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10 him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah ? And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword: and I, even I only, am left; II and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and 13 after the fire 1a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it,

that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, 14 and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek 15 my life, to take it away. And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, thou 16 shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat 17 of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it

shall come to pass, that him that escapeth from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall 18 Elisha slay. Yet will I leave me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not 19 kissed him. So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth and Elijah passed over unto him, and cast his 20 mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again; for what have I 21 done to thee? And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

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War of Ahab with Ben-hadad, King of Syria.

And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and 2 he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. And he sent

messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said unto him, 3 Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also 4 and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, It is according to thy saying, my lord, O king; I am 5 thine, and all that I have. And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed unto thee, saying,

1 Heb. a sound of gentle stillness.

2 Or, by the wilderness to 3 Or, roasted

Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy 6 children; but I will send my servants unto thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that 'whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put 7 it in their hand, and take it away. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. 8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken thou not, 9 neither consent. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers 10 departed, and brought him word again. And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that 12 girdeth on his armour boast himself as he that putteth it off. And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the 'pavilions, that he said unto his servants, *Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city. ✓13 And, behold, a prophet came near unto Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I 14 am the LORD. And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, By the "young men of the princes of the provinces. Then 15 he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, Thou. Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he mustered all the 16 people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped 17 him. And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are 18 men come out from Samaria. And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take 19 them alive. So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes 20 of the provinces, and the army which followed them. And they slew

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every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and 21 Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew 22 the Syrians 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 Syria will come up against thee.

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And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a

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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. 24 And do this thing; take the kings away, every man out of his place, 25 and put 'captains in their room and number 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 26 than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the 27 Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, and went against them and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little 28 flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. And a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith 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 will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 29 And 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 Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30 But 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 31 came into the city, 3into an inner chamber. And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful 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 32 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 33 yet alive? he is my brother. Now the men observed diligently, and hasted to catch whether it were "his mind; and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came 34 forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And 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. 35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to 36 smite him. Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed 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 37 found him, and slew him. Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding 38 him. So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, 39 and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. And as the

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king 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 40 talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgement 41 be; thyself hast decided it. And he hasted, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was 42 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 43 people. And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.

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Naboth's Vineyard.

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 2 of Samaria. And Ahab spake 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, 3 if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the 4 inheritance of my fathers unto thee. 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 5 his face, and would eat no bread. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no 6 bread? And he said unto her, Because I spake 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 7 answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of 8 Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote 'letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to 9 the nobles that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. And she

wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high 10 among the people: and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst 'curse God and II the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he die. And 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 12 the letters which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and 13 set Naboth on high among the people. And the two men, sons of

Belial, came in and sat before him: and the men of Belial bare witness

1 Or, a letter

2 Or, at the head o

3 That is, worthlessness.
4 Or, renounce

against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did 'curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth 14 out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. Then they 15 sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. And 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 16 Naboth is not alive, but dead. And 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.

V 17

And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which dwelleth in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone 19 down to take possession of it. And 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 20 thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to 21 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 22 large in Israel: and I will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and hast 23 made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The 24 dogs shall eat Jezebel 2by the rampart of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field 25 shall the fowls of the air eat. (But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the 26 LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the 27 LORD cast out before the children of Israel.) 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 28 softly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he 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.

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Reforms and Power of Jehoshaphat.

2 Chronicles 17. I.

And Jehoshaphat 3his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened 2 himself against Israel. And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of

1 Or, renounce

2 According to some ancient authorities,

in the portion, as in 2 Kings ix. 10, 36. 3 Asa's.

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