Ahab and the False Prophets
And they stayed three years — no war between Aram and Israel.
And it was in the third year that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.
And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead is ours — and we are sitting still, instead of taking it out of the hand of the king of Aram?”
And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle, to Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are; my people as your people; my horses as your horses.”
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first, please, for the word of the LORD.”
And the king of Israel gathered the prophets — about four hundred men — and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up — and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here still a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of him?”
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom to inquire of the LORD — but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, only evil: Micaiah the son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let the king not say so.”
And the king of Israel called a certain officer and said, “Quickly — Micaiah the son of Imlah.”
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were sitting, each on his throne, clothed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and said, “Thus says the LORD: With these you shall gore Aram until they are finished.”
And all the prophets were prophesying so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed — and the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.”
Micaiah Prophesies against Ahab
And the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying: “Look, please — the words of the prophets are good toward the king with one mouth. Let your word, please, be like the word of one of them, and speak good.”
And Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives — surely what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.”
And he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he said to him, “Go up and succeed — and the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.”
And the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you will speak to me nothing but truth in the name of the LORD?”
And he said: “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no masters; let them return, each man to his house, in peace.’”
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you — he does not prophesy good concerning me, only evil?”
And he said: “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of the heavens standing beside him, on his right hand and on his left.
And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, so that he goes up and falls at Ramoth-gilead?’ And this one said one thing, and that one said another.
And the spirit came out and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’
And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail. Go out, and do so.’
And now — look, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.”
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak with you?”
And Micaiah said, “Look — you will see, on that day when you go into an inner room within a room to hide yourself.”
And the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and turn him over to Amon, the commander of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son.
And say: Thus says the king: Put this one in the house of confinement, and feed him bread of oppression and water of oppression, until I come in peace.”
And Micaiah said, “If you surely return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, you peoples, all of them.”
Ahab’s Defeat and Death
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle — but you, wear your own robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of his chariots — thirty-two — saying, “Do not fight with small or great, but only with the king of Israel alone.”
And it was, when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely he is the king of Israel”; and they turned against him to fight. And Jehoshaphat cried out.
And it was, when the commanders of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from following him.
And a man drew the bow in his innocence, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. And he said to his charioteer, “Turn your hand and take me out of the camp — for I am wounded.”
And the battle rose higher that day; and the king was propped up in the chariot, facing Aram. And he died in the evening, and the blood of the wound poured into the bottom of the chariot.
And the cry passed through the camp at the going down of the sun, saying, “Each man to his city, and each man to his land!”
So the king died, and came to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
And they rinsed out the chariot at the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood — where the prostitutes bathed — according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken.
And the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built, and all the cities that he built — are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
And Ahab lay down with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.
Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah
And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah, in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel.
Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was upright in the eyes of the LORD. Only, the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense at the high places.
And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he fought — are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
And the rest of the male cult prostitutes, who remained in the days of Asa his father, he purged from the land.
And there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king.
Jehoshaphat made Tarshish ships to go to Ophir for gold — but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing.
And Jehoshaphat lay down with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoram his son became king in his place.
Ahaziah Reigns in Israel
Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years.
And he did the evil in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
And he served the Baal and prostrated himself to him, and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.