He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." He said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?"

He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, "Thus says Ben Hadad,

The messengers came again, and said, "Ben Hadad says, 'I sent indeed to you, saying, "You shall deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your children;

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Please notice how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I did not deny him."

All the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen, neither consent."

Therefore 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.'" The messengers departed, and brought him back the message.

Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me."

It happened, when Ben Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, "Prepare to attack." They prepared to attack the city.

Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"

Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says the LORD, 'By the young men of the governors of the districts.'" Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You."

He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive."

The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you."

The servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys"; therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"

His servants said to him, "See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life."

So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, "Your servant Ben Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" He said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."

Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, "Your brother Ben Hadad." Then he said, "Go, bring him." Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

Ben Hadad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria." "I," said Ahab, "will let you go with this covenant." So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.

A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of the LORD, "Please strike me." The man refused to strike him.

Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you." As soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him.

Then he found another man, and said, "Please strike me." The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.

As the king passed by, he cried to the king; and he said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he be missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.'

As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "So your judgment shall be; you yourself have decided it."

He said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.'"

Naboth said to Ahab, "May the LORD forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you."

Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He laid himself down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?"

He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' He answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"

Jezebel his wife said to him, "Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

She wrote in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

Set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then carry him out, and stone him to death."

They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. The base fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." Then they carried him out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.

It happened, 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 you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead."

Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD.

But there was none like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we are still, and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?"

He said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire first for the word of the LORD."

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?" They said, "Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."

But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of him?"

The king of Israel said to 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 does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." Jehoshaphat said, "Do not let the king say so."

Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, "Quickly get Micaiah the son of Imlah."

Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'With these you shall push the Syrians, until they are consumed.'"

Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak."

When he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?" He answered him, "Go up and prosper; and the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king."

The king said to him, "How many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"

He said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. The LORD said, 'These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.'"

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"

Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

The LORD said, 'Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One said one thing; and another said another.

A spirit came out and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will entice him.'

The LORD said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.'

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?"

Micaiah said, "Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself."

The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son.

Micaiah said, "If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." He said, "Listen, all you people."

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes." The king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, "Surely that is the king of Israel." and they turned aside to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out.

A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded."

Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not.

He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin.

Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper room that was in Samaria, and was sick. So he sent messengers, and said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover of this sickness."

But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?

The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, "Why is it that you have returned?"

They said to him, "A man came up to meet us, and said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'"'"

He said to them, "What kind of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words?"

They answered him, "He was a hairy man, and wearing a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."

Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down.'"

Again he sent to him another captain of fifty and his fifty. He answered him, "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down quickly.'"

And Elijah answered and said to him, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty." The fire of God came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, "Man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your sight.

Behold, fire came down from the sky, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight."

The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him." He arose, and went down with him to the king.

He said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have 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 you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'"

Elijah said to Elisha, "Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from your head today?" He said, "Yes, I know it; hold your peace."

Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please wait here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." He said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho.

The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from your head today?" He answered, "Yes, I know it. Hold your peace."

Elijah said to him, "Please wait here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." They both went on.

It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me."

He said, "You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so."

He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over.

When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

They said to him, "See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley. He said, "You shall not send them."

When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send them." They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched for three days, but did not find him.

They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, "Did I not tell you, 'Do not go?'"

The men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land miscarries."

He said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." They brought it to him.

He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or miscarrying.'"

He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, "Go up, you baldy. Go up, you baldhead."

He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?" He said, "I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

He said, "Which way shall we go up?" He answered, "The way of the wilderness of Edom."

The king of Israel said, "Alas. For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."

But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?" One of the king of Israel's servants answered, "Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah."

Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the LORD is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother." The king of Israel said to him, "No; for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab."