Bible Reading Plan – Day 152

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 round, 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 journey 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 7,000 people alive in Israel — all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol.”

₁₉Elijah left and found Elisha ploughing with a team of oxen; there were eleven teams ahead of him, and he was ploughing 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 goodbye, 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.

₁King Benhadad of Syria gathered all his troops, and supported by 32 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 boasting 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, 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 7,000 men.

₁₆The attack began at noon, as Benhadad and his 32 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.”

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 32 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 with 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 27,000 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 round our waists and ropes round our necks, and maybe he will spare your life.” ₃₂So they wrapped sackcloth round their waists and ropes round 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 centre 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.

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 3,000 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.