But when I leave you, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s spirit will carry you away so I can&#8217;t find you.<n id="1" /> If I go tell Ahab I&#8217;ve seen you, he won&#8217;t be able to find you and he will kill me.<n id="2" /> That would not be fair,<n id="3" /> because your servant has been a loyal follower of<n id="4" /> the <sc>Lordsc> from my youth.

<p class="bodytext">Elijah told the prophets of Baal, &#8220;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.&#8221;<n id="1" />

while he went a day&#8217;s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub<n id="1" /> and asked the <sc>Lordsc> to take his life:<n id="2" /> &#8220;I&#8217;ve had enough! Now, O <sc>Lordsc>, take my life. After all, I&#8217;m no better than my ancestors.&#8221;<n id="3" />

So he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, &#8220;Say this to my master, the king, &#8216;I will give you everything you demanded at first from your servant, but I am unable to agree to this latest demand.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" /> So the messengers went back and gave their report.p>

Now the advisers<n id="1" /> of the king of Syria said to him: &#8220;Their God is a god of the mountains. That&#8217;s why they overpowered us. But if we fight them in the plains, we will certainly overpower them.

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>

<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.

He answered her, &#8220;While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, &#8216;Sell me your vineyard for silver, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.&#8217; But he said, &#8216;I will not sell you my vineyard.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />

&#8220;Have you noticed how Ahab shows remorse<n id="1" /> before me? Because he shows remorse before me, I will not bring disaster on his dynasty during his lifetime, but during the reign of his son.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

Micaiah<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. Then the <sc>Lordsc> said, &#8216;They have no master. They should go home in peace.&#8217;&#8221;

Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, &#8220;Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers;<n id="1" /> fight only the king of Israel.&#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" />

May the <sc>Lordsc> punish him for the blood he shed;<n id="1" /> behind my father David&#8217;s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he<n id="2" /> &#8211; Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel&#8217;s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah&#8217;s army.

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" />

<p class="bodytext">When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, &#8220;We have no portion in David, no share in the son of Jesse!<n id="1" /> Return to your homes, O Israel!<n id="2" /> Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!&#8221;<n id="3" /> So Israel returned to their homes.<n id="4" />

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, &#8220;There is still one man through whom we can seek the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s will.<n id="1" /> But I despise<n id="2" /> him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.<n id="3" /> Jehoshaphat said, &#8220;The king should not say such things.&#8221;