2 Chronicles 18

1 Therefore, Jehoshaphat was wealthy and very famous, and he was joined by affinity to Ahab.

Jehoshaphat became very wealthy and was greatly honored. But then he arranged for one of his family to marry someone from the family of King Ahab [of Israel].

2 And after some years, he descended to him in Samaria. And upon his arrival, Ahab slaughtered very many sheep and oxen, for him and for the people who had arrived with him. And he persuaded him that he should ascend against Ramoth Gilead.

Several years later, he went down [from Jerusalem] to Samaria to visit Ahab. Ahab welcomed him and the people who had come with him by slaughtering many sheep and cattle [for a feast].

3 And Ahab, the king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, “Come with me to Ramoth Gilead.” And he answered him: “As I am, so also are you. As your people are, so also are my people. And we will be with you in war.”

Then he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you [and your army] go with my army to attack Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region]?” Jehoshaphat replied, “My soldiers and I will go to the battle when you tell us to go.”

4 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Consult, I beg you, the word of the Lord for the present circumstances.”

Then he added, “But we should ask Yahweh first, to find out what he wants us to do.”

5 And so the king of Israel gathered together four hundred men of the prophets, and he said to them: “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or should we be quieted?” But they said, “Ascend, and God will deliver into the hand of the king.”

So the king of Israel gathered all his 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we go to attack the people of Ramoth [city], or should we not do that?” They replied, “Yes, go [and attack them] because God will enable your army to defeat them.”

6 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, so that we may inquire of him as well?”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here whom we can ask?”

7 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “There is one man, from whom we would be able to ask the will of the Lord. But I hate him, for he never prophesies good to me, but at all times evil. And it is Micaiah, the son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “You should not speak in this manner, O king.”

The king of Israel replied, “There is still one man here, whom we can ask to find out what Yahweh wants, his name is Micaiah, the son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never says anything good about me. He always predicts [that] bad [things will happen to me].” Jehoshaphat replied, “King Ahab, you should not say that!”

8 Therefore, the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him: “Quickly, summon Micaiah, the son of Imlah.”

So the king of Israel told one of his officials to summon Micaiah immediately.

9 Now the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were both sitting upon their thrones, clothed in royal vestments. And they were sitting in an open area, beside the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them.

The king of Israel and the king of Judah were sitting there on their thrones, wearing their royal robes. They were at the place where people threshed grain, near the gate of Samaria [city]. All of [Ahab’s] prophets were standing in front of them, predicting what was going to happen.

10 Truly, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made for himself horns of iron, and he said: “Thus says the Lord: With these, you shall threaten Syria, until you crush it.”

[One of them whose name was] Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, had made from iron something that resembled the horns of a bull. He proclaimed to Ahab, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘With horns [like these], your [army] will keep attacking the army of Syria [like a bull attacks another animal], until you completely destroy them.’”

11 And all the prophets prophesied similarly, and they said: “Ascend against Ramoth Gilead, and you shall prosper, and the Lord will deliver them into the hand of the king.”

All the other prophets [of Ahab] agreed. They said, “Yes! If you attack Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], you will be successful, because Yahweh will enable you to defeat them.”

12 Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him: “Lo, the words of all the prophets, with one mouth, announce good to the king. Therefore, I ask you that you not dissent from them in your word, and that you speak prosperity.”

The messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen to me! All the other prophets are unitedly predicting that the king will be successful [in the battle]. So be sure to agree with them and say that the king’s army will be successful!”

13 And Micaiah responded to him, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God will say to me, the same shall I speak.”

But Micaiah said, “As surely as Yahweh lives, I will tell the king only what Yahweh tells me to say.”

14 Therefore, he went to the king. And the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or should we be quieted?” And he responded to him: “Ascend. For everything will come to prosperity, and the enemies will be delivered into your hands.”

When Micaiah arrived, the king [of Israel] asked him, “Should we go to attack Ramoth, or not?” Micaiah replied, “Sure, go! Yahweh will enable your army to defeat them!”

15 And the king said, “Again and again, I bind you by an oath, so that you will not speak to me except what is true in the name of the Lord!”

But King Ahab [realized that Micaiah was lying, so he] said to Micaiah, “I have told you many times that you must always tell only the truth when you say what Yahweh [has revealed to you]!”

16 Then he said: “I saw all of Israel scattered amid the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said: ‘These have no masters. Let each one return in peace to his own house.’”

Then Micaiah replied, “[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.’”

17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “Did I not tell you that this one would not prophesy to me anything good, but only what is evil?”

Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you that he never predicts that anything good will happen to me! He [always] predicts that bad things will happen to me.”

18 Then he said: “Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and the entire army of heaven was standing beside him, on the right and on the 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 [standing around him], on his right side and on his left side.

19 And the Lord said: ‘Who will deceive Ahab, the king of Israel, so that he may ascend and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ And when one spoke in one way, and another in another way,

And Yahweh said, ‘Who can persuade Ahab, the king of Israel, 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.

20 there came forward a spirit, and he stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will deceive him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘In what way will you deceive him?’

“Finally one spirit, [having received a message from Satan], came to Yahweh and said, ‘I can do it!’ “Yahweh asked him, ‘How will you do it?’

21 And he responded, ‘I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said: ‘You will deceive and prevail. Go forth and do so.’

“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!’

22 Therefore now, behold: the Lord gave a lying spirit to the mouth of all your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil about you.”

“So now [I tell you that] Yahweh has caused your prophets to lie to you. Yahweh has decided that something terrible will happen to you.”

23 Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, approached, and he struck Micaiah on the jaw, and he said: “In what way did the Spirit of the Lord depart from me, so that he would speak to you?”

Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah 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?”

24 And Micaiah said: “You yourself shall see it, in that day, when you will enter a room within a room, so that you may be hidden.”

Micaiah replied, “You will find out for yourself [to which of us Yahweh’s Spirit has truly spoken] on the day when you go into a room of some house to hide [from the Syrian soldiers]!”

25 Then the king of Israel instructed, saying: “Take Micaiah, and lead him to Amon, the leader of the city, and to Joash, the son of Amalech.

King Ahab commanded [his soldiers], “Seize Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of this city, and to my son Joash.

26 And you shall say: ‘Thus says the king: Send this man to prison, and give to him a little bread and a little water, 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]!”

27 And Micaiah said, “If you will have returned in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “May all the people listen.”

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]!”

28 And so, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, ascended against Ramoth Gilead.

So the king of Israel and the king of Judah [led their armies] to Ramoth, in [the] Gilead [region].

29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “I will change my clothing, and in this way I will go into battle. But you should be clothed in your own garments.” And the king of Israel, having changed his clothing, went to war.

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.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they both went into the battle.

30 Now the king of Syria had instructed the commanders of his horsemen, saying, “You shall not fight against the least or the greatest, but only against the king of Israel.”

The King of Syria told his soldiers who were driving the chariots, “Attack only the king of Israel!”

31 And so, when the leaders of the horsemen had seen Jehoshaphat, they said, “This one is the king of Israel.” And while fighting, they surrounded him. But he cried out to the Lord, and he assisted him, and he turned them away from him.

So when the soldiers who were driving the Syrian chariots saw Jehoshaphat [wearing the royal robes], they thought “He must be the king of Israel!”

32 For when the commanders of the horsemen had seen that he was not the king of Israel, they left him.

So they turned to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat cried out, Yahweh helped him, and they realized that he was not the king of Israel. And God caused them to stop pursuing him.

33 Then it happened that one of the people shot an arrow indiscriminately, and it struck the king of Israel between the neck and the shoulder. And so he said to his chariot driver: “Turn your hand, and lead me away from the battle line. For I have been 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!”

34 And the fight ended on that day. But the king of Israel was standing in his chariot facing the Syrians, even until evening. And he died when the sun set.

The battle continued all that day. Ahab was sitting propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrian soldiers. And late in the afternoon, when the sun was setting, he died.