2 Chronicles 18

1 And Jehoshaphat has riches and honor in abundance, and joins affinity to Ahab,

Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor; he allied himself with Ahab by having one of his family marry his daughter.

2 and goes down at the end of [certain] years to Samaria to [visit] Ahab, and Ahab sacrifices sheep and oxen in abundance for him and for the people who [are] with him, and persuades him to go up to Ramoth-Gilead.

After some years, he went down to Ahab in Samaria. Ahab killed many sheep and oxen for him and the people who were with him. Ahab also persuaded him to attack Ramoth Gilead with him.

3 And Ahab king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Do you go with me [to] Ramoth-Gilead?” And he says to him, “As I—so you, and as your people—my people, and [we go] with you into the battle.”

Ahab, king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered him, “I am like you, and my people are like your people. We will be with you in the war.”

4 And Jehoshaphat says to the king of Israel, “Please seek the word of YHWH this day.”

Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please first seek the word of Yahweh for your answer.”

5 And the king of Israel gathers the prophets, four hundred men, and says to them, “Do we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I refrain?” And they say, “Go up, and God gives [it] into the hand of the king.”

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Should we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I not?” They said, “Attack, for God will give it into the hand of the king.”

6 And Jehoshaphat says, “[Is there] not still a prophet of YHWH here, and we seek from him?”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here still another prophet of Yahweh with whom we might seek advice?”

7 And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, “[There is] still one man to seek YHWH from him, and I have hated him, for he is not prophesying of good concerning me, but of evil [for] all his days, he [is] Micaiah son of Imlah”; and Jehoshaphat says, “Do not let the king say so.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may seek the advice of Yahweh, Micaiah son of Imlah, but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” But Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say that.”

8 And the king of Israel calls to a certain officer and says, “Hurry Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”

9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, and they are sitting in a threshing-floor at the opening of the Gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them.

Now Ahab the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on a throne, clothed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

10 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah makes horns of iron for himself and says, “Thus said YHWH:

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made himself horns of iron and said, “Yahweh says this: With these you will push the Arameans until they are consumed.”

11 With these you push Aram until you have consumed them.” And all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, “Go up [to] Ramath-Gilead and prosper, and YHWH has given [it] into the hand of the king.”

All the prophets prophesied the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead and win, for Yahweh has given it into the hand of the king.”

12 And the messenger who has gone to call for Micaiah has spoken to him, saying, “Behold, the words of the prophets [as] one mouth [are] good toward the king, and please let your word be like one of theirs: and you have spoken good.”

The messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the words of the prophets with one mouth are favorable to the king. Let your words agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”

13 And Micaiah says “YHWH lives, surely that which my God says, I speak it.”

Micaiah replied, “As Yahweh lives, it is what God says that I will say.”

14 And he comes to the king, and the king says to him, “Micaiah, do we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I refrain?” And he says, “Go up, and prosper, and they are given into your hand.”

When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth Gilead for battle, or not?” Micaiah answered him, “Attack and be victorious! For it will be a great victory.”

15 And the king says to him, “How many times am I adjuring you that you speak to me only truth in the Name of YHWH?”

Then the king said to him, “How many times must I require you to swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?”

16 And he says, “I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd, and YHWH says, There are no masters for these, they each return to his house in peace.”

So Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep who have no shepherd, and Yahweh said, 'These have no shepherd. Let every man return to his house in peace.'”

17 And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you [that] he does not prophesy good concerning me, but rather of evil?”

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?”

18 And [Micaiah] says, “Therefore, hear a word of YHWH: I have seen YHWH sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing on His right and His left;

Then Micaiah said, “Therefore all of you should hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven were standing on his right hand and on his left.

19 and YHWH says, Who entices Ahab king of Israel, and he goes up and falls in Ramoth-Gilead? And this speaker says thus, and that speaker thus.

Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab, king of Israel, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One said this and another that.

20 And the spirit goes out, and stands before YHWH, and says, I entice him; and YHWH says to him, With what?

Then a spirit came forward and it stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Yahweh said to him, 'How?'

21 And he says, I go out, and have become a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He says, You entice, and also, you are able; go out and do so.

The spirit replied, 'I will go out and I will become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Yahweh replied, 'You will entice him, and you will also be successful. Go now and do so.'

22 And now, behold, YHWH has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and YHWH has spoken calamity concerning you.”

Now see, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and Yahweh has decreed disaster for you.”

23 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah comes near and strikes Micaiah on the cheek, and says, “Where [is] this—the way the spirit [from] YHWH passed over from me to speak with you?”

Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah, came up, slapped Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the Spirit of Yahweh take to go from me to speak to you?”

24 And Micaiah says, “Behold, you see in that day that you enter into the innermost chamber to be hidden.”

Micaiah said, “Look, you will know that on that day, when you run into some inner room to hide.”

25 And the king of Israel says, “Take Micaiah, and turn him back to Amon head of the city, and to Joash son of the king,

The king of Israel said to some servants, “You people seize Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, my son.

26 and you have said, Thus said the king: Put this [one] in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, until my return in peace.”

You people will say to him, 'The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him with only a little bread and only a little water, until I return safely.'”

27 And Micaiah says, “If you certainly return in peace, YHWH has not spoken by me”; and he says, “Hear, O peoples, all of them!”

Then Micaiah said, “If you return safely, then Yahweh has not spoken by me.” Then he added, “Listen to this, all you people.”

28 And the king of Israel goes up—and Jehoshaphat king of Judah—to Ramoth-Gilead;

So Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up against Ramoth Gilead.

29 and the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, “And you, put on your garments.” And the king of Israel disguises himself, and they go into battle.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into the battle.

30 And the king of Aram has commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he has, saying, “You do not fight with small or with great, except with the king of Israel by himself.”

Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not attack the unimportant or the important soldiers. Instead, attack only the king of Israel.”

31 And it comes to pass at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they have said, “He is the king of Israel,” and they turn around against him to fight, and Jehoshaphat cries out, and YHWH has helped him, and God entices them from him;

It came about that when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat they said, “That is the king of Israel.” They turned around to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him. God turned them away from him.

32 indeed, it comes to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that it has not been the king of Israel—they turn back from after him.

It came about that when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

33 And a man has drawn with a bow in his simplicity, and strikes the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he says to the charioteer, “Turn your hand, and you have brought me out of the camp, for I have become [gravely] sick.”

But a certain man drew his bow at random and shot the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. Then Ahab said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded.”

34 And the battle increases on that day, and the king of Israel has been propped up in the chariot in front of Aram until the evening, and he dies at the time of the going in of the sun.

The battle grew worse that day, and the king of Israel was held up in his chariot facing the Arameans until the evening. About the time that the sun was going down, he died.