Study Desk

So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-hadad says, 'Please spare my life.'" And the king answered, "Is he still alive? He is my brother."

Ben-hadad said to him, "I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." "By this covenant I release you," Ahab replied. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

Then the prophet found another man and said, "Strike me, please!" So the man struck him and wounded him,

But while your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." And the king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you have pronounced it on yourself."

So Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard to use as a vegetable garden, since it is next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place-or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver."

So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.

Soon his wife Jezebel came in and asked, "Why are you so sullen that you refuse to eat?"

So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel had instructed in the letters she had written to them.

And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, "Naboth has cursed God and the king!" So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, "So you have found me out, my enemy." He replied, "I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.

So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?" Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses."

So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, "Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?" "Go up," they replied, "and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."

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

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, "Behold now, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably."

So Micaiah declared: "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.'"

So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you."

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely this is the king of Israel!" So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out.

However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, "Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!"