1 Kings 22
1 For three years Aram and Israel were not at war.
And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to visit the king of Israel.
And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3 The king of Israel had said to his officers, “Aren't you aware that Ramoth-gilead really belongs to us and yet we haven't done anything to take it back from the king of Aram?”
And the king of Israel said to his servants, Know you that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you join me in an attack to recapture Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “You and I are as one, my men and your men are as one, and my horses and your horses are as one.”
And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
5 Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first though, please find out what the Lord says.”
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray you, at the word of the LORD to day.
6 So the king of Israel brought out the prophets—four hundred of them—and he asked them, “Should I go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” “Yes, go ahead,” they replied, “for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet of the Lord here that we can ask?”
And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might inquire of him?
8 “Yes, there's another man who could consult the Lord,” the king of Israel replied, “but I don't like him because he never prophesies anything good for me—it's always bad! His name is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” “You shouldn't talk like that,” said Jehoshaphat.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9 The king of Israel called over one of his officials and told him, “Bring me Micaiah, son of Imlah, right away.”
Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten here Micaiah the son of Imlah.
10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor beside the gate of Samaria, with all of the prophets prophesying in front of them.
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 One of them, Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, had made himself iron horns. He announced, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these horns you will gore the Arameans until they're dead!”
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus says the LORD, With these shall you push the Syrians, until you have consumed them.
12 All the prophets were prophesying the same thing, saying, “Go ahead, attack Ramoth-gilead; you will be successful, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.
13 The messenger who went to call Micaiah told him, “Look, all the prophets are unanimous in prophesying positively to the king. So please make sure to speak positively like them.”
And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth: let your word, I pray you, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 But Micaiah replied, “As the Lord lives, I can only say what my God tells me.”
And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that will I speak.
15 When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should we not?” “Yes, go ahead and be victorious,” Micaiah replied, “for the Lord will give it into the king's hand.”
So he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me only the truth in the name of the Lord?”
And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?
17 So Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people have no master; let each of them go home in peace.’”
And he said, I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?”
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19 Micaiah went on to say, “So listen to what the Lord says. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, surrounded by the whole army of heaven standing to his right and to his left.
And he said, Hear you therefore 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 hand and on his left.
20 The Lord asked, ‘Who will trick Ahab, king of Israel, into attacking Ramoth-gilead so he will be killed there?’ One said this, another said that, and another said something else.
And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 Finally a spirit came and approached the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
22 ‘How are you going to do that?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go and be a lying spirit and make all his prophets tell lies,’ the spirit replied. ‘That will work,’ the Lord responded. ‘Go and do it.’
And the LORD said to him, With which? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You shall persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
23 As you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced your death sentence.”
Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.
24 Then Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, went and slapped Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go when he left me to speak to you?”
But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak to you?
25 “You'll soon find out when you try and find some secret place to hide!” Micaiah replied.
And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see in that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
26 The king of Israel ordered, “Place Micaiah under arrest and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to my son Joash.
And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;
27 Tell them these are the king's instructions: ‘Put this man in jail. Give him only bread and water until my safe return.’”
And say, 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.
28 “If you do in fact return safely then the Lord has not spoken through me,” Micaiah declared. “Pay attention everyone to all I've said!”
And Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. And he said, Listen, O people, every one of you.
29 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack Ramoth-gilead.
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.
30 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “When I go into battle I will be in disguise, but you should wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put you on your robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 The king of Aram had already given these orders to his chariot commanders: “Head straight for the king of Israel alone. Don't fight with anyone else, whoever they are.”
But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
32 So when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “This must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat called out for help,
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 the chariot commanders saw it wasn't the king of Israel and stopped chasing him.
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
34 However, an enemy archer shot an arrow at random, hitting the king of Israel between the joints of his armor by his breastplate. The king told his charioteer, “Turn around and get me out of the fight, because I've been wounded!”
And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: why he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
35 The battle lasted all day. The king of Israel was propped up in his chariot to face the Arameans, but in the evening he died. The blood had poured out of his wound onto the floor of the chariot.
And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the middle of the chariot.
36 At sunset, a shout went out from the lines: “Retreat! Every man back to his town, every man back to his own country!”
And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
37 So the king died. He was taken back to Samaria where they buried him.
So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
38 They washed his chariot at a pool in Samaria where the prostitutes came to bathe, and dogs licked up his blood, just as the Lord had said.
And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according to the word of the LORD which he spoke.
39 The rest of what happened in Ahab's reign, all that he did, the ivory palace he constructed and all the cities he built are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
40 Ahab died and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
41 Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became king of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Ahab, king of Israel.
And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 He followed all the ways of his father; he did not depart from them, and he did what was right in the Lord's sight. However, the high places were not removed and the people still sacrificed and presented offerings there.
And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.
44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 The rest of what happened in Jehoshaphat's reign, his great achievements and the wars he fought are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46 He expelled from the land any cult prostitutes who were left from the time of his father Asa.
And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
47 (At that time there was no king in Edom; only a deputy who served as king.)
There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat built sea-going ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they went because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
49 During that time Ahaziah, son of Ahab, asked Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with your men,” but Jehoshaphat refused.
Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
50 Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
51 Ahaziah, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years.
Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
52 He did what was evil in the Lord's sight and followed the ways of his father and mother, and of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.
And he did 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, who made Israel to sin:
53 He served Baal and worshiped him, and angered the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had.
For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
