World English Bible · The divided kingdom
1 Kings 22
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They continued three years without war between and Israel. In the third year, the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that is ours, and we do nothing, and don't take it out of the hand of the king of ?" He said to , "Will you go with me to battle to ?" said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire first for word." Then the king of Israel gathered together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Should I go against to battle, or should I refrain?" They said, "Go up; for will it into the hand of the king." But said, "Isn't there here a of , that we may inquire of him?" The king of Israel said to , "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of , the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he does not good concerning me, but evil." said, "Don't let the king say so." Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, "Quickly get the son of Imlah." Now the king of Israel and the king of Judah were sitting each on his , arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the of ; and all were prophesying before them. made himself of iron, and said, " says, 'With these you will push , until they are consumed.'" All prophesied so, saying, "Go up to and prosper; for will it into the hand of the king." who went to call spoke to him, saying, "See now, declare good to the king with one . Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good." said, "As lives, what says to me, that I will speak." When he had come to the king, the king said to him, ", shall we go to to battle, or shall we forbear?" He answered him, "Go up and prosper; and will it into the hand of the king." The king said to him, "How many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in name?" He said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no . said, 'These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.'" The king of Israel said to , "Didn't I tell you that he would not good concerning me, but evil?" said, "Therefore hear word. I saw sitting on his , and of standing by him hand and on his left. said, 'Who will entice , that he may go up and fall at ?' One said one thing, and another said another. A came out and stood before , and said, 'I will entice him.' said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and will be a lying in the of all his .' He said, 'You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.' Now therefore, behold, has put a lying in the of all these your ; and has spoken evil concerning you." Then came near and struck on the cheek, and said, "Which way did go from me to speak to you?" said, "Behold, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to hide yourself." 26The king of Israel said, "Take , and carry him back to the governor of the city and to the king's son. Say, 'The king says, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace."'" said, "If you return at all in peace, has not spoken by me." He said, "Listen, all you people!" So the king of Israel and the king of Judah went up to . The king of Israel said to , "I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes." The king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. Now the king of had commanded -two captains of his chariots, saying, "Don't fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel." When the captains of the chariots saw , they said, "Surely that is the king of Israel!" and they came over to fight against him. cried out. When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around, and carry me out of the battle, for I am severely wounded." The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing , and at evening. ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country!" 37So the king , and was brought to ; and they buried the king in . They washed the chariot by the pool of ; and the dogs licked up his where the washed themselves, according to word which he spoke. Now the rest of the acts of , and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So slept with his fathers; and his son reigned in his place. the son of began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of king of Israel. was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in . His mother's name was the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in all of his . He didn't turn away from it, doing that which was right in eyes. However, the were not taken away. The people still and on the . made peace with the king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of , and his might that he showed, and how he fought, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his , he out of the land. There was no king in . A deputy ruled. made ships of to go to for gold, but they didn't go, for the ships wrecked at . 49Then the son of said to , "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships." But would not. slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his city. his son reigned in his place. the son of began to reign over Israel in in the seventeenth year of king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did that which was evil in sight, and walked in of his , and in of his mother, and in of the son of , in which he made Israel to . He and him, and provoked , the of Israel, to in all the ways that his had done so.
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The world at this moment · The divided kingdom, 931 BC to 745 BC ›
Israel in the north and Judah in the south, often at odds, with Aram of Damascus as the immediate threat and Assyria growing in the distance.
- Aram of Damascus
- The immediate enemy for most of two centuries, close enough to raid every campaigning season and strong enough to take territory. Most of the wars in Kings that read like national emergencies are border wars with Damascus.
- Assyria
- Growing steadily in the distance. Shalmaneser III fights a coalition at Qarqar in 853 BC and his own inscription lists King Ahab of Israel among his opponents with two thousand chariots, the earliest Assyrian mention of an Israelite king. A later monument shows Jehu bowing and paying tribute. Assyria is not yet the destroyer, but it is already taking notes.
- Egypt
- Divided and unreliable, capable of the occasional raid, such as Shishak stripping the temple in Rehoboam's fifth year, but no longer an empire that governs the Levant.
- Further afield
- The Greeks adopt the alphabet, hold the first Olympiad by tradition in 776 BC, and begin to compose the Homeric poems. Rome is founded by tradition in 753 BC, a village of huts at this point. This is the century in which the classical world begins.