Bible Reading Plan – Day 153

₁Near King Ahab's palace in Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth. ₂One day Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it, or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price.”

₃“I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors,” Naboth replied. “The LORD forbid that I should let you have it!”

₄Ahab went home, depressed and angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat. ₅His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, “Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?”

₆He answered, “Because of what Naboth said to me. I offered to buy his vineyard, or, if he preferred, to give him another one for it, but he told me that I couldn't have it!”

₇“Well, are you the king or aren't you?” Jezebel replied. “Get out of bed, cheer up and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!”

₈Then she wrote some letters, signed them with Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the officials and leading citizens of Jezreel. ₉The letters said: “Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honour. ₁₀Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death.”

₁₁The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded. ₁₂They proclaimed a day of fasting, called the people together, and gave Naboth the place of honour. ₁₃The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death. ₁₄The message was sent to Jezebel: “Naboth has been put to death.”

₁₅As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, “Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you.” ₁₆At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it.

₁₇Then the LORD said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, ₁₈“Go to King Ahab of Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard, about to take possession of it. ₁₉Tell him that I, the LORD, say to him, ‘After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?’ Tell him that this is what I say: ‘In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!’ ”

₂₀When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, “Have you caught up with me, my enemy?”

“Yes, I have,” Elijah answered. “You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD's sight. ₂₁So the LORD says to you, ‘I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike. ₂₂Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin.’ ₂₃And concerning Jezebel, the LORD says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel. ₂₄Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures.”

₂₅(There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the LORD's sight as Ahab — all at the urging of his wife Jezebel. ₂₆He committed the most shameful sins by worshipping idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the people of Israel advanced.)

₂₇When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.

₂₈The LORD said to the prophet Elijah, ₂₉“Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family.”

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 400 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 fetch 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 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!”

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 32 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 armour. “I'm wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn round 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: “Every man go back to his 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 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.

₄₁In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah ₄₂at the age of 35, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 25 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 built ocean-going ships 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.

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 worshipped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel.