1 Kings 22:29-40

New International Reader's Version

Ahab Is Killed at Ramoth Gilead

²⁹ So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went there too. ³⁰ The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “I’ll go into battle wearing different clothes. Then people won’t recognize me. But you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel put on different clothes. Then he went into battle.

³¹ The king of Aram had given an order to his 32 chariot commanders. He had said, “Fight only against the king of Israel. Don’t fight against anyone else.” ³² The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought, “That has to be the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ Then the commanders saw he wasn’t the king of Israel after all. So they stopped chasing him.

³⁴ But someone shot an arrow without taking aim. The arrow hit the king of Israel between the parts of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Turn the chariot around. Get me out of this battle. I’ve been wounded.” ³⁵ All day long the battle continued. The king kept himself standing up by leaning against the inside of his chariot. He kept his face toward the men of Aram. The blood from his wound ran down onto the floor of the chariot. That evening he died. ³⁶ As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army. “Every man must go to his own town!” they said. “Every man must go to his own land!”

³⁷ So the king died. He was brought to Samaria. They buried him there. ³⁸ They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria. It was where the prostitutes took baths. The dogs licked up Ahab’s blood. It happened exactly as the Lord had said it would.

³⁹ The other events of Ahab’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. That includes the palace he built and decorated with ivory. It also includes the cities he built up and put high walls around. All these things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel. ⁴⁰ Ahab joined the members of his family who had already died. Ahab’s son Ahaziah became the next king after him.