The <sc>Lordsc> will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water.<n id="1" /> He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors<n id="2" /> and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River,<n id="3" /> because they angered the <sc>Lordsc> by making Asherah poles.<n id="4" />

&#8220;I raised you up<n id="1" /> from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam&#8217;s footsteps<n id="2" /> and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry.<n id="3" />

<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;

So they took a bull, as he had suggested,<n id="1" /> and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, &#8220;Baal, answer us.&#8221; But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped<n id="2" /> around on the altar they had made.<n id="3" />

Elisha<n id="1" /> went back and took his pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat over a fire that he made by burning the harness and yoke.<n id="2" /> He gave the people meat and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and became his assistant.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now a prophet visited King Ahab of Israel and said, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Do you see this huge army?<n id="1" /> Look, I am going to hand it over to you this very day. Then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;

<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;

So the king of Israel assembled about four hundred prophets and asked them, &#8220;Should I attack Ramoth Gilead or not?&#8221;<n id="1" /> They said, &#8220;Attack! The sovereign one<n id="2" /> will hand it over to the king.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">When he came before the king, the king asked him, &#8220;Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?&#8221; He answered him, &#8220;Attack! You will succeed; the <sc>Lordsc> will hand it over to the king.&#8221;<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me &#8211; how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether.<n id="1" /> During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle;<n id="2" /> when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet.<n id="3" />

Solomon replied, &#8220;You demonstrated<n id="1" /> great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served<n id="2" /> you faithfully, properly, and sincerely.<n id="3" /> You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne.<n id="4" />

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;

You must obey<n id="1" /> all I command you to do, follow my instructions,<n id="2" /> do what I approve,<n id="3" /> and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David;<n id="4" /> I will give you Israel.

Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it<n id="1" /> to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message:

The prophet<n id="1" /> visited the king of Israel and said, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8216;Because the Syrians said, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,&#8221; I will hand over to you this entire huge army.<n id="2" /> Then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>