Study Desk

So they put on burlap and ropes, and they went to the king of Israel and begged, "Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live!'" The king of Israel responded, "Is he still alive? He is my brother!"

Ben-hadad told him, "I will give back the towns my father took from your father, and you may establish places of trade in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Then Ahab said, "I will release you under these conditions." So they made a new treaty, and Ben-hadad was set free.

Then the prophet turned to another man and said, "Hit me!" So he struck the prophet and wounded him.

So the king of Israel went home to Samaria angry and sullen.

One day Ahab said to Naboth, "Since your vineyard is so convenient to my palace, I would like to buy it to use as a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I will pay you for it."

So Ahab went home angry and sullen because of Naboth's answer. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat!

"What's the matter?" his wife Jezebel asked him. "What's made you so upset that you're not eating?"

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and other leaders of the town where Naboth lived.

So the elders and other town leaders followed the instructions Jezebel had written in the letters.

Then the two scoundrels came and sat down across from him. And they accused Naboth before all the people, saying, "He cursed God and the king." So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death.

So Ahab immediately went down to the vineyard of Naboth to claim it.

"So, my enemy, you have found me!" Ahab exclaimed to Elijah. "Yes," Elijah answered, "I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord 's sight.

So now the Lord says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel!

(No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord 's sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel.

So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, "Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?" They all replied, "Yes, go right ahead! The Lord will give the king victory."

So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Quick! Bring Micaiah son of Imlah."

And the Lord said, ‘Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?' "There were many suggestions,

"So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the Lord has pronounced your doom."

So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led their armies against Ramoth-gilead.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself so no one will recognize me, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.