Kings III 22
1 And he rested three years, and there was no war between Syria and Israel.
For almost three years there was no war between Syria and Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Josaphat king of Juda went down to the king of Israel.
Then King Jehoshaphat, who ruled Judah, went to [visit] King Ahab, who ruled Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, Know ye that Remmath Galaad [is] ours, and we are slow to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?
[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 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Wilt thou go up with us to Remmath Galaad to battle?
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 And Josaphat said, As I [am], so [art] thou also; as my people, [so is] thy people; as my horses, [so are] thy horses. And Josaphat king of Juda said to the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, of the Lord to-day.
Then he added, “But we should ask Yahweh first, to find out what he wants us to do.”
6 And the king of Israel gathered all the prophets together, about four hundred men; and the king said to them, Shall I go up to Remmath Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear? and they said, Go up, and the Lord will surely give [it] into the hands 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 And Josaphat said to the king of Israel, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by him?
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here whom we can ask?”
8 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, There is one man here [for us] to enquire of the Lord by; but I hate him, for he does not speak good of me, but only evil; Michaias son of Jemblaa. And Josaphat king of Juda said, Let not the king say so.
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 And the king of Israel called a eunuch and said, [Bring hither] quickly Michaias son of Jemblaa.
So the king of Israel told one of his officers to summon Micaiah immediately.
10 And the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda sat, each on his throne, armed in the gates of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied 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 And Sedekias son of Chanaan made for himself iron horns, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these thou shalt push Syria, until it be consumed.
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 prophesied in like manner, saying, Go up to Remmath Galaad, and [the thing] shall prosper, and the Lord shall deliver it and the king of Syria into thine hands.
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 And the messenger that went to call Michaias spoke to him, saying, Behold now, all the prophets speak with one mouth good concerning the king, let now thy words be like the words of one of them, and speak good things.
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 And Michaias said, [As] the Lord lives, whatsoever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak.
But Micaiah replied, “As surely as Yahweh lives, I will tell him only what Yahweh tells me to say.”
15 And he came to the king: and the king said to him, Michaias, shall I go up to Remmath Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear? and he said, Go up, and the Lord shall deliver 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 And the king said to him, How often shall I adjure thee, that thou speak to me 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 And he said, Not so. I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as a flock without a shepherd: and the Lord said, [Is] not God lord of these? let each one return to his 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 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda, Did I not say to thee that this man does not prophesy good to me, for [he speaks] nothing but evil?
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 And Michaias said, Not so, [it is] not I: hear the word of the Lord; [it is] not so. I saw the God of Israel sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven stood about him on his right hand 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 deceive Achaab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall in Remmath Galaad? and one spoke one way, and another another way.
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 And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord, and said, I will deceive him.
Finally one [evil] spirit came to Yahweh and said, ‘I can do it!’
22 And the Lord said to him, Whereby? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt deceive him, yea, and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so.
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 And now, behold, the Lord has put a false spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against thee.
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 And Sedekias the son of Chanaan came near and smote Michaias on the cheek, and said, What sort of a spirit of the Lord [has] spoken in thee?
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 And Michaias said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an innermost chamber to hide thyself there.
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 said, Take Michaias, and convey him away to Semer the keeper of the city;
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 Joas the king's son to put this [fellow] in prison, and to feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peace.
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 And Michaias said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.
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 went up, and Josaphat king of Juda with him to Remmath Galaad.
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 Josaphat king of Juda, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle, and do thou put on my raiment. So the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the 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 And the king of Syria had charged the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight not [against] small or great, but against the king of Israel only.
The King of Syria told this to his thirty-two men who were driving the chariots: “Attack only the king of Israel!”
32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat king of Juda, that they said, this seems [to be] the king of Israel. And they compassed him about to fight [against] him; and Josaphat 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 it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw that this was not the king of Israel, that they returned from him.
they realized that he was not the king of Israel. So they stopped pursuing him.
34 And one drew a bow with a good aim, and smote the king of Israel between the lungs and the breast-plate: and he said to his charioteer, Turn thine hands, and carry me away out of the battle, for I am 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 And the war was turned in that day, and the king was standing on the chariot, against Syria from morning till evening; and he shed the blood out of his wound, into the bottom of the chariot, and died at even, and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.
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 And the herald of the army stood at sunset, saying, Let every man go to his own city and 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 for the king is dead. And they came to Samaria, and buried the king in Samaria.
So king Ahab died, and they took his body [in the chariot] to Samaria [city] and buried his body there.
38 And they washed the chariot at the fountain of Samaria; and the swine and the dogs licked up the blood, and the harlots washed themselves in the blood, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.
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 And the rest of the acts of Achaab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities which he built, behold, [are] not these things 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 Achaab slept with his fathers, and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead.
When Ahab died, his body was buried where his ancestors were buried. Then his son Ahaziah became king.
41 And Josaphat the son of Asa reigned over Juda: in the fourth year of Achaab king of Israel began Josaphat to reign.
Before King Ahab died, when he had been ruling in Israel for four years, Asa’s son Jehoshaphat started to rule in Judah.
42 Thirty and five years old [was he] when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name [was] Azuba daughter of Salai.
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 he walked in all the way of Asa his father: he turned not from it, even from doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Only he took not away [any] of the high places: the people still sacrificed and burnt 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 And Josaphat was at peace with the king of Israel.
Jehoshaphat also made [a] peace [agreement] with the king of Israel.
45 And the rest of the acts of Josaphat, and his mighty deeds, whatever he did, behold, [are] not these things written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda?
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’.
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.
At that time, there was no king in Edom; a ruler who had been appointed by Jehoshaphat ruled there.
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.
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 Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried by his fathers in the city of David his father, and Joram his son reigned in his stead.
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 And Ochozias son of Achaab reigned over Israel in Samaria: in the seventeenth year of Josaphat king of Juda, Ochozias son of Achaab reigned over Israel 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 that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Achaab his father, and in the way of Jezabel his mother, and in the sins of the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who 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 And he served Baalim, and worshipped them, and provoked the Lord God of Israel, according to all that had been done before him.
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.
