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.

Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place.

Muster an army, like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than them." He listened to their voice, and did so.

It happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

The children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats; but the Syrians filled the country.

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.'"

They encamped one over against the other seven days. So it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand footmen of the Syrians in one day.

But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner room.

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.

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.

So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.

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 hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was of the prophets.

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.'"

The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.

Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money."

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."

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth.

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."

The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.

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.

Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned, and is dead."

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."

You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed and also taken possession?"' You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours."'"

Behold, I will bring disaster on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone, slave or free in Israel.

I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin."

The dogs will eat he who dies of Ahab in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field."

It happened, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.

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?"

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."

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

Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

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.'"

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."

The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "See now, the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good."

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."

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.'

Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you."

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.

Say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace."'"

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.

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."

The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.

A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country."

So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves; according to the word of the LORD which he spoke.

Now 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, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: however the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father; Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

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.

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.

He served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger the LORD, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

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.'"

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

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.

It happened, when the LORD would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

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.

Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan.

Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground.

It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Elisha saw it, and he cried, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen." He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.

He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

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."