1And they stayed three years; there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 And it came to pass in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of the tribe of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, 'Do you know that Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us, and we are silent from taking it out of the hand of the king of Aram?' 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, 'Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-Gilead?' And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, 'I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.' 5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, 'Seek now, today, the word of the Lord.' 6 And the king of Israel gathered the false prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, 'Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?' And they said, 'Go up, and the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.' 7 And Jehoshaphat said, 'Is there not here another prophet of the Lord, that we might inquire of him?' 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'There is yet one man, Micaiah son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.' And Jehoshaphat said, 'Let not the king say so.' 9 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, 'Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.' 10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the false prophets were prophesying before them. 11 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron and said, 'Thus says the Lord, With these you shall push the Syrians until they are consumed.' 12 And all the false prophets prophesied so, saying, 'Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.' 13 And the messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, 'Behold now, the words of the false prophets declare good to the king with one mouth; let your word, I pray you, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.' 14 And Micaiah said, 'As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that will I speak.' 15 So he came to the king. And the king said to him, 'Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?' And he answered him, 'Go and prosper; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.' 16 And the king said to him, 'How many times shall I adjure you that you tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?' 17 And he said, 'I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.' 18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?' 19 And Micaiah said, 'Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the glory of the Lord resting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. 21 And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. 22 And the Lord said to him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You shall persuade him, and prevail also; go forth, and do so. 23 Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you.' 24 But Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, 'Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?' 25 And Micaiah said, 'Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.' 26 And the king of Israel said, 'Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;' 27 And say, 'Thus says the king, Put this man in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.' 28 And Micaiah said, 'If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.' And he said, 'Hear, O peoples, all of you!' 29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-Gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'I will disguise myself and enter into the battle; but put on your robes.' And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 31 Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, 'Fight neither with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.' 32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, 'Surely it is the king of Israel.' And they turned aside to fight against him; and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. And he said to the driver of his chariot, 'Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.' 35 And the battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at evening; and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. 36 And there went a cry throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, 'Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.' 37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according to the word of the Lord which he spoke. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead. 41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places. 44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. 45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he fought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 46 And the remnant of the sodomites, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. 47 There was then no king in Edom; a deputy was king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-Geber. 49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab to Jehoshaphat, 'Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.' But Jehoshaphat would not. 50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. 51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. 52 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; 53 For he served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done. 54 And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick; so he sent messengers, and said to them, 'Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease.'
2And Elijah said to the people, I alone am left as a prophet before the Lord, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood, but do not put fire to it And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but I will not put fire to it 24 Then you call upon the name of your god, and do not respond, for he has no need But I will pray in the name of the Lord, and He will send His word and cause the fire to descend, for the Lord is God And all the people answered and said, The word is right 25 And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your idol, but do not put fire to it 26 So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and they called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us But there was no voice and no one answered And they limped about the altar that they had made 27 And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god Perhaps he is meditating, or he has gone aside to relieve himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened 28 And they cried out with a loud voice and cut themselves after their manner with swords and spears until blood gushed out upon them
3And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel came to Shechem to make him king. 2 And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard, he was still in Egypt where he fled from before King Solomon. And Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt. 3 And they sent and called to him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and they spoke with Rehoboam, saying: 4 Your father made harsh our yoke, and you now lighten up from the harsh service of your father and from his heavy yoke that he gave upon us, and we will serve you. 5 And he said to them: Go, and wait until three days, and return unto me. And the people went away. 6 And King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who were serving before Solomon his father while he was alive, saying: How are you counselling to bring word back to this people? 7 And they spoke with him, saying: If this day you submit yourself to this people and you serve them and answer them good words and speak with them right words, they will be servants to you all the days. 8 And he abandoned the counsel of the elders that they counseled him, and he took counsel with the youngsters who had grown up with him, who were serving before him. 9 And he said to them: What are you counselling that we send word back to this people who are speaking with me, saying: Lighten up from the yoke that your father gave upon us? 10 And the youngsters who had grown up with him spoke with him, saying: Thus you will say to this people who spoke with you, saying: Your father has made heavy our yoke, and you lighten up from us. Thus you will speak with them: My weakness is stronger than the strength of my father. 11 And now my father raised upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with rods, and I will chastise you with whips. 12 And Jeroboam and all the people came unto Rehoboam on the third day just as the king spoke, saying: Return unto me on the third day. 13 And the king answered the people in harsh words, and he abandoned the counsel of the elders that they counseled him. 14 And he spoke with them according to the counsel of the youngsters, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with rods, and I will chastise you with whips. 15 And the king did not accept from the people, for there was division from before the Lord in order to fulfill his word that the Lord spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite about Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 And all Israel saw that the king did not accept them, and the people answered the king a word, saying: What portion is there for us in David? And there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each man to your cities, O Israel. Now rule over the men of your house, O David. And Israel went to its cities. 17 And the sons of Israel who were dwelling in the cities of the house of Judah, Rehoboam ruled over them. 18 And King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was appointed over the tribute bearers, and all Israel stoned him with stone, and he died. And King Rehoboam succeeded to go up on the chariot, to go forth to Jerusalem. 19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 20 And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam returned, they sent and called him to the assembly, and they made him king over all Israel. None was after the house of David except the tribe of the house of Judah alone. 21 And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and he gathered all those of the house of Judah and the tribe of the house of Benjamin, 180,000, each a warrior, wagers of battle, to wage battle with the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 And the word of prophecy was from before the Lord with Shemaiah the prophet of the Lord, saying: 23 Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, the king of the tribe of the house of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people, saying: 24 Thus said the Lord: You shall not go up and you shall not wage battle with your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, each man to his house, for from before my Memra was the word. And they received the word of the Lord, and they turned to go according to the word of the Lord. 25 And Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of the house of Ephraim, and he dwelt in it; and he went forth from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now perhaps the kingdom will return to the house of David, if this people will go up to make the sacrifice of holy things in the house of the sanctuary of the Lord in Jerusalem, and the heart of this people will turn itself after their master, after Rehoboam, the king of the tribe of the house of Judah, and they will kill me, and they will turn unto Rehoboam the king of the tribe of the house of Judah. 27 And the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and he said to them: Too much for you is the way from going up to Jerusalem. Behold these are your deities, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 28 And he set up one in Bethel, and he put one in Dan. 29 And this act was a sin, and the people went before one unto Dan. 30 And he made a house of high places, and he made idol priests from a part of the people that were not from the sons of Levi. 31 And Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that was in the tribe of Judah, and he went up to the altar, thus he did in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves that he made, and he appointed in Bethel the idol priests of the high places that he made. 32 And he went up to the altar that he made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he appointed from his own good pleasure, and he made a festival for the sons of Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.