Chronicles II 18

1 And Josaphat had yet great wealth and glory, and he connected himself by marriage with the house of Achaab.

Now Jehoshaphat was very wealthy and highly honored, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.

2 And he went down after a term of years to Achaab to Samaria: and Achaab killed for him sheep and calves, in abundance, and for the people with him, and he much desired him to go up with him to Ramoth of the country of Galaad.

Some years later he went to pay Ahab a visit in Samaria. Ahab sacrificed many sheep and cattle for him and the people who accompanied him, and encouraged him to attack Ramoth-gilead.

3 And Achaab king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda, Will you go with me to Ramoth of the country of Galaad? And he said to him, As I [am], so also [are] you, as your people, [so] also [is] my people with you for the war.

Ahab, king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, “Would you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “You and I are as one, and my men and your men are as one. We will join forces with you in this war.”

4 And Josaphat said to the king of Israel, Seek, I pray you, the Lord today.

Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first though, please find out what the Lord says.”

5 And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God shall deliver [it] into the hands of the king.

So the king of Israel brought out the prophets—four hundred of them—and he asked them, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” “Yes, go ahead,” they replied, “for God will hand it over to the king.”

6 And Josaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we may enquire of him?

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet of the Lord here that we can ask?”

7 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, There is yet one man by whom to enquire of the Lord; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy concerning me for good, for all his days [are] for evil: this [is] Michaias the son of Jembla. And Josaphat said, Let not the king say so.

“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.

8 And the king called an eunuch, and said, [Fetch] quickly Michaias the son of Jembla.

The king of Israel called over one of his officials and told him, “Bring me Micaiah, son of Imlah, right away.”

9 And the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda were sitting each on his throne, and clothed in their robes, sitting in the open space at the entrance of the gate of Samaria: and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

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.

10 And Sedekias son of Chanaan made for himself iron horns, and said, Thus says the Lord, With these you shall thrust Syria until it be consumed.

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!”

11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and you shall prosper; and the Lord shall deliver it into the hands of the king.

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.”

12 And the messenger that went to call Michaias spoke to him, saying, Behold, the prophets have spoken favourably concerning the king with one mouth; let now, I pray you, your words be as [the words] of one of them, and do you speak good things.

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.”

13 And Michaias said, [As] the Lord lives, whatever God shall say to me, that will I speak.

But Micaiah replied, “As the Lord lives, I can only say what my God tells me.”

14 And he came to the king, and the king said to him, Michaias, shall I go up to Ramoth Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go up, and you shall prosper, and they shall be given into your hands.

When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” “Yes, go ahead and be victorious,” Micaiah replied, “for they will be handed over to the king.”

15 And the king said to him, How often shall I solemnly charge you that you speak to me nothing but truth in the name of the Lord?

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?”

16 And he said, I saw Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no commander; let each return to his home in peace.

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.’”

17 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Said I not to you, that he would not prophesy concerning me good, but evil?

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?”

18 But he said, Not so. Hear you the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven stood by on his right hand and on his left.

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.

19 And the Lord said, Who will deceive Achaab king of Israel, that he may go up, and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And one spoke this way, and another spoke that way.

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.

20 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will deceive him. And the Lord said, Whereby?

Finally a spirit came and approached the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’ ‘How are you going to do that?’ the Lord asked.

21 And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And [the Lord] said, You shall deceive [him], and shall prevail: go forth, and do so.

‘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.’

22 And now, behold, the Lord has put a false spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against you.

As you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced your death sentence.”

23 Then Sedekias the son of Chanaan drew near, and struck Michaias on the cheek, and said to him, By what way passed the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to you?

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?”

24 And Michaias said, Behold, you shall see in that day, when you shall go from chamber to chamber to hide yourself.

“You'll soon find out when you try and find some secret place to hide!” Micaiah replied.

25 And the king of Israel said, Take Michaias, and carry him back to Emer the governor of the city, and to Joas the captain, the king's son;

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.

26 and you shall say, Thus said the king, Put this fellow into the prison house, and let him eat the bread of affliction, and [drink] the water of affliction, until I return in peace.

Tell them these are the king's instructions: ‘Put this man in jail. Give him only bread and water until my safe return.’”

27 And Michaias said, If you do at all return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, all you people.

“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!”

28 So the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, went up to Ramoth Galaad.

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack Ramoth-gilead.

29 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Disguise me, and I will enter into the battle: and do you put on my raiment. so the king of Israel disguised himself, and entered into the battle.

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.

30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight neither against small nor great, but only against the king of Israel.

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.”

31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel: and they compassed him about to fight against him: and Josaphat cried out, and the Lord delivered him; and God turned them away from him.

So when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “There's the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat called out for help, and the Lord did help him. God redirected them away from him,

32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned away from him.

for when the chariot commanders realized that he wasn't the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.

33 And a man drew a bow with a good aim, and struck the king of Israel between the lungs and the breast-plate: and he said to the charioteer, Turn your hand, drive me out of the battle, for I am wounded.

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!”

34 And the battle turned in that day; and the king of Israel remained on the chariot against Syria until evening, and died at sunset.

The battle lasted all day. The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot to face the Arameans until the evening. But he died at sunset.