I Kings 22

¹Now for three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.

²And it came about in the third year, that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.

³And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you not see that Ramoth-gilead is ours? and we are doing nothing to get it back from the hands of the king of Aram.

⁴And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead to make war? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are: my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord.

⁶So the king of Israel got all the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Am I to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And they said, Go up: for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

⁷But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions?

⁸And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

⁹Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah.

¹⁰Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them.

¹¹And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.

¹²And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

¹³Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things.

¹⁴And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say.

¹⁵When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

¹⁶Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord?

¹⁷Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace.

¹⁸And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil?

¹⁹And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left.

²⁰And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another.

²¹Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick.

²²And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so.

²³And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you.

²⁴Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you?

²⁵And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe.

²⁶And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son;

²⁷And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace.

²⁸And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.

²⁹So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.

³⁰And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress and went into the fight.

³¹Now the king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel.

³²So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Truly, this is the king of Israel; and turning against him, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry.

³³And when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him.

³⁴And a certain man sent an arrow from his bow without thought of its direction, and gave the king of Israel a wound where his breastplate was joined to his clothing; so he said to the driver of his war-carriage, Go to one side and take me away out of the army, for I am badly wounded.

³⁵But the fight became more violent while the day went on; and the king was supported in his war-carriage facing the Aramaeans, and the floor of the carriage was covered with the blood from his wound, and by evening he was dead.

³⁶And about sundown a cry went up from all parts of the army, saying, Let every man go back to his town and his country, for the king is dead.

³⁷And they came to Samaria, and put the king's body to rest in Samaria.

³⁸And the war-carriage was washed by the pool of Samaria, which was the bathing-place of the loose women, and the dogs were drinking his blood there, as the Lord had said.

³⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all he did, and his ivory house, and all the towns of which he was the builder, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

⁴⁰So Ahab was put to rest with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

⁴¹And Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab's rule over Israel.

⁴²Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was king for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

⁴³He did as Asa his father had done, not turning away from it, but doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord; but the high places were not taken away: the people went on making offerings and burning them in the high places.

⁴⁴And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his great power, and how he went to war, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

⁴⁶He put an end to the rest of those who were used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods, all those who were still in the land in the time of his father Asa.

⁴⁷At that time there was no king in Edom;

⁴⁸And the representative of King Jehoshaphat made a Tarshish-ship to go to Ophir for gold, but it did not go, because it was broken at Ezion-geber.

⁴⁹Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, Let my men go with yours in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not let them.

⁵⁰Then Jehoshaphat went to rest with his fathers, and his body was put into the earth in the town of David his father; and Jehoram his son became king in his place.

⁵¹Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of the rule of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and he was king over Israel for two years.

⁵²He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, going in the ways of his father and his mother, and in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel do evil.

⁵³He was a servant and worshipper of Baal, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath, as his father had done.

I Kings 22

¹They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.

²It happened in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.

³The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we are still, and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?"

⁴He said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

⁵Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire first for the word of the Lord."

⁶Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?" They said, "Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."

⁷But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of him?"

⁸The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." Jehoshaphat said, "Do not let the king say so."

⁹Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, "Quickly get Micaiah the son of Imlah."

¹⁰Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

¹¹Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, "Thus says the Lord, 'With these you shall push the Syrians, until they are consumed.'"

¹²All the prophets prophesied so, saying, "Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."

¹³The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "See now, the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good."

¹⁴Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak."

¹⁵When he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?" He answered him, "Go up and prosper; and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."

¹⁶The king said to him, "How many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?"

¹⁷He said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. The Lord said, 'These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.'"

¹⁸The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"

¹⁹Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

²⁰The Lord said, 'Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One said one thing; and another said another.

²¹A spirit came out and stood before the Lord, and said, 'I will entice him.'

²²The Lord said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.'

²³Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has pronounced disaster against you."

²⁴Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?"

²⁵Micaiah said, "Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself."

²⁶The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son.

²⁷Say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace."'"

²⁸Micaiah said, "If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me." He said, "Listen, all you people!"

²⁹So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.

³⁰The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "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.

³¹Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.

³²It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, "Surely that is the king of Israel!" and they turned aside to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out.

³³It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

³⁴A 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 your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded."

³⁵The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.

³⁶A 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 died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

³⁸They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves; according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.

³⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, 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?

⁴⁰So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

⁴¹Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

⁴²Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

⁴³He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord: however the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

⁴⁴Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

⁴⁶The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land.

⁴⁷There was no king in Edom: a deputy was king.

⁴⁸Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they did not go; for the ships were broken at Ezion Geber.

⁴⁹Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not.

⁵⁰Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; Jehoram his son reigned in his place.

⁵¹Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel.

⁵²He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin.

⁵³He served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger the Lord, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.