And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. And he said unto him, "Thus saith the Lord, 'Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.'"

So he died according to the word of Jehovah which Elijah had spoken.

[{387}]

JORAM.

(Joram, or Jehoram as it is sometimes written, was another evil king of the race of Ahab. Frightened by the fate of his brother he began his reign by an attack upon idolatry. But the old wicked blood flamed out, and his reign was marked by many excesses and much wrong-doing. The account of other events of this reign not given here, and how the king, already sick from arrow wounds received in battle, was killed by an arrow from the strong bow of Jehu, will be found in the ["Stories of Elijah and Elisha"] in this volume. Joram was a fighting king, but he was not always successful. The battle in which he received his wounds previous to his death was an attempt to take Ramoth-gilead in company with Ahaziah of Judah, but the Syrian archers wounded him so severely that he was forced to retire. The story given below is of an attack made upon Mesha, "sheep-master" king of Moab, who, it seems, refused two years previously the tribute of wool which he had paid to Israel. Joram called the kings of Judah and Edom together, and the three made an expedition to punish the Moabites. The armies would have perished miserably had it not been for a miracle performed by Elisha. The expedition, while momentarily successful, ended in the retreat of the allies without having fully accomplished their purpose.)

Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

[{388}]

Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and he rendered unto the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, "The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle?"

And he said, "I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses."

And he said, "Which way shall we go up?"