give himself over to do that which was evil in the sigjht of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. ^And he did very abom- inably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel, 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. 28And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 29tSeest thou how Ahab hum- bleth himself before Me? because he FIRST KINGS humbleth himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.'
OO And they continued three years without war between Aram and Israel. 2And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. _3And the king of Israel said unto his servants: 'Know ye that Ramoth-gilead is ours, and we are still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Aram?7 4And he said unto Jehoshaphat: 'Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead?' And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel: 'I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.'
5And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel: 'Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to-day.' fThen the king of Israel gathered 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 will deliver it into the hand of the king.' 7But Jehoshaphat said: 'Is there not here besides a prophet of the LORD, that we might inquire of him?' 8And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat: 'There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.' And Jehoshaphat said: 'Let not the king say so.' ^hen the king of Israel called an officer, and said: 'Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah/ 10Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in a threshing-floor, at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. uAnd Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said: ' Thus saith the LORD: With these shalt thou gore the Arameans, until they be consumed.' ^And all the prophets prophesied so, saying: 'Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.'
^And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spoke unto him, saying: ' Behold now, the words of the proph- ets declare good unto the king with one mouth, let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak thou good.' 14And Micaiah said: 'As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.' 15And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him: 'Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?7 And he an- swered him: 'Go up, and prosper; and the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.' 16And the king said unto him: 'How many times shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?' 17And he said: 'I saw all Israel scattered upon the moun- tains, as sheep that have no shepherd; and the LORD said: These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.' J8And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: 'Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?' 19And he said: 'Therefore hear thou the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left. 30And the LORD said: Who shall en- tice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said: On this manner; and another said: FIRST KINGS On that manner. 2lAnd there came forth the spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said: I will entice him. 22And the LORD said unto him. Wherewith? And he said: I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit m the mouth of all his prophets. And He said* Thou shalt entice him, and shalt prevail also; go forth, and do so. ^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.'
24Then Zedekiah the son of Chena- anah came near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said: 'Which way went the spirit of the LORD from me t6 speak unto thee?' 25And Micaiah said: 'Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.' 26And 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; 27and say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with scant bread and with scant water, until I come in peace.7 ^And Micaiah said: ' If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me.; And he said: 'Hear, ye peoples, all of you.1 29So the king of Israel and Jehosha- phab the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 80And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat: 'I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put thou on thy robes.' And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle. ^Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty and two captains of his chariots, say- ing: Tight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.' ^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 turned aside to fight against him; and Jehoshaphat cried out. ^And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. ^And a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the lower armour and the breastplate; where- fore he said unto the driver of his chariot: 'Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded/ ^And the battle increased that day; and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Arameans, and died at even; and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. ^And there went a cry throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying: 'Every man to his city, and every man to his country.'
87So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the lang in Samaria. 38And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; the har- lots also washed themselves there; according unto the word of the LORD which He spoke.
S9Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 40So Aliab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
^And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ^Je- hoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem..And his mother's name FIRST KINGS was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ^And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD; ^howbeit the high places were not taken awayj the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places. ^And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
^Now the rest of the acts of Je- hoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chron- icles of the kings of Judah? 47And the remnant of the sodomites that re- mained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land. 48And there was no king in Edom: a deputy was king. 49 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber. 60Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Je- hoshaphat: 'Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships/ But Jehosh- aphat would not. aAnd Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
^Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. ^And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LOED, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Ne- bat, wherein he made Israel to sin. wAnd he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the LOKD, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
SECOND KINGS SECOND KINGS ~| AND Moab rebelled against Israel x after the death of Ahab.
2And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in^his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers, and said unto them: 'Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this sickness/ 3But an angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: 'Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them: Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal- zebub the god of Ekron? 4Now therefore thus saith the LORD: Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die/ And Elijah departed.
5And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them: 'Why is it that ye are returned?' 6And they said unto him: 'There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us: Go, return unto the king that sent you, and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die/ 7And he said unto them: 'What man- ner of man was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words?* 8And they answered him: 'He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins/ And he said: 'It is Elijah the Tishbite/ Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him; and, behold, he sat on the top of the hill. And he spoke unto him: '0 man of God, the king hath said: Come down/ 10And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty: 'If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty/ And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. "And again he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him: '0 man of God, thus hath the king said: Come down quickly/ ^And Elijah answered and said unto them: 'If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty/ And the fire of God came down from heaven, and con- sumed hirn and his fifty. MAnd again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and be- sought him, and said unto him: '0 man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. 14Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in thy sight/ ^And the angel of the LORD ^said unto Elijah: 'Go down with him; be not afraid of him/ And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.
SECOND KINGS 16And he said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal- zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.'
17So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. 18Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
0 And it came to pass, when the ^ LORD would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2And Elijah said unto Elisha: 'Tarry here, 1 pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me as far as Beth-el/ And Elisha said: 'As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.' So they went down to Beth-el. — 8And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Ehsha, and said unto him: 'Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to-day?' And he said* 'Yea, I know it j hold ye your peace.' — 4And Elijah said unto him: 'Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho.'' And he said: 'As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.' So they came to Jericho. — 5And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said unto him: 'Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to-day?' And he answered: 'Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.' — 6.And Elijah said unto him: 'Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to the Jordan.' And he said: 'As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.' And they two went on.
7And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood over against them afar off; and they two stood by the Jordan. 8And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 9And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Ehsha: 'Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken from thee.' And Elisha said: 'I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.' 10And he said: 'Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.' uAnd it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked,! that, behold, there ap- peared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
^And Elisha saw it, and he cried: 'My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof 1' And he saw him no more; and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 33He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said: 'Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?' and when he also had smitten the waters, they were divided hither and thither; and Elisha went over.
16And when the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho some way off SECOND KINGS saw him, they said: 'The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.' And they came to meet him, and bowed down to the ground before him. 16And they said unto him: 'Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him, upon some mountain, or into, some valley/ And he said: 'Ye shall not send.' 17And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said: 'Send.7 They sent therefore fifty men;,and they sought three days, but found him not. 18And they came back to him, while he tarried at Jericho; and he said unto them: 'Did I not say unto you- Go not?'
19And the men of the city said unto Elisha: 'Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; but the water is bad, and the land miscarrieth.' 20And he said: 'Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein.' And they brought it to him. ^And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said: "Thus saith the LORD: I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or miscarrying.' ^So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.
^And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him: 'Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.' MAnd he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of them. ^And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.