First Book of Kings, 20 - 22

20   BEN-HADAD KING OF ARAM, having mustered all his forces, and taking  
     with him thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, marched against  
     Samaria to take it by siege or assault.  He sent envoys into the city to Ahab  
     king of Israel to say, 'Hear what Ben-hadad says: Your silver and gold are   
     mine, your wives and your splendid sons are mine.'  The king of Israel  
     answered, 'As you say, my lord king, I am yours and all that I have.'  The  
     envoys came again and said, 'Hear what Ben-hadad says: I demand that  
     you hand over your silver and gold, your wives and your sons.  This time  
     tomorrow I will send my servants to search your house and your subjects'  
     houses and take possession of everything you prize, and remove it.'  The  
     king of Israel then summoned all the elders of the land and said, 'You see  
     this?  The man is plainly picking a quarrel; for I did not demur when he  
     sent to claim my wives and my sons, my silver and gold.'  All the elders and  
     all the people answered, 'Do not listen o him; you must not consent.'  So  
     he gave this reply to Ben-hadad's envoys: 'Say to my lord the king: I  
     accepted your majesty's demands on the first occasion; but what you now  
     ask I cannot do.'  The envoys went away and reported to their master, and  
     Ben-hadad sent back word: 'The gods do the same to me and more, if there  
     is enough dust in Samaria to provide a handful for each of my men.'  The   
     king of Israel made reply, 'Remind him of the saying: "The lame must  
     not think himself a match for the nimble."'  This message reached Ben-  
     hadad while he and the kings were drinking in their quarters.  At once he    
     ordered his men to attack the city, and they did so.  
        Meanwhile a prophet had come to Ahab king of Israel and said to him,  
     'This is the word of the LORD: "You see this great rabble?  Today I will  
     give it into your hands and you shall know that I am the LORD."'  'Whom will  
     you use for that?' asked Ahab.  'The young men who serve the district  
     officers', was the answer.  'Who will draw up the line of battle?' asked the  
     king.  'You', said the prophet.  Then Ahab called up these young men, two  
     hundred and thirty-two all told, and behind them the people of Israel,  
     seven thousand in all.  They went out at midday, while Ben-hadad and his  
     allies, those thirty-two kings, were drinking themselves drunk in their  
     quarters.  The young men sallied out first, and word was sent to Ben-  
     hadad that a party had come out of Samaria.  'If they have come out for  
     peace,' he said, 'take them alive; if for battle, take them alive.'  
        So out of the city the young men went, and the army behind them; each  
     struck down his man, and the Aramaeans fled.  The Israelites pursued them,  
     but Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of the  
     cavalry.  Then the king of Israel advanced and captured the horses and  
     chariots, inflicting a heavy defeat on the Aramaeans.  
        Then the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, 'Build up  
     your forces; you know what you must do.  At the turn of the year the king  
     of Aram will renew the attack.'  But the king of Aram's ministers gave him  
     this advice: 'Their gods are the gods of the hills; that is why they defeated us.  
     Let us fight them in the plain; and then we shall have the upper hand.  
     What you must do is to relieve the kings of their command and appoint  
     other officers in their place.  Raise another army like the one you have lost.  
     Bring your cavalry and chariots up to their former strength, and then let  
     us fight them in the plain, and we shall have the upper hand.'  He listened  
     to their advice and acted on it.  
        At the turn of the year Ben-hadad mustered the Aramaeans and advanced  
     to Aphek to attack Israel.  The Israelites too were mustered and formed into  
     companies, and then went out to meet them and encamped opposite them.  
     They seemed no better than a pair of new-born kids, while the Aramaeans  
     covered the country-side.  The man of God came to the king of Israel and  
     said, 'This is the word of the LORD: The Aramaeans may think that the  
     LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys; but I will give all this  
     great rabble into your hands and you shall know that I am the LORD.'  
        They lay in camp opposite one another for seven days; on the seventh  
     day battle was joined and the Israelites destroyed a hundred thousand of  
     the Aramaean infantry in one day.  The survivors fled to Aphek, into the  
     citadel, and the city wall fell upon the twenty-seven thousand men who were  
     left.  Ben-hadad pleads for his life.'  'My royal cousin,' he said, 'is he still  
     alive?'  The men, taking the word for a favourable omen, caught it up at  
     once and said, 'Your cousin, yes, Ben-hadad.'  'Go and fetch him', he said.  
     Then Ben-hadad came out and Ahab invited him into his chariot.  And  
     Ben-hadad said to him, 'I will restore the cities which my father took from  
     your father, and you may establish for yourself a trading quarter in  
     Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.'  'On these terms', said Ahab, 'I  
     will let you go.'  So he granted him a treaty and let him go.  
        One of a company of prophets, at the command of the LORD, ordered a  
     certain man to strike him, but the man refused.  'Because you have not  
     obeyed the LORD,' said the prophet, 'when you leave me, a lion will attack  
     you.'  When the man left, a lion did meet him and attacked him.  The pro-  
     phet fell in with another man and ordered him to strike him.  He struck and  
     wounded him.  Then the prophet went off, with a bandage over his eyes,  
     and thus disguised waited by the wayside for the king.  As the king was  
     passing, he called out to him, 'Sir, I went into the thick of the battle, and a  
     soldier came over to me with a prisoner and said, "Take charge of this  
     fellow.  If by any chance he gets away, your life shall be forfeit, or you shall  
     pay a talent of silver."  As I was busy with one thing and another, sir., he  
     disappeared.'  The king of Israel said to him, 'You deserve to die.'  And he  
     said to the king of Israel, 'You have passed sentence on yourself.'  Then he  
     tore the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel saw that he was one  
     of the prophets.  And he said to the king, 'This is the word of the LORD:  
     "Because you let this man go when I had put him under a ban, your life  
     shall be forfeit for his life, your people for his people."'  The king of  
     Israel went home sullen and angry and entered Samaria.  

21   NABOTH  HAD  A  VINEYARD  near  the  palace  of  Ahab  king  
     of Samaria.  One day Ahab made a proposal to Naboth:  'Your vineyard is  
     close to my palace; let me have it for a garden; I will give you a better  
     vineyard in exchange for it or, if you prefer, its value in silver.'  But Naboth  
     answered, 'The LORD forbid that I should let you have land which has  
     always been in my family.'  So Ahab went home sullen and angry because  
     Naboth would not let him have his ancestral land.  He lay down on his bed,  
     covered his face and refused to eat.  His wife Jezebel came in to him and  
     said, 'What makes you so sullen and why do you refuse to eat?'  He told  
     her, 'I proposed to Naboth of Jezreel that he should let me have his vine-  
     yard at its value or, if he liked, in exchange for another; but he would not  
     let me have the vineyard.'  'Are you or are you not king in Isreal?' said  
     Jezebel.  'Come, eat and take heart; I will make you a gift of the vineyard  
     of Naboth of Jezreel.'  So she wrote a letter in Ahab's name, sealed it with   
     his seal and sent it to the elders and notables of Naboth's city, who sat in  
     council with him.  She wrote: 'Proclaim a fast and give Naboth the seat of  
     honour among the people.  And see that two scoundrels are seated opposite  
     him to charge him with cursing God and the king, then take him out and  
     stone him to death.'  So the elders and notables of Naboth's city, who sat  
     with him in council, carried out the instructions Jezebel had sent them in  
     her letter: they proclaimed a fast and gave Naboth the seat of honour, and  
     these two scoundrels came in, sat opposite him and charged him publicly  
     with cursing God and the king.  Then they took him outside the city and  
     stoned him, and sent word to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to   
     death.  
        As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead,  
     she said to Ahab, 'Get up and take possession of the vineyard which Naboth   
     refused to sell you, for he is no longer alive; Naboth of Jezreel is dead.'  
     When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went to the vine-   
     yard to take possession.  Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the  
     Tishbite: 'Go down at once to Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; you  
     will find him in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession.  
     Say to him, "This is the word of the LORD: Have you killed your man, and  
     taken his land as well?"  Say to him, "This is the word of the LORD: Where  
     dogs licked the blood of Naboth, there dogs shall lick your blood."'  Ahab 
     said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, my enemy?'  'I have found you', he  
     said, 'because you have sold yourself to do what is wrong in the eyes of the  
     LORD.  I will bring disaster upon you; I will sweep you away and destroy  
     every mother's son of the house of Ahab in Israel, whether under protection   
     of the family or not.  And I will deal with your house as I did with the house  
     of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have  
     provoked my anger and led Israel into sin.'  And the LORD went on to say  
     of Jezebel, 'Jezebel shall be eaten by dogs by the rampart of Jezreel.  Of  
     the house of Ahab , those who die in the city shall be food for the dogs, and  
     those who die in the country shall be food for the birds.'  (Never was a man  
     who sold himself to do wrong in the LORD's eyes as Ahab did, and  
     all at the prompting of Jezebel his wife.  He committed gross abominations  
     in going after false gods, doing everything that the Amorites did, whom the  
     LORD had dispossessed in favour of Israel.  When Ahab heard this, he  
     rent his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted; he lay down in his sackcloth  
     and went about muttering to himself.  Then the word of the LORD came to  
     Elijah the Tishbite:  'Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself  
     before me?  Because he has thus humbled himself, I will not bring disaster  
     upon his house in his own lifetime, but in his son's.'  

22 FOR THREE YEARS THERE WAS NO WAR between the Aramaeans and
the Israelites, but in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down
to visit the king of Israel. The latter said to his courtiers, 'You know that
Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and yet we do nothing to recover it from the
king of Aram.' He said to Jehoshaphat, 'Will you join me in attacking
Ramoth-gilead?' Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, 'What is mine is
yours: myself, my people, and my horses.' Then Jehoshaphat said to the
king of Israel, 'First let us seek counsel from the LORD.' The king of Israel
assembled the prophets, some four hundred of them, and asked them,
shall I attack Ramoth-gilead or shall I refrain?' 'Attack,' they answered;
'the LORD will deliver it into your hands.' Jehoshaphat asked, 'Is there no
other prophet of the LORD here through whom we may seek guidance?'
'There is one more', the king of Israel answered, through whom we may
seek guidance of the LORD, but I hate the man, because he prophesies no
good for me; never anything but evil. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.'
Jehoshaphat exclaimed, 'My lord king, let no such word pass your lips!'
So the king of Israel called one of his eunuchs and told him to fetch Micaiah
son of Imlah with all speed.
The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were seated on their
thrones, in shining armour, at the entrance to the gate of Samaria, and all
the prophets were prophesying before them. One of them, Zedekiah son
of Kenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, 'This is the word of the
LORD: "With horns like these you shall gore the Aramaeans and make an
end of them." ' In the same vein all the prophets prophesied, 'Attack
Ramoth-gilead and win the day; the LORD will deliver it into your hands.'
The messenger sent to fetch Micaiah told him that the prophets had with
one voice given the king a favourable answer. 'And mind you agree with
them, he added. 'As the LORD lives,' said Micaiah, 'I will say only what the
LORD tells me to say.'
When Micaiah came into the king's presence, the king said to him,
'Micaiah, shall we attack Ramoth-gilead or shall we refrain?' 'Attack and
win the day,' he said; 'the LORD will deliver it into your hands.' 'How
often must I adjure you', said the king, 'to tell me nothing but the truth
in the name of the LORD?' Then Micaiah said, 'I saw all Israel scattered on
the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd; and I heard the LORD say,
"They have no master, let them go home in peace."' The king of Israel
said to Jehoshapahat, 'Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for
me, nothing but evil?' Micaiah went on, 'Listen now to the word of the
LORD. I saw the LORD seated on his throne, with all the host of heaven in
attendance on his right and on his left. The LORD said, "Who will entice
Ahab to attack and fall on Ramoth-gilead?" One said one thing and one
said another; then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and
said, "I will entice him." "How?" said the LORD. "I will go out", he said,
"and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." "You shall entice
him," said the LORD, and you shall succeed; go and do it." You see, then,
how the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of
yours, because he has decreed disaster for you.' Then Zedekiah son of
Kenaanah came up to Micaiah and struck him in the face: 'And how did
the spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?' he said. Micaiah
answered, 'That you will find out on the day when you run into an inner
room to hide yourself.' Then the king of Israel ordered Micaiah to be
arrested and committed to the custody of Amon the governor of the city
and Joash the king's son. 'Lock this fellow up', he said, and give him
prison diet of bread and water until I come home in safety.' Micaiah
retorted, 'If you do return in safety, the LORD has not spoken by me.'
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah marched on Ramoth-
gilead, and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'I will disguise myself
to go into battle, but you shall wear your royal robes.' So he went into
battle in disguise. Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two
captain of his chariots not to engage all and sundry but the king of Israel
alone. When the captains saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king
of Israel and turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out and, when the
captains saw that he was not the king of Israel, they broke off the attack on
him. But one man drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel; where
the breastplate joins the plates of the armour. So he said to his driver,
'Wheel round and take me out of the line; I am wounded.' When the day's
fighting reached its height, the king was facing the Aramaeans propped up
in his chariot, and the blood from his wound flowed down upon the floor
of the chariot; and in the evening he died. At sunset the herald went
through the ranks, crying, 'Every man to his city, every man to his country.'
Thus died the king. He was brought to Samaria and they buried him there.
The chariot was swilled out at the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up
the blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, in fulfilment of the
word the LORD had spoken.
Now the other acts and events of Ahab's reign, the ivory house and all
the cities he built, are recorded in the annals of the kings of Israel. So
Ahab rested with his forefathers and was succeeded by his son Ahaziah.
Jehoshaphat son of Asa had become king of Judah in the fourth year of
Ahab king of Israel. He was thirty-five years old when he came to the
throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years; his mother was
Azubah daughter of Shilhi. He followed in the footsteps of Asa his father
and did not swerve from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the
LORD. But the hill-shrines were allowed to remain; the people continued to slaughter and burn sacrifices there. Jehoshaphat remained at peace with
the king of Israel. The other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, his exploits
and his wars, are recorded in the annals of the kings of Judah. But he did
away with such of he male prostitutes attached to the shrines as were still
left over from the days of Asa his father.
There was no king in Edom, only a viceroy of Jehoshaphat; he built
merchantment to sail to 0phir for gold, but they never made the journey
because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber. Ahaziah son of Ahab proposed
to Jehoshaphat that his own men should go to see with his; but Jehoshaphat
would not consent.
Jehoshaphat rested with his forefathers and was buried with them in the
city of David his father, and was succeeded by his son Joram.
Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth
year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned over Israel for two years.
He did what was wrong in the eyes of the LORD, following in the footsteps
of his father and mother and in those of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had
led Israel into sin. He served Baal and worshipped him, and provoked the
anger of the LORD the God of Israel, as his father had done.

The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970