Study Desk

Elijah told the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire."

At noon Elijah mocked them, "Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened."

With the stones he constructed an altar for the Lord . Around the altar he made a trench large enough to contain two seahs of seed.

When it was time for the evening offering, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and prayed: "O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.

Then Elijah told Ahab, "Go on up and eat and drink, for the sound of a heavy rainstorm can be heard."

Elijah was afraid, so he got up and fled for his life to Beer Sheba in Judah. He left his servant there,

The Lord 's angelic messenger came back again, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, for otherwise you won't be able to make the journey."

The Lord said to him, "Go back the way you came and then head for the Desert of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael king over Syria.

The king of Israel summoned all the leaders of the land and said, "Notice how this man is looking for trouble. Indeed, he demanded my wives, sons, silver, and gold, and I did not resist him."

Ben Hadad sent another message to him, "May the gods judge me severely if there is enough dirt left in Samaria for my soldiers to scoop up in their hands."

The prophet visited the king of Israel and instructed him, "Go, fortify your defenses. Determine what you must do, for in the spring the king of Syria will attack you."

The armies were deployed opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began, and the Israelites killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day.

The prophet then went and stood by the road, waiting for the king. He also disguised himself by putting a bandage down over his eyes.

When the king passed by, he called out to the king, "Your servant went out into the heat of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, you will pay with your life or with a talent of silver.'

Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard so I can make a vegetable garden out of it, for it is adjacent to my palace. I will give you an even better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will pay you silver for it."

He answered her, "While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard for silver, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.' But he said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard.'"

His wife Jezebel said to him, "You are the king of Israel! Get up, eat some food, and have a good time. I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you."

When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he's dead."

As for Ahab's family, dogs will eat the ones who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country."

There was no war between Syria and Israel for three years.