Kings III 22
1 And he rested three years, and there was no war between Syria and Israel.
Now for three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Josaphat king of Juda went down to the king of Israel.
And it came about in the third year, that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, Know you that Remmath Galaad [is] ours, and we are slow to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?
And 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.
4 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Will you go up with us to Remmath Galaad to battle?
And 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.
5 And Josaphat said, As I [am], so [are] you also; as my people, [so is] your people; as my horses, [so are] your horses. And Josaphat king of Juda said to the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray you, of the Lord today.
Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord.
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 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.
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 said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions?
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.
And 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.
9 And the king of Israel called a eunuch and said, [Bring hither] quickly Michaias son of Jemblaa.
Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah.
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.
Now 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.
11 And Sedekias son of Chanaan made for himself iron horns, and said, Thus says the Lord, With these you shall push Syria, until it be consumed.
And 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.
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 your hands.
And 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.
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 your words be like the words of one of them, and speak good things.
Now 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.
14 And Michaias said, [As] the Lord lives, whatever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak.
And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will 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 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.
16 And the king said to him, How often shall I adjure you, that you speak to me truth in the name of the Lord?
Then 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?
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.
Then 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.
18 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda, Did I not say to you that this man does not prophesy good to me, for [he speaks] nothing but evil?
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil?
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.
And 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.
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 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.
21 And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord, and said, I will deceive him.
Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick.
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, You shall deceive him, yes, and shall prevail: go forth, and do so.
And 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.
23 And now, behold, the Lord has put a false spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against you.
And 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.
24 And Sedekias the son of Chanaan came near and struck Michaias on the cheek, and said, What sort of a spirit of the Lord [has] spoken in you?
Then 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?
25 And Michaias said, Behold, you shall see in that day, when you shall go into an innermost chamber to hide yourself there.
And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe.
26 And the king of Israel said, Take Michaias, and convey him away to Semer the keeper of the city;
And 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;
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.
And 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.
28 And Michaias said, If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.
And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.
29 So the king of Israel went up, and Josaphat king of Juda with him to Remmath Galaad.
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.
30 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle, and do you put on my raiment. So the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
And 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.
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.
Now 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.
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 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.
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.
And when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him.
34 And one drew a bow with a good aim, and struck the king of Israel between the lungs and the breast-plate: and he said to his charioteer, Turn your hands, and carry me away out of the battle, for I am wounded.
And 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.
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.
But 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.
36 And the herald of the army stood at sunset, saying, Let every man go to his own city and his own land,
And 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.
37 for the king is dead. And they came to Samaria, and buried the king in Samaria.
And they came to Samaria, and put the king's body to rest in Samaria.
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.
And 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.
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?
Now 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?
40 And Achaab slept with his fathers, and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead.
So Ahab was put to rest with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
41 And Josaphat the son of Asa reigned over Juda: in the fourth year of Achaab king of Israel began Josaphat to reign.
And Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab's rule over Israel.
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 became king, and he was king for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name 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.
He 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.
44 And Josaphat was at peace with the king of Israel.
And Jehoshaphat made peace 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?
Now 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?
He 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.
At that time there was no king in Edom;
And 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.
Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, Let my men go with yours in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not let them.
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.
Then 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.
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.
Ahaziah, 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.
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 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.
53 And he served Baalim, and worshipped them, and provoked the Lord God of Israel, according to all that had been done before him.
He was a servant and worshipper of Baal, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath, as his father had done.
