Study Desk

Benaiah went into the Lord 's Tent and said to Joab, "The king says, ‘Come out!'" But Joab answered, "No, I will die here." Benaiah went back to the king and told him what Joab had said.

Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself because the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten of the tribes.

Say to them, ‘The Lord says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Everyone, go home! I made all this happen.'" So all the men in Rehoboam's army obeyed the Lord . They went home, just as the Lord had commanded.

The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. He said, "Altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David's family will have a son. His name will be Josiah. The priests of the high places are now burning incense on you, but Josiah will offer the priests on you and burn human bones on you, so you can never be used again!'"

Go back and tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘Jeroboam, I chose you from among all the Israelites. I made you the ruler of my people.

The Lord , the God of Israel, says, ‘That jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always have oil in it. This will continue until the day the Lord sends rain to the land.'"

Then a prophet went to King Ahab and said, "King Ahab, the Lord says to you, ‘Do you see that great army? I will defeat that army for you today. Then you will know that I am the Lord .'"

Ahab said, "Who will you use to defeat them?" The prophet answered, "The Lord says, ‘The young men who carry the weapons for the government officials.'" Then the king asked, "Who should command the main army?" The prophet answered, "You will."

Then the prophet said to the king, "The Lord says to you, ‘You set free the man I said should die. So you will take his place—you and your people will die!'"

So Elijah went to Ahab. When Ahab saw him, he said, "Well, my enemy has found me again!" Elijah answered, "Yes, I found you, because you have again sold yourself out to do what the Lord says is evil.

The Lord also says this about your wife Jezebel: ‘Dogs will eat the body of Jezebel by the wall of the city of Jezreel.

So Ahab sold himself out to do what the Lord says is evil. There is no one who did as much evil as Ahab and his wife Jezebel, who caused him to do these things.

King Ahab answered, "Yes, there is another prophet. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he will not say anything good about me when he speaks for the Lord . He always says things that I don't like." Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say that!"

One of the prophets was named Zedekiah son of Kenaanah. Zedekiah made some iron horns and said to Ahab, "The Lord says, ‘You will use these iron horns to fight against the army of Aram. You will defeat them and destroy them.'"

But Micaiah answered, "As surely as the Lord lives, I can say only what the Lord says."

So Micaiah answered, "I can see the army of Israel scattered all over the hills, like sheep with no one to lead them. This is what the Lord says: ‘These men have no leaders. Let them go home in peace.'"