Ahab Dies in Disguise

1 Kings 22:29-40

Bible Stories

1 Kings 22:29 And so, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, ascended to Ramoth Gilead.

1 Kings 22:30 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “Take up your armor, and enter the battle. And be clothed in your own garments.” But the king of Israel changed his clothing, and he entered the war.

1 Kings 22:31 Now the king of Syria had instructed the thirty-two commanders of the chariots, saying, “You shall not fight against anyone, small or great, except against the king of Israel alone.”

1 Kings 22:32 Therefore, when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they suspected that he was the king of Israel. And making a violent assault, they fought against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out.

1 Kings 22:33 And the commanders of the chariots understood that he was not the king of Israel, and so they turned away from him.

1 Kings 22:34 But a certain man bent his bow, aiming the arrow without certitude, and by chance he struck the king of Israel, between the lungs and the stomach. Then he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me away from the army, for I have been grievously wounded.”

1 Kings 22:35 Then the battle was undertaken throughout that day. And the king of Israel was standing on his chariot opposite the Syrians, and he died in the evening. For the blood was flowing from the wound into the joints of the chariot.

1 Kings 22:36 And a herald proclaimed throughout the entire army, before the setting of the sun, saying: “Let each one return to his own city, and to his own land.”

1 Kings 22:37 Then the king died, and he was carried into Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria.

1 Kings 22:38 And they washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria. And the dogs licked up his blood. And they washed the reins, in accord with the word of the Lord which he had spoken.

1 Kings 22:39 But the rest of the words of Ahab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and all the cities that he constructed, were these not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

1 Kings 22:40 And so, Ahab slept with his fathers. And Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place.