Elijah on Mount Sinai

¹King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets of Baal to death.

²She sent a message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don't do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets.”

³Elijah was afraid and fled for his life; he took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving the servant there,

⁴Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. “It's too much, Lord,” he prayed. “Take away my life; I might as well be dead!”

⁵He lay down under the tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Wake up and eat.”

⁶He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again.

⁷The Lord's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, “Get up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you.”

⁸Elijah got up, ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty days to Sinai, the holy mountain.

⁹There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the Lord spoke to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

¹⁰He answered, “Lord God Almighty, I have always served you—you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left—and they are trying to kill me!”

¹¹“Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain,” the Lord said to him. Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks—but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

¹²After the earthquake there was a fire—but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.

¹³When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

¹⁴He answered, “Lord God Almighty, I have always served you—you alone. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed all your prophets. I am the only one left—and they are trying to kill me.”

¹⁵The Lord said, “Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria;

¹⁶anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

¹⁷Anyone who escapes being put to death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha.

¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel—all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol.”

The Call of Elisha

¹⁹Elijah left and found Elisha plowing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha.

²⁰Elisha then left his oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you.” Elijah answered, “All right, go back. I'm not stopping you!”

²¹Then Elisha went to his team of oxen, killed them, and cooked the meat, using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he went and followed Elijah as his helper.

War with Syria

¹King Benhadad of Syria gathered all his troops, and supported by thirty-two other rulers with their horses and chariots, he marched up, laid siege to Samaria, and launched attacks against it.

²He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say, “King Benhadad demands that

³you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children.”

⁴“Tell my lord, King Benhadad, that I agree; he can have me and everything I own,” Ahab answered.

⁵Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: “I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children.

⁶Now, however, I will send my officers to search your palace and the homes of your officials, and to take everything they consider valuable. They will be there about this time tomorrow.”

⁷King Ahab called in all the leaders of the country and said, “You see that this man wants to ruin us. He sent me a message demanding my wives and children, my silver and gold, and I agreed.”

⁸The leaders and the people answered, “Don't pay any attention to him; don't give in.”

⁹So Ahab replied to Benhadad's messengers, “Tell my lord the king that I agreed to his first demand, but I cannot agree to the second.” The messengers left and then returned with another message

¹⁰from Benhadad: “I will bring enough men to destroy this city of yours and carry off the rubble in their hands. May the gods strike me dead if I don't!”

¹¹King Ahab answered, “Tell King Benhadad that a real soldier does his bragging after a battle, not before it.”

¹²Benhadad received Ahab's answer as he and his allies, the other rulers, were drinking in their tents. He ordered his men to get ready to attack the city, and so they moved into position.

¹³Meanwhile, a prophet went to King Ahab and said, “The Lord says, ‘Don't be afraid of that huge army! I will give you victory over it today, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

¹⁴“Who will lead the attack?” Ahab asked. The prophet answered, “The Lord says that the young soldiers under the command of the district governors are to do it.” “Who will command the main force?” the king asked. “You,” the prophet answered.

¹⁵So the king called out the young soldiers who were under the district commanders, 232 in all. Then he called out the Israelite army, a total of seven thousand men.

¹⁶The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his thirty-two allies were getting drunk in their tents.

¹⁷The young soldiers advanced first. Scouts sent out by Benhadad reported to him that a group of soldiers was coming out of Samaria.

¹⁸He ordered, “Take them alive, no matter whether they are coming to fight or to ask for peace.”

¹⁹The young soldiers led the attack, followed by the Israelite army,

²⁰and each one killed the man he fought. The Syrians fled, with the Israelites in hot pursuit, but Benhadad escaped on horseback, accompanied by some of the cavalry.

²¹King Ahab took to the field, captured the horses and chariots, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Syrians.

²²Then the prophet went to King Ahab and said, “Go back and build up your forces and make careful plans, because the king of Syria will attack again next spring.”

The Second Syrian Attack

²³King Benhadad's officials said to him, “The gods of Israel are mountain gods, and that is why the Israelites defeated us. But we will certainly defeat them if we fight them in the plains.

²⁴Now, remove the thirty-two rulers from their commands and replace them with field commanders.

²⁵Then call up an army as large as the one that deserted you, with the same number of horses and chariots. We will fight the Israelites in the plains, and this time we will defeat them.” King Benhadad agreed and followed their advice.

²⁶The following spring he called up his men and marched with them to the city of Aphek to attack the Israelites.

²⁷The Israelites were called up and equipped; they marched out and camped in two groups facing the Syrians. The Israelites looked like two small flocks of goats compared to the Syrians, who spread out over the countryside.

²⁸A prophet went to King Ahab and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the Lord.’”

²⁹For seven days the Syrians and the Israelites stayed in their camps, facing each other. On the seventh day they started fighting, and the Israelites killed a hundred thousand Syrians.

³⁰The survivors fled into the city of Aphek, where the city walls fell on twenty-seven thousand of them. Benhadad also escaped into the city and took refuge in the back room of a house.

³¹His officials went to him and said, “We have heard that the Israelite kings are merciful. Give us permission to go to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our necks, and maybe he will spare your life.”

³²So they wrapped sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their necks, went to Ahab and said, “Your servant Benhadad pleads with you for his life.” Ahab answered, “Is he still alive? Good! He's like a brother to me!”

³³Benhadad's officials were watching for a good sign, and when Ahab said “brother,” they took it up at once, and said, “As you say, Benhadad is your brother!” “Bring him to me,” Ahab ordered. When Benhadad arrived, Ahab invited him to get in the chariot with him.

³⁴Benhadad said to him, “I will restore to you the towns my father took from your father, and you may set up a commercial center for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.” Ahab replied, “On these terms, then, I will set you free.” He made a treaty with him and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

³⁵At the Lord's command a member of a group of prophets ordered a fellow prophet to hit him. But he refused,

³⁶so he said to him, “Because you have disobeyed the Lord's command, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And as soon as he left, a lion came along and killed him.

³⁷Then this same prophet went to another man and said, “Hit me!” This man did so; he hit him a hard blow and hurt him.

³⁸The prophet bandaged his face with a cloth, to disguise himself, and went and stood by the road, waiting for the king of Israel to pass.

³⁹As the king was passing by, the prophet called out to him and said, “Your Majesty, I was fighting in the battle when a soldier brought a captured enemy to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if he escapes, you will pay for it with your life or else pay a fine of three thousand pieces of silver.’

⁴⁰But I got busy with other things, and the man escaped.” The king answered, “You have pronounced your own sentence, and you will have to pay the penalty.”

⁴¹The prophet tore the cloth from his face, and at once the king recognized him as one of the prophets.

⁴²The prophet then said to the king, “This is the word of the Lord: ‘Because you allowed the man to escape whom I had ordered to be killed, you will pay for it with your life, and your army will be destroyed for letting his army escape.’”

⁴³The king went back home to Samaria, worried and depressed.

War against Edom

¹Some time later the armies of Moab and Ammon, together with their allies, the Meunites, invaded Judah.

²Some messengers came and announced to King Jehoshaphat: “A large army from Edom has come from the other side of the Dead Sea to attack you. They have already captured Hazazon Tamar.” (This is another name for Engedi.)

³Jehoshaphat was frightened and prayed to the Lord for guidance. Then he gave orders for a fast to be observed throughout the country.

⁴From every city of Judah people hurried to Jerusalem to ask the Lord for guidance,

⁵and they and the people of Jerusalem gathered in the new courtyard of the Temple. King Jehoshaphat went and stood before them

⁶and prayed aloud, “O Lord God of our ancestors, you rule in heaven over all the nations of the world. You are powerful and mighty, and no one can oppose you.

⁷You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs forever.

⁸They have lived here and have built a temple to honor you, knowing

⁹that if any disaster struck them to punish them—a war, an epidemic, or a famine—then they could come and stand in front of this Temple where you are worshiped. They could pray to you in their trouble, and you would hear them and rescue them.

¹⁰“Now the people of Ammon, Moab, and Edom have attacked us. When our ancestors came out of Egypt, you did not allow them to enter those lands, so our ancestors went around them and did not destroy them.

¹¹This is how they repay us—they come to drive us out of the land that you gave us.

¹²You are our God! Punish them, for we are helpless in the face of this large army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you for help.”

¹³All the men of Judah, with their wives and children, were standing there at the Temple.

¹⁴The spirit of the Lord came upon a Levite who was present in the crowd. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah; he was a member of the clan of Asaph and was descended from Asaph through Mattaniah, Jeiel, and Benaiah.

¹⁵Jahaziel said, “Your Majesty and all you people of Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord says that you must not be discouraged or be afraid to face this large army. The battle depends on God, not on you.

¹⁶Attack them tomorrow as they come up the pass at Ziz. You will meet them at the end of the valley that leads to the wild country near Jeruel.

¹⁷You will not have to fight this battle. Just take up your positions and wait; you will see the Lord give you victory. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not hesitate or be afraid. Go out to battle, and the Lord will be with you!”

¹⁸Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low, with his face touching the ground, and all the people bowed with him and worshiped the Lord.

¹⁹The members of the Levite clans of Kohath and Korah stood up and with a loud shout praised the Lord, the God of Israel.

²⁰Early the next morning the people went out to the wild country near Tekoa. As they were starting out, Jehoshaphat addressed them with these words: “People of Judah and Jerusalem! Put your trust in the Lord your God, and you will stand your ground. Believe what his prophets tell you, and you will succeed.”

²¹After consulting with the people, the king ordered some musicians to put on the robes they wore on sacred occasions and to march ahead of the army, singing: “Praise the Lord! His love is eternal!”

²²When they began to sing, the Lord threw the invading armies into a panic.

²³The Ammonites and the Moabites attacked the Edomite army and completely destroyed it, and then they turned on each other in savage fighting.

²⁴When the Judean army reached a tower that was in the desert, they looked toward the enemy and saw that they were all lying on the ground dead. Not one had escaped.

²⁵Jehoshaphat and his troops moved in to take the loot, and they found many cattle, supplies, clothing, and other valuable objects. They spent three days gathering the loot, but there was so much that they could not take everything.

²⁶On the fourth day they assembled in Beracah Valley and praised the Lord for all he had done. That is why the valley is called “Beracah.”

²⁷Jehoshaphat led his troops back to Jerusalem in triumph, because the Lord had defeated their enemies.

²⁸When they reached the city, they marched to the Temple to the music of harps and trumpets.

²⁹Every nation that heard how the Lord had defeated Israel's enemies was terrified,

³⁰so Jehoshaphat ruled in peace, and God gave him security on every side.

The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign

³¹Jehoshaphat had become king of Judah at the age of thirty-five and had ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

³²Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord;

³³but the pagan places of worship were not destroyed. The people still did not turn wholeheartedly to the worship of the God of their ancestors.

³⁴Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, from the beginning of his reign to its end, is recorded in The History of Jehu Son of Hanani which is a part of The History of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵At one time King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who did many wicked things.

³⁶At the port of Eziongeber they built ocean-going ships.

³⁷But Eliezer son of Dodavahu, from the town of Mareshah, warned Jehoshaphat, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have built.” And the ships were wrecked and never sailed.

¹Most beautiful of women, where has your lover gone? Tell us which way your lover went, so that we can help you find him.

The Woman

²My lover has gone to his garden, where the balsam trees grow. He is feeding his flock in the garden and gathering lilies.

³My lover is mine, and I am his; he feeds his flock among the lilies.

The Man

⁴My love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem, as lovely as the city of Tirzah, as breathtaking as these great cities.

⁵Turn your eyes away from me; they are holding me captive. Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead.

⁶Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep that have just been washed. Not one of them is missing; they are all perfectly matched.

⁷Your cheeks glow behind your veil.

⁸Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number!

⁹But I love only one, and she is as lovely as a dove. She is her mother's only daughter, her mother's favorite child. All women look at her and praise her; queens and concubines sing her praises.

¹⁰Who is this whose glance is like the dawn? She is beautiful and bright, as dazzling as the sun or the moon.

¹¹I have come down among the almond trees to see the young plants in the valley, to see the new leaves on the vines and the blossoms on the pomegranate trees.

¹²I am trembling; you have made me as eager for love as a chariot driver is for battle.

The Woman

¹³Dance, dance, girl of Shulam. Let us watch you as you dance. Why do you want to watch me as I dance between the rows of onlookers?