I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve.<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the <sc>Lordsc> told Elijah,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Go, make an appearance before Ahab, so I may send rain on the surface of the ground.&#8221;

Ahab told Obadiah, &#8220;Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grazing areas<n id="1" /> so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to kill<n id="2" /> some of the animals.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">The prophet<n id="1" /> visited the king of Israel and instructed him, &#8220;Go, fortify your defenses.<n id="2" /> Determine<n id="3" /> what you must do, for in the spring<n id="4" /> the king of Syria will attack<n id="5" /> you.&#8221;

Muster an army like the one you lost, with the same number of horses and chariots.<n id="1" /> Then we will fight them in the plains; we will certainly overpower them.&#8221; He approved their plan and did as they advised.<n id="2" />p>

Ben Hadad<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;I will return the cities my father took from your father. You may set up markets<n id="2" /> in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.&#8221;<n id="3" /> Ahab then said, &#8220;I want to make a treaty with you before I dismiss you.&#8221;<n id="4" /> So he made a treaty with him and then dismissed him.p>

<p class="bodytext">So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.&#8221;<n id="2" /> He lay down on his bed, pouted,<n id="3" /> and would not eat.

His wife Jezebel said to him, &#8220;You are the king of Israel!<n id="1" /> Get up, eat some food, and have a good time.<n id="2" /> I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she<n id="1" /> said to Ahab, &#8220;Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he&#8217;s dead.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">The king then told Abiathar the priest, &#8220;Go back to your property<n id="1" /> in Anathoth. You deserve to die,<n id="2" /> but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.&#8221;<n id="3" />

The real mother<n id="1" /> spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused.<n id="2" /> She said, &#8220;My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don&#8217;t kill him!&#8221;<n id="3" /> But the other woman said, &#8220;Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!&#8221;

Now, O <sc>Lord,sc> God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, &#8216;You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,<n id="1" /> provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.&#8217;<n id="2" />