Bible Time

¹NOW Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and he made an alliance with Ahab. ²And after 2 years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the armed forces that were with him, and advised him to go up to Ramath Gilead. ³And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Will you go up with me to Ramathgilead? And he answered him, I will go up as you do; and my people are as your people; and my horses as your horses, and we will go with you to war.

⁴And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I ask, for the word of Yahvah today. ⁵Therefore, the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets 400 men, and said to them, Should we go to Ramath Gilead to battle or should I refrain? And they said to him, Go up; for Yahvah will deliver your enemies into your hands. ⁶But King Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a true prophet of Yahvah, that we may inquire of him? ⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahvah; but I hate him; for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. His name is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Do not let the king say so. ⁸And the king of Israel called for one of the officers and said to him, Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imla. ⁹And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each man on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the false prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰And Zedekiah the son of a Canaanitish woman had made for himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus says Yahvah, With these you will pierce the Arameans until they are cut off and destroyed. ¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramathgilead, and triumph: for Yahvah will deliver your enemies into your hands, oh king. ¹²And the messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Look, the words of the false prophets have declared good to the king with one accord; let your words, therefore, be pleasant like one of theirs, and you also prophesy good. ¹³And Micaiah said, As Yahvah God lives, what my God puts into my heart, that I will speak. ¹⁴And when he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, should we go to Ramath Gilead or should I refrain? And he said to him, Go up and triumph, and they will be delivered into your hands. ¹⁵And the king said to him, How many times will I adjure you that you say nothing but the truth to me in the name of Yahvah? ¹⁶Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd; and Yahvah said, These have no king; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace. ¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? ¹⁸Then Micaiah said, Therefore, hear the word of Yahvah: I saw Yahvah sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. ¹⁹And Yahvah said, Who will entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and be slain at Ramathgilead? And one said, I will entice him after this manner, and another said, I will entice him after that manner. ²⁰Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahvah and said, I will entice him, and Yahvah said to him, With what? ²¹And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And Yahvah said, You will entice him, and you will also prevail; go out, and do according to what you have said. ²²Now therefore, look, Yahvah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, and Yahvah has decreed evil against you. ²³Then Zedekiah the son of the Canaanitish woman came near and struck Micaiah on his cheek, and said to him, Since when did the Spirit of Yahvah depart from me to speak to you? ²⁴And Micaiah said, Look, you will see on that day when you will go into an inner chamber to hide yourself. ²⁵Then the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back and detain him in the house of Amon the governor of the city and in the house of Joash the king's son; ²⁶And 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 return in peace. ²⁷And Micaiah said, If you certainly return in peace, then Yahvah has not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, all you people.

²⁸So Jehoshaphat the king of Judah and Ahab the king of Israel went up to Ramathgilead. ²⁹And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will put on my armor, and go and stand in the battle array; and you put on your armor. So the king of Israel put on his armor, and went and stood in the battle array. ³⁰Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, 32 in number, saying, Do not fight with small or great, but only with the king of Israel. ³¹And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore, they came against him to fight him; but Jehoshaphat cried out and Yahvah helped him; and he turned them away from him. ³²And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³³And a certain man shot an arrow unwittingly towards him, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his breastplate; so he said to his chariot man, Turn your hand and carry me out of the battle; for I am grievously wounded. ³⁴And the battle grew fiercer that day; but the king of Israel was seated in the chariot fighting against the Arameans until evening, and at sunset he died.