GOD GIVES AHAB THE VICTORY OVER THE SYRIANS, BUT AHAB LETS BENHADAD GO. AHAB TAKES NABOTH'S VINEYARD. JEHOSHAPHAT VISITS AHAB, AND GOES OUT TO BATTLE WITH HIM. AHAB IS SLAIN. AHAZIAH REIGNS. HE SENDS SOLDIERS TO TAKE ELIJAH, AND THEY ARE BURNED UP BY FIRE FROM HEAVEN. AHAZIAH'S DEATH.
AND Benhadad, the king of a country called Syria, gathered all his army together and went up to fight against the city of Samaria, where Ahab, the king of Israel, lived. And he sent messengers to Ahab, saying, Thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy children, even those thou lovest best, are mine. When Ahab heard this he was afraid, and answered that Benhadad might take all those things. And Benhadad sent messengers again to Ahab, and said, Although thou wilt give me all thy silver and gold, and thy wives and thy children, these are not enough. But to-morrow I will send my servants, and they shall search thy house, and whatever they find there that thou dost value most, they shall take away from thee and bring to me. Then Ahab called all the elders of Israel to him, and told them the words that Benhadad had spoken. And the elders answered that Ahab should not allow Benhadad to do what he said.
When Benhadad heard this, he sent word to Ahab that he had with him a great army and that he would come and take the city of Samaria. But Ahab replied, that he should not boast as if he had already gained the victory. Then Benhadad was very angry, and said to his soldiers, Make ready for the battle. And they made ready. And the Lord sent a prophet to Ahab who told him not to fear, but to go out against the Syrians with only seven thousand men. So Ahab went out against them, as the prophet said, and Benhadad and his captains were drinking themselves drunk in their tents. And Ahab and his seven thousand men fought against them, and the Syrians fled. When Benhadad saw that his army had fled, he escaped on a horse with some of his horsemen.
And the prophet spoke to Ahab a second time, and told him, that Benhadad would come up the next year against Samaria again. And what the prophet said proved true. For Benhadad's servants persuaded him to gather together another army as great as the first, and he came up with it, and his soldiers filled the country. But the men of Israel, when they went out against him, seemed only like two little flocks of kids, there were so few of them. After seven days the battle began, and the Lord gave the men of Israel the victory this time also, for they slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand men. The rest escaped to the city of Aphek, and there a great wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand of them. But Benhadad fled into the city and hid in a secret chamber.
And his servants came to him and said, We have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful kings, let us, we pray thee, put on sackcloth, to show that we humble ourselves, and then go out to the king of Israel and ask him to let thee live; perhaps he may do it. So they put on sackcloth, and came to Ahab, saying, Thy servant Benhadad says, I pray thee let me live. Ahab answered, Was he not killed in the battle? When he heard that he was yet alive, he told them to go and bring him. Then Benhadad came out to him, and Ahab took that wicked king up into his chariot and because Benhadad promised to give him some cities, Ahab allowed him to return to his own land. But God was angry with Ahab for doing this. He had given Ahab the victory over Benhadad that Ahab might put him to death. And now God sent a prophet to Ahab who spoke to him, and said, Because thou hast let this man go, whom I meant thou shouldst utterly destroy, therefore thy life shall go for his life and thou shalt be slain instead of him.
After this there was a man named Naboth, who had a vineyard in the city of Jezreel. Now Ahab, the king, had a palace in that city, and as Naboth's vineyard was near to it, Ahab spoke to him, saying, Sell me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden to plant herbs in, and I will give thee a better vineyard for it, or else, if thou wouldst rather, I will give thee what it is worth in money. But Naboth did not want to sell his vineyard. It had belonged to his father, who, when he died, left it to him; therefore it was Naboth's inheritance. And Naboth would not let Ahab have it: he said, The Lord forbid it, that I should sell the inheritance of my fathers to thee.
When Ahab heard this, he came home to his house sad and displeased. And he lay down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. Then Jezebel, his wife, came to him, saying, Why art thou so sad that thou wilt eat no food? Ahab answered, Because I spoke unto Naboth, and said to him, Sell me thy vineyard for money, or else, if thou wouldst rather, I will give thee another vineyard for it, but he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. And Jezebel said to him, Art thou now the king of Israel, and wilt thou be treated so? Rise up, eat thy food, and be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Then she wrote letters, and signed them with Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders of the city of Jezreel, where Naboth lived. In the letters she commanded them to find wicked persons who would lie against Naboth, and say that they had heard him speak evil of God and the king. And the elders did as Jezebel commanded; for they found two men who bore false witness, that is, who lied against him, saying, Naboth did blaspheme, and speak evil of God and the king. Now, as we have read, the Lord had commanded that whoever blasphemed his name should be stoned. So they took Naboth out of the city and stoned him with stones, that he died, and the dogs came and licked up his blood. Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned and is dead.
When Jezebel heard it she said to Ahab, Arise, and take the vineyard of Naboth for thine own, for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And Ahab arose, and went down to the vineyard of Naboth to take it for his own. And the Lord commanded Elijah to go and meet him there, and say to him, Hast thou killed Naboth and taken his vineyard? I tell thee, that in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Elijah went to meet Ahab; when Ahab saw him, he said to him, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? Elijah answered, I have found thee, because thou hast given thyself up to sin against the Lord.
Then Elijah told Ahab that the Lord would send evil on him and on his family, and that they should all be destroyed, as the family of Jeroboam had been, until not one of them would be left alive. Of Jezebel also, the Lord said, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. For there was none so wicked as Ahab, who gave himself up to do evil, and whose wife, Jezebel, tempted him to sin more and more. He did very wickedly also in worshipping idols, like the heathen nations that the Lord had driven out of Canaan before the children of Israel.
And Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to Samaria to visit Ahab. Then Ahab told him that Benhadad, king of Syria, was keeping one of his cities from him, and Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to go out with him to take that city. Now Jehoshaphat was a good man and feared the Lord, therefore he told Ahab to inquire first whether the Lord were willing they should go.
And Ahab gathered his prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go up against the city to battle, or shall I not go? They answered, Go up, for the Lord will give it into thy hand. But Jehoshaphat did not believe these men, for they were false prophets, who said whatever they thought would please Ahab. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, beside these, whom we may ask? Ahab answered, There is yet one, a man named Micaiah, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good to me, but evil. Jehoshaphat answered, Let not the king say so.
Then Ahab called an officer, and told him to make haste and bring Micaiah there. And the king of Israel and the king of Judah, having put on their royal robes, sat each of them on a throne in an open place by the gate of Samaria. And all Ahab's false prophets were speaking before them, telling them to go out to battle, for they should have the victory.
And the messenger came back, bringing Micaiah to the king. And Ahab asked him, Shall we go to battle against the city, or shall we not go? At first Micaiah said, Go. But the king saw that he did not mean what he said. And Ahab said to him, How often must I ask thee before thou wilt tell me what is true? Then Micaiah answered, I saw all the children of Israel scattered upon the hills, like a flock of sheep that is lost and has no shepherd. Micaiah meant that the Lord had shown him Ahab's army, as it would be after the battle, when Ahab himself would be killed and his army would have no one to lead them.
And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say to thee that he would prophesy no good about me, but evil? And Ahab was angry, and commanded his servants, saying, Take Micaiah to the governor of the city, and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in prison, and feed him on bread and water, and treat him cruelly, until I come back safe from the battle. Micaiah answered, If thou come back safe at all, then the Lord has not told me what I should answer thee.
Yet the king of Israel and the king of Judah went up to fight against the city. And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, I will put on another dress, that no one may know me, and will go among the soldiers and fight in the battle, but put thou on thy royal robes and let them see thou art a king. Now, before the battle began, Benhadad, king of Syria, had commanded all his captains to try and kill Ahab; and when they saw Jehoshaphat in his robes, they said, Surely it is King Ahab, and they came to fight against him. Then Jehoshaphat cried out; and when they saw it was not Ahab, they turned back from following him. It was the Lord who made them turn back, because Jehoshaphat was his servant, and the Lord was watching over him, to save him from them.
But a man in Benhadad's army shot an arrow, not aiming at any one, nor knowing where it would strike, and the Lord made it strike Ahab and go in between the pieces of armor that covered his breast. Then Ahab said to the driver of his chariot, Turn back and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded. The battle lasted all that day, and Ahab was held up in his chariot that he might see it, and send orders to his soldiers, but he died in the evening. And about the time the sun was going down, word was sent through all the host of Israel that every man should flee to his own home.
So the men of Israel fled, and Ahab was slain, as the prophet told him he would be, when he let Benhadad go, after the Lord had given that wicked king into his hand. And they carried Ahab's dead body to Samaria, and buried it there. As a man was washing the blood from his chariot in a pool of water that was near the city, the dogs came and licked up his blood, as Elijah said they should, when the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth at the city of Jezreel.
And Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, was made king in his place. He did wickedly, as his father had done. And he fell down from an upper chamber in his palace and was hurt, and made sick. Then he sent messengers to Baal-zebub, the idol of the Philistines, to ask whether he would get well of his sickness.
And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go up to meet the messengers of Ahaziah, and say to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to ask Baal-zebub, the idol of the Philistines? Now, therefore, the Lord says that Ahaziah shall not rise up from that bed on which he is laid, but shall surely die.
And Elijah met the messengers, and spoke to them the words that the Lord commanded. And they came to Ahaziah again, and he said to them, Why are you come back so soon? They answered, There came a man to meet us, who said, Go back to King Ahaziah and tell him, that because he has sent to ask of the idol Baal-zebub, he shall not rise up from the bed on which he is laid, but shall surely die. The king said to the messengers, What sort of a man was he that met you and told you these words? They answered, He was an hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his loins. And Ahaziah said, It is Elijah.
Then the king was displeased, and sent a captain of his army, with fifty soldiers, to take Elijah, and bring him to the king. And they came, and found him sitting on the top of a hill; and the captain called to him, and said, Thou prophet, the king commands thee to come down. Elijah answered, If I be a prophet, let fire come down from heaven and burn up thee and thy fifty men. And there came down fire from heaven, and burned up the captain and the fifty men who were with him.
And Ahaziah sent another captain with fifty men, and he came to Elijah and called to him, saying, Thou prophet, the king commands thee to come down quickly. Elijah answered, If I be a prophet, let fire come down from heaven and burn up thee and thy fifty men. Then fire came down again from heaven, and burned up the captain and his fifty men. And Ahaziah sent a third captain with fifty men more. But when he came to the place where Elijah was, he fell on his knees before him, and said, O prophet, I pray thee, save my life and the lives of these fifty men, thy servants. Let not the fire come down from heaven and burn us, as it burned the two captains, with their men, who were here before us.
And the angel of' the Lord said to Elijah, Go with him, be not afraid. So Elijah went with him to the king. And Elijah said to the king, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the idol of the Philistines, instead of sending to me, the God of Israel, therefore thou shalt not rise up from the bed on which thou art laid, but shalt surely die. So Ahaziah died, as Elijah told him, and Jehoram, his brother, was made king over the ten tribes of Israel.