1 Kings 22:14-50

¹⁴But Micaiah replied, “As the Lord lives, I can only say what my God tells me.”

¹⁵When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should we not?” “Yes, go ahead and be victorious,” Micaiah replied, “for the Lord will give it into the king's hand.”

¹⁶But 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?”

¹⁷So 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.’”

¹⁸The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?”

¹⁹Micaiah 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.

²⁰The 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.

²¹Finally a spirit came and approached the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’

²²‘How are you going to do that?’ the Lord asked. ‘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.’

²³As you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced your death sentence.”

²⁴Then 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?”

²⁵“You'll soon find out when you try and find some secret place to hide!” Micaiah replied.

²⁶The king of Israel ordered, “Place Micaiah under arrest and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to my son Joash.

²⁷Tell them these are the king's instructions: ‘Put this man in jail. Give him only bread and water until my safe return.’”

²⁸“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!”

²⁹The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack Ramoth-gilead.

³⁰The 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.

³¹The 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.”

³²So when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “This must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat called out for help,

³³the chariot commanders saw it wasn't the king of Israel and stopped chasing him.

³⁴However, 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!”

³⁵The battle lasted all day. The king of Israel was propped up in his chariot to face the Arameans, but in the evening he died. The blood had poured out of his wound onto the floor of the chariot.

³⁶At sunset, a shout went out from the lines: “Retreat! Every man back to his town, every man back to his own country!”

³⁷So the king died. He was taken back to Samaria where they buried him.

³⁸They washed his chariot at a pool in Samaria where the prostitutes came to bathe, and dogs licked up his blood, just as the Lord had said.

³⁹The rest of what happened in Ahab's reign, all that he did, the ivory palace he constructed and all the cities he built are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

⁴⁰Ahab died and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

⁴¹Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became king of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Ahab, king of Israel.

⁴²Jehoshaphat was thirty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.

⁴³He followed all the ways of his father; he did not depart from them, and he did what was right in the Lord's sight. However, the high places were not removed and the people still sacrificed and presented offerings there.

⁴⁴Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵The rest of what happened in Jehoshaphat's reign, his great achievements and the wars he fought are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

⁴⁶He expelled from the land any cult prostitutes who were left from the time of his father Asa.

⁴⁷(At that time there was no king in Edom; only a deputy who served as king.)

⁴⁸Jehoshaphat built sea-going ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they went because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

⁴⁹During that time Ahaziah, son of Ahab, asked Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with your men,” but Jehoshaphat refused.

⁵⁰Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.