So Omri died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.

Omri's son Ahab practiced more of what the LORD considered to be evil than anyone who had lived before him.

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

Ahab also erected an Asherah, doing more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all of the kings of Israel who had reigned before him.

During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

So Elijah left and did exactly what the LORD had told him to do he went to live near the Wadi Cherith, where it enters the Jordan River.

And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

So she went and did as Elijah said; and she and he and her family had food for a long time.

The meal in the barrel did not waste, neither did the oil in the cruse fail, according to the word of Jehovah which he had spoken through Elijah.

So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria.

And Ahab sent for Obadiah, the controller of the king's house. (Now Obadiah had the fear of the Lord before him greatly;

It had happened that when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them {by fifties} in the cave and sustained them [with] food and water.)

And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, let us go through all the country, to all the fountains of water and all the rivers, and see if there is any grass to be had for the horses and the transport beasts, so that we may be able to keep some of the beasts from destruction.

As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent messengers to seek you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ Ahab made the kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.

Has my lord not had word of what I did when Jezebel was putting the Lord's prophets to death? how I kept a hundred of them in a secret hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water?

Ahab sent messengers to all the Israelites and had the prophets assemble at Mount Carmel.

And they took the bullock which had been given them, and sacrificed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and none answered. And they leaped about the altar that had been made.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel].

Elijah took 12 stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”—

Then he said, "Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood." When they had done so, he said, "Do it again." So they did it again. Then he said, "Do it a third time." So they did it a third time.

When all the people saw what had happened, they fell flat on their faces and cried out "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"

Then said Elijah unto them, "Lay hands on the Prophets of Baal - let not one of them escape." And when they had taken them, Elijah brought them down unto the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

And it came to pass, meanwhile, that, the heavens, had enshrouded themselves with clouds and wind, and there came a great rain, and Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel;

After Ahab had left, the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his mantle into his belt and outran Ahab in a race to the city gate of Jezreel.

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah, "May the gods do the same to me and even more if tomorrow about this time I haven't made you like one of those prophets you had killed."

but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.”

And he said, I have been burning for the honour of the Lord, the God of armies; for the children of Israel have not kept your agreement; they have had your altars broken down, and have put your prophets to death with the sword: till I, even I, am the only one living; and now they are attempting to take away my life.

Now, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, had gathered together all his forces, and, thirty-two kings, were with him, and horses and chariots, - then came he up, and laid siege to Samaria, and made war against it.

Then called the king of Israel, for all the elders of the land, and said - Mark, I pray you, and see, how this man is seeking, mischief, - for he had sent unto me, for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I refused him not.

They attacked at noon, just as Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the battle pavilions, along with the 32 kings who had joined him.

But these had come out from the city, the servants of the commanders of the provinces, and the army that [was] after them.

Then said the servants of the kings of Syria to him, "The gods of the hills are their gods, and therefore they had the better of us. But let us fight with them in the plain, and for what ye will, we shall have the better of them.

Then replace the army that you lost, horse-for-horse and chariot-for-chariot. We'll fight them on the plains, and we're certain to be the stronger army." Ben-hadad listened to what they had to say and carried out their advice.

The {Israelites} had been mustered and provisioned, and they went to engage them. The {Israelites} encamped opposite them as two flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the land.

Then those who remained fled to Aphek, to the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who had remained, so Ben-Hadad fled and went to the innermost rooms of the city.

Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, so they quickly picked up on this and responded, “Yes, it is your brother Ben-hadad.”

Then he said, “Go and bring him.”

So Ben-hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him come up into the chariot.

Then said he to him, Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, behold, when thou departest from me, the lion will slay thee. And when he had departed from him, the lion found him and slew him.

And as thy servant had here and there to do, he was gone." And the king of Israel said unto him, "Even so shall thy judgment be, as thou hast defined it thyself."

And he said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, 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 it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

And Ahab came into his house heavy 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.

She had written in the letters, saying, "Call a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people.

And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

And the two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people, saying, Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death.

It happened at the moment Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and died, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he had refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead."

Truly, there was no one like Ahab who had sold himself by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh, whose wife Jezebel urged him on.

And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom Jehovah had dispossessed before the children of Israel.)

The king of Israel had said to his servants, “Don’t you know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, but we have failed to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?”

Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are {unanimously} favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably."

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 Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king."

But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he had been the king of Israel, and therefore turned to him to fight.

And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked his blood, where the harlots bathed: according to the word of Jehovah, which he had spoken.

That's how Ahab died, just as his ancestors had, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.

He did as Asa his father had done, not turning away from it, but doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord; but the high places were not taken away: the people went on making offerings and burning them in the high places.

And he had peace with the king of Israel.

He removed from the land any male cultic prostitutes who had managed to survive the reign of his father Asa.

Jehoshaphat, made ships of Tarshish, to go to Ophir, for gold; but they went not, - for ships had been broken to pieces in Ezion-geber.

Ahab's son Ahaziah had offered to go. "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships!" he said. But Jehoshaphat was not willing.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He walked in the way of his father, in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin.

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

Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which [was] in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury."

And the men he had sent came back to the king; and he said to them, Why have you come back?

And they said to him, On our way we had a meeting with a man who said, Go back to the king who sent you and say to him, The Lord says, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? For this reason, you will not come down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.

They replied, "He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist." The king said, "He is Elijah the Tishbite."

And he said unto the king, "Thus sayeth the LORD, 'Forasmuch as thou sentest messengers to ask through Beelzebub the god of Ekron - as though there had been no God in Israel to ask through his word - therefore thou shalt not come off the bed on which thou art ascended, but shalt surely die.'"

So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.

After this, Jehoram ascended to the throne during the second year of the reign of Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram from Judah. He took the place of Ahaziah, who had no son. The rest of Ahaziah's activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?

The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal,

And it came to pass when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

Then he picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen off of him, and he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

They returned to Elisha while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not go’?”

He replied, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.”

After they had brought him one,

So the waters have been purified to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha.

Now Joram the son of Ahab had become king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He reigned twelve years

And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.

Nevertheless, Joram clung to the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit. He did not turn away from them.

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out. After they had traveled their indirect route for seven days, they had no water for the army or their animals.

Now all the Moabites heard that the [three] kings had come up to fight against them, and all who were able to put on armor, as well as those who were older, were summoned and stood [together in battle formation] at the border.

So they concluded, "This must be blood! The kings must have had one mighty big fight and each man killed the other! So let's go get the battle spoil, Moab!"

and the cities they break down, and on every good portion they cast each his stone, and have filled it, and every fountain of water they stop, and every good tree they cause to fall -- till one had left its stones in Kir-Haraseth, and the slingers go round and smite it.

Now there happened to be a certain woman who had been the wife of a member of the Guild of Prophets. She cried out to Elisha, "My husband who served you has died, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. But a creditor has come to take away my children into indentured servitude!"

So she left.

After she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers, and she kept pouring.

When the last of the vessels had been filled, she told her son, "Bring me another pot!"

So she came to the man of God and gave him word of what she had done. And he said, Go and get money for the oil and make payment of your debt, and let the rest be for the needs of yourself and your sons.

So she had a talk with her husband. "Look here! I've learned that this is a holy and godly man who comes by here on a regular basis.

Now one day, when he had gone there, he went into the little room and took his rest there.

And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.

And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

Now, Gehazi, had passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the boy, but there was neither voice, nor attention, - so he returned to meet him, and told him, saying - The boy hath not awaked.

When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed.

He called Gehazi, and said, "Call this Shunammite!" So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, "Take up your son."

And they poured out for the men to eat. And when they had tasted of the pottage, they cried out and said, "There is death in the pot, thou man of God!" And could not eat thereof.

Later on, a man arrived from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God some bread as a first fruit offering. He had 20 loaves of barley and ripe ears of corn in his sack. So Elisha said, "Give them to the people so they can eat."