2 Chronicles 18
1 Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor; he allied himself with Ahab by having one of his family marry his daughter.
Now Jehoshaphat was very wealthy and highly honored, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.
2 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.
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 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.”
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 Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please first seek the word of Yahweh for your answer.”
Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first though, please find out what the Lord says.”
5 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.”
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 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here still another prophet of Yahweh with whom we might seek advice?”
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet of the Lord here that we can ask?”
7 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.”
“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 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”
The king of Israel called over one of his officials and told him, “Bring me Micaiah, son of Imlah, right away.”
9 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.
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 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.”
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 All the prophets prophesied the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead and win, for Yahweh has given it into the hand 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 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.”
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 Micaiah replied, “As Yahweh lives, it is what God says that I will say.”
But Micaiah replied, “As the Lord lives, I can only say what my God tells me.”
14 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.”
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 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?”
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 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.'”
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 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?”
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?”
18 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.
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 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.
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 Then a spirit came forward and it stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Yahweh said to him, 'How?'
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 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.'
‘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 Now see, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and Yahweh has decreed disaster for 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 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?”
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 Micaiah said, “Look, you will know that on that day, when you run into some inner room to hide.”
“You'll soon find out when you try and find some secret place to hide!” Micaiah replied.
25 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.
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 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.'”
Tell them these are the king's instructions: ‘Put this man in jail. Give him only bread and water until my safe return.’”
27 Then Micaiah said, “If you return safely, then Yahweh has not spoken by me.” Then he added, “Listen to this, 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 Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up against Ramoth Gilead.
The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack Ramoth-gilead.
29 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.
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 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.”
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 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.
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 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.
for when the chariot commanders realized that he wasn't the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.
33 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.”
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 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.
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.
