1 Kings 22
1 Then three years passed without war between Aram and Israel.
For almost three years there was no war between Syria and Israel.
2 However, in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel,
Then King Jehoshaphat, who ruled Judah, went to [visit] King Ahab, who ruled Israel.
3 who said to his servants, “Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, but we have failed to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?”
[While they were talking, ] Ahab said to his officials, “Do you realize that the Syrians are still occupying our city of Ramoth in [the] Gilead [region]? And we are doing nothing to retake that city!”
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “I am like you, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.”
Then he turned to Jehoshaphat and asked, “Will your [army] join my [army] to fight against the people of Ramoth [and retake that city]?” Jehoshaphat replied, “[Certainly] I [will do whatever] you [want], and you may command my troops. You may take my horses into battle, also.”
5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.”
Then he added, “But we should ask Yahweh first, to find out what he wants us to do.”
6 So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
So Ahab summoned about 400 of his prophets together, and he asked them, “Should my [army] go to fight the people in Ramoth and retake that city, or not?” They answered, “Yes, go [and attack them], because God will enable your [army] to defeat them.”
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?”
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here whom we can ask?”
8 The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
The King of Israel replied, “There is one man we can talk to. We can ask him if he can find out what Yahweh wants. His name is Micaiah; he is the son of Imlah. But I hate him, because when he (prophesies/tells what God says to him) he never says [that] anything good [will happen] to me. He always predicts [that] bad things [will happen to me].” Jehoshaphat replied, “King Ahab, you should not say that!”
9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
So the king of Israel told one of his officers to summon Micaiah immediately.
10 Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.
The king of Israel and the king of Judah were wearing their (royal robes/robes that showed that they were kings). They were sitting on thrones at the place where people threshed grain, near the gate of Samaria [city]. All of Ahab’s prophets were standing in front of the kings, (prophesying/predicting what was going to happen).
11 Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’”
One of them, whose name was Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, had made from iron [something that resembled] horns of a bull. Then he proclaimed [to Ahab], “This is what Yahweh says: ‘With horns like these your [army] will keep attacking the Syrians [like a bull attacks another animal] [MET], until you completely destroy them!’”
12 And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
All the [other] prophets [of Ahab] agreed. They said, “Yes! If you go up to attack Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], you will be successful, because Yahweh will enable you to defeat them!”
13 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, “Behold now, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.”
Meanwhile, the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen to me! All the other prophets are predicting that the king’s army will defeat the Syrians. So be sure that you agree with them and say (what will be favorable/that the king’s army will be successful).”
14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”
But Micaiah replied, “As surely as Yahweh lives, I will tell him only what Yahweh tells me to say.”
15 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up and triumph,” Micaiah replied, “for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.”
When Micaiah came to Ahab, Ahab asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to fight against [the people of] Ramoth, or not?” Micaiah replied, “Sure, go! Yahweh will enable your army to defeat them!”
16 But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?”
But King Ahab [realized that Micaiah was (lying/being sarcastic), so he] said to Micaiah, “I have told you [RHQ] many times that you must always tell only the truth when you say what Yahweh [has revealed to you]!”
17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
So Micaiah said to him, “[The truth is that] in a vision I saw all the troops of Israel scattered on the mountains. They seemed to be like sheep that did not have a shepherd. And Yahweh said, ‘Their master has been killed. So tell them all to go home peacefully.’”
18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for me, but only bad?”
Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you [RHQ] that he never predicts [that] anything good [will happen to me]! He [always] predicts [that] bad things [will happen to me].”
19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
But Micaiah continued, saying, “Listen to what Yahweh showed to me! [In a vision] I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, with all the armies of heaven surrounding him, on his right side and on his left side.
20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that.
And Yahweh said, ‘Who can persuade Ahab to go to fight against the people of Ramoth, in order that he may be killed there?’ Some suggested one thing, and others suggested something else.
21 Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.
Finally one [evil] spirit came to Yahweh and said, ‘I can do it!’
22 And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
Yahweh asked him, ‘How will you do it?’ The spirit replied, ‘I will go and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to tell lies.’ Yahweh said, ‘You will be successful; go and do it!’
23 So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.”
So now [I tell you that] Yahweh has caused all of your prophets to lie to you. Yahweh has decided that something terrible will happen to you.”
24 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?”
Then Zedekiah walked over to Micaiah and slapped him on his face. He said, “Do you think that Yahweh’s Spirit left me in order to speak to you?” [RHQ]
25 Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
Micaiah replied, “You will find out for yourself [which of us Yahweh’s Spirit has truly spoken to] on the day when you go into a room of some house to hide [from the Syrian troops]!”
26 And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son,
King Ahab commanded [his soldiers], “Seize Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of this city, and to my son Joash.
27 and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”
Tell them that I have commanded that they should put this man in prison and give him only bread and water. Do not give him anything else to eat until I return safely from the battle!”
28 But Micaiah replied, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take heed, all you people!”
Micaiah replied, “If you return safely, [it will be clear that] it was not Yahweh who told me what to say to you!” Then he said [to all those who were standing there], “Do not forget what I have said [to King Ahab]!”
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.
So the King of Israel and the King of Judah [led their armies] to Ramoth, in [the] Gilead [region].
30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will put on different clothes, [in order that no one will recognize that I am the king]. But you should wear your (royal robe/robe that shows that you are a king).” So Ahab disguised himself, and they both went into the battle.
31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
The King of Syria told this to his thirty-two men who were driving the chariots: “Attack only the king of Israel!”
32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely this is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out.
So when the men who were driving the Syrian chariots saw Jehoshaphat [wearing (his royal robes/clothes that showed he was the king)], they pursued him. They shouted, “There is the king of Israel!” But when Jehoshaphat cried out,
33 And when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
they realized that he was not the king of Israel. So they stopped pursuing him.
34 However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!”
But one [Syrian] soldier shot an arrow at Ahab, without knowing that it was Ahab. The arrow struck Ahab between the places where the parts of his armor joined together. Ahab told the driver of his chariot, “Turn the chariot around and take me out of here! I have been severely wounded!”
35 The battle raged throughout that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. And the blood from his wound ran out onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.
The battle continued all the day. Ahab was sitting propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrian troops. The blood from his wound ran down to the floor of the chariot. And late in the afternoon he died.
36 As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
Just as the sun was going down, someone among the Israeli troops shouted, “[The battle is ended!] Everyone should return home!”
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, where they buried him.
So king Ahab died, and they took his body [in the chariot] to Samaria [city] and buried his body there.
38 And the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria where the prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked up Ahab’s blood, according to the word that the LORD had spoken.
They washed his chariot alongside the pool in Samaria, a pool where the prostitutes bathed. And dogs [came and] licked the king’s blood, just like Yahweh had predicted would happen.
39 As for the rest of the acts of Ahab, along with all his accomplishments and the ivory palace and all the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
The account/record of the other things that happened while Ahab was ruling, and about the palace decorated with much ivory [that they built for him], and the cities that were built for him, was written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.
40 And Ahab rested with his fathers, and his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.
When Ahab died, his body was buried where his ancestors were buried. Then his son Ahaziah became king.
41 In the fourth year of Ahab’s reign over Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah.
Before King Ahab died, when he had been ruling in Israel for four years, Asa’s son Jehoshaphat started to rule in Judah.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he started to rule, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Jehoshaphat was a good king, just like his father Asa had been. He did things that pleased Yahweh. But while he was king, he did not remove all the pagan altars [that the people had built] on the hilltops. So the people continued to offer sacrifices [to idols] on those altars and burned incense there.
44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
Jehoshaphat also made [a] peace [agreement] with the king of Israel.
45 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, along with the might he exercised and how he waged war, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
All the other things that happened while Jehoshaphat was ruling, and the great things that he did and the victories his [troops] won, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.
46 He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.
Jehoshaphat’s father Asa [had tried to expel] the male prostitutes that stayed at the pagan shrines, but some of them were still there. Jehoshaphat got rid of them.
47 And there was no king in Edom; a deputy served as king.
At that time, there was no king in Edom; a ruler who had been appointed by Jehoshaphat ruled there.
48 Jehoshaphat built ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
Jehoshaphat [ordered some Israeli men to] build a fleet/group of ships to sail [south] to [the] Ophir [region] to get gold. But they were wrecked at Ezion-Geber/Elath, so the ships never sailed.
49 At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants sail with your servants,” but Jehoshaphat refused.
Before the ships were wrecked, Ahab’s son Ahaziah suggested to Jehoshaphat, “Allow my sailors to go with your sailors,” but Jehoshaphat refused.
50 And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And his son Jehoram reigned in his place.
When Jehoshaphat died, his [body] was buried where his ancestors were buried in [Jerusalem, ] the city where King David [had ruled]. Then Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king.
51 In the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria two years.
Before King Jehoshaphat died, when he had been ruling in Judah for 17 years, Ahab’s son Ahaziah began to rule in Israel. Ahaziah ruled in Samaria for two years.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin.
He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, doing the [evil] things that his father and mother had done and the evil things that Jeroboam had done—the king who had led all the Israeli people to sin [by worshiping idols].
53 Ahaziah served and worshiped Baal, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.
Ahaziah bowed in front of Baal’s idol and worshiped it. That caused Yahweh, the God who was the true God of the Israeli people, to become very angry, just as Ahaziah’s father had caused Yahweh to become angry.
