The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’ ” 1 Kings 20:11

1 Kings 20-21

1 Kings 20

Ahab’s Wars with Syria

¹ Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. There were 32 kings with him with horses and chariots. He went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it. ² He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, “Ben Hadad says, ³ ‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives also and your children, the best of them are mine.’ ”

⁴ The king of Israel answered, “It is just as you say, my lord, O king. I am yours and all that I have.”

⁵ The messengers came back and said, “Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent this message to you: You shall deliver to me, your silver and your gold and your wives and your children, ⁶ but I will send my servants to you this time tomorrow, and they will search your house and the houses of your servants. Whatever is pleasing in your eyes, they will put it in their hand and take it away.’ ”

⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Please notice how this man seeks mischief, for he sent to me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold, and I didn’t deny him.”

⁸ All the elders and all the people said to him, “Don’t listen and don’t consent.”

⁹ Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you sent for your servant to do the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’ ”

The messengers departed and brought him back the message. ¹⁰ Ben Hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me and more also, if there is enough dust of Samaria left to fill the hands of all the people who follow me.”

¹¹ The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’ ”

¹² When Ben Hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, he said to his servants, “Prepare to attack!” They prepared to attack the city.

Ahab Defeats Ben-Hadad

¹³ Suddenly a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “The Lord says, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Hear this. I will deliver it into your hand today. Then you will know that I am God.’ ”
¹⁴ Ahab said, “By whom?”
He said, “The Lord says, ‘By the young men of the rulers of the provinces.’ ”
Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?”
He answered, “You.”

¹⁵ Then he mustered the young men among the rulers of the provinces, and they were 232. After them, he mustered all the people, all the Israelites, that being 7,000.

¹⁶ They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the 32 kings who helped him. ¹⁷ The young men among the rulers of the provinces went out first, and Ben Hadad sent scouts out and they told him, “Men are coming out from Samaria.”

¹⁸ He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive, or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

¹⁹ So these went out of the city: the young men of the rulers of the provinces and the army which followed them. ²⁰ They each killed his opponent. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. ²¹ The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots and killed the Syrians in a great slaughter.

²² The prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself. Mark down and plan what to do, for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”

²³ The servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills, therefore they were stronger than we. But let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴ Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place. ²⁵ Muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. We will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are.”

He listened to their voice, and did so.

Another War with Ben-Hadad

²⁶ At the same time the following year, Ben Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. ²⁷ The Israelites were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The Israelites encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats, but the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸ A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “The Lord says, ‘Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys,’ therefore I will deliver all of this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

²⁹ They encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was, that on the seventh day the battle began, and the Israelites killed 100,000 footmen of the Syrians in one day. ³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. Ben Hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner room.

Ahab Spares Ben-Hadad

³¹ His servants said to him, “See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life.”

³² So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ”
He said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

³³ Now the men took this as a good sign and were quick to take it up from him, and they said, “Your brother Ben Hadad.”
Then he said, “Go, bring him.”
Then Ben Hadad came out to him, and Ahab had him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴ Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father, I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.”
“I will release you, with this covenant,” said Ahab. So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

A Prophet Reproves Ahab

³⁵ A certain man among the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me!”

The man refused to strike him. ³⁶ Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, hear this, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.

³⁷ Then he found another man, and said, “Please strike me.”
The man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, he cried to the king, and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay 75 pounds of silver.’ ⁴⁰ As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.”
The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it.”

⁴¹ He hurried and took the headband away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. ⁴² He said to him, “The Lord says, ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man whom I had appointed for destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’ ”

⁴³ The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry and came to Samaria.

1 Kings 21

Ahab Covets Naboth’s Vineyard

¹ After these things, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs because it is near my house, and for it, I will give you a better vineyard. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you money for whatever it is worth.”

³ Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴ Ahab came into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He laid himself down on his bed and turned his face away and would eat no bread.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?”

⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ He answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Get up and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” ⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth. ⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹⁰ Set two wicked men before him and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

Jezebel’s Plot

¹¹ The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had instructed them in the letters which she had written and sent to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹³ The two wicked men came in and sat before him. The wicked men testified against him, against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Get up, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria. He is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The Lord says, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The Lord says: In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your own blood.’ ”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?”
He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹ Hear this. I will bring disaster on you and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, whether slave or free. ²² I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.” ²³ The Lord also spoke of Jezebel, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. ²⁴ The dogs will eat any from Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat any of his who die in the field.”

²⁵ But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. ²⁶ He did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom the Lord cast out before the Israelites. ²⁷ When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went meekly.

²⁸ The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “See how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring disaster in his days, but I will bring the disaster to his house in his son’s day.”

Acts 13:1-12

Paul’s First Missionary Journey

¹ Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

² As they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for me for the work to which I have called them.”

³ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

On Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their attendant. ⁶ When they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God, ⁸ but Elymas the sorcerer (for this is his name by interpretation) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him, ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!”

Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Psalm 137

By the Rivers of Babylon

¹ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down.
Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
² On the willows in that land,
we hung up our harps.
³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs.
Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not exalt Jerusalem
above my greatest joy.

⁷ Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem,
who said, “Raze it!
Raze it to its very foundation!”
⁸ Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
⁹ Happy shall he be,
who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.

Proverbs 17:16

¹⁶ Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
since he has no understanding?

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