ARKCODEX
1 Kings
Ch. 22
The Prophet Micaiah Warns Ahab
1There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years,
2but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel.
3Ahab asked his officials, “Why is it that we have not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It belongs to us!”
4And Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?” “I am ready when you are,” Jehoshaphat answered, “and so are my soldiers and my cavalry.
5But first let's consult the Lord.”
6So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, “Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?” “Attack it,” they answered. “The Lord will give you victory.”
7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?”
8Ahab answered, “There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad.” “You shouldn't say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
9Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once.
10The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them.
11One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.’”
12All the other prophets said the same thing. “March against Ramoth and you will win,” they said. “The Lord will give you victory.”
13Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same.”
14But Micaiah answered, “By the living Lord I promise that I will say what he tells me to!”
15When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?” “Attack!” Micaiah answered. “Of course you'll win. The Lord will give you victory.”
16But Ahab replied, “When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?”
17Micaiah answered, “I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.’”
18Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!”
19Micaiah went on: “Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him.
20The Lord asked, ‘Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?’ Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else,
21until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, ‘I will deceive him.’
22‘How?’ the Lord asked. The spirit replied, ‘I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.’ The Lord said, ‘Go and deceive him. You will succeed.’”
23And Micaiah concluded: “This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!”
24Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, “Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?”
25“You will find out when you go into some back room to hide,” Micaiah replied.
26Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash.
27Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely.”
28“If you return safely,” Micaiah exclaimed, “then the Lord has not spoken through me!” And he added, “Listen, everyone, to what I have said!”
The Death of Ahab
29Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead.
30Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments.” So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise.
31The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel.
32So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But when he cried out,
33they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack.
34By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. “I'm wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn around and pull out of the battle!”
35While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood from his wound ran down and covered the bottom of the chariot, and at evening he died.
36Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: “Each of you go back to your own country and city!”
37So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried.
38His chariot was cleaned up at the pool of Samaria, where dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes washed themselves, as the Lord had said would happen.
39Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.
40At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
King Jehoshaphat of Judah
41In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah
42at the age of thirty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
43Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; but the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
44Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
46He got rid of all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan altars who were still left from the days of his father Asa.
47The land of Edom had no king; it was ruled by a deputy appointed by the king of Judah.
48King Jehoshaphat had ocean-going ships built to sail to the land of Ophir for gold; but they were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed.
49Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men, but Jehoshaphat refused the offer.
50Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
King Ahaziah of Israel
51In the seventeenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years.
52He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin.
53He worshiped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles
Ch. 23
The Revolt against Athaliah
1After waiting six years Jehoiada the priest decided that it was time to take action. He made a pact with five army officers: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.
2They traveled to all the cities of Judah and brought back with them to Jerusalem the Levites and all the heads of the clans.
3They all gathered in the Temple, and there they made a covenant with Joash, the king's son. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the son of the late king. He is now to be king, as the Lord promised that King David's descendants would be.
4This is what we will do. When the priests and Levites come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of them will guard the Temple gates,
5another third will guard the royal palace, and the rest will be stationed at the Foundation Gate. All the people will assemble in the Temple courtyard.
6No one is to enter the Temple buildings except the priests and the Levites who are on duty. They may enter, because they are consecrated, but the rest of the people must obey the Lord's instructions and stay outside.
7The Levites are to stand guard around the king, with their swords drawn, and are to stay with the king wherever he goes. Anyone who tries to enter the Temple is to be killed.”
8The Levites and the people of Judah carried out Jehoiada's instructions. The men were not dismissed when they went off duty on the Sabbath, so the commanders had available both those coming on duty and those going off.
9Jehoiada gave the officers the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple.
10He stationed the men with drawn swords all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king.
11Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. And so he was made king. Jehoiada the priest and his sons anointed Joash, and everyone shouted, “Long live the king!”
12Athaliah heard the people cheering for the king, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered.
13There she saw the new king at the Temple entrance, standing by the column reserved for kings and surrounded by the army officers and the trumpeters. All the people were shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets, and the Temple musicians with their instruments were leading the celebration. She tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”
14Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area, so he called out the army officers and said, “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.”
15They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.
Jehoiada's Reforms
16The priest Jehoiada had King Joash and the people join him in making a covenant that they would be the Lord's people.
17Then they all went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols there and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.
18Jehoiada put the priests and Levites in charge of the work of the Temple. They were to carry out the duties assigned to them by King David and to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses. They were also in charge of the music and the celebrations.
19Jehoiada also put guards on duty at the Temple gates to keep out anyone who was ritually unclean.
20The army officers, the leading citizens, the officials, and all the rest of the people joined Jehoiada in a procession that brought the king from the Temple to the palace. They entered by the main gate, and the king took his place on the throne.
21All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed.
Song of Solomon
Ch. 8
1I wish that you were my brother, that my mother had nursed you at her breast. Then, if I met you in the street, I could kiss you and no one would mind.
2I would take you to my mother's house, where you could teach me love. I would give you spiced wine, my pomegranate wine to drink.
3Your left hand is under my head, and your right hand caresses me.
4Promise me, women of Jerusalem, that you will not interrupt our love.
The Woman
5Who is this coming from the desert, arm in arm with her lover? Under the apple tree I woke you, in the place where you were born.
6Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire.
7Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, contempt is all they would get.
The Woman's Brothers
8We have a young sister, and her breasts are still small. What will we do for her when a young man comes courting?
9If she is a wall, we will build her a silver tower. But if she is a gate, we will protect her with panels of cedar.
The Woman
10I am a wall, and my breasts are its towers. My lover knows that with him I find contentment and peace.
The Man
11Solomon has a vineyard in a place called Baal Hamon. There are farmers who rent it from him; each one pays a thousand silver coins.
12Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins, and the farmers to two hundred as their share; I have a vineyard of my own!
13Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love; my companions are waiting to hear you speak.
The Woman
14Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle, like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.