CHAPTER 22
who
said
to
his servants,
“Do you not know
that
Ramoth-gilead
is ours,
but we
have failed
to take
it
from the hand
of the king
of Aram?”
So he asked
Jehoshaphat,
“Will you go
with me
to fight
against Ramoth-gilead?”
Jehoshaphat
answered
the king
of Israel,
“I am
as you are,
my people
as your people,
and my horses
as your horses.”
So the king
of Israel
assembled
the prophets,
about four
hundred
men,
and asked them,
“Should I go
to war
against
Ramoth-gilead,
or
should I refrain?”
“Go up,”
they replied,
“and the Lord
will deliver it
into the hand
of the king.”
The king
of Israel
answered,
“There is still
one
man
who can ask
the LORD,
but I
hate him
because
he never
prophesies
anything good
for me,
but only
bad.
He is Micaiah
son
of Imlah.”
“The king
should not
say
that!”
Jehoshaphat
replied.
So the king
of Israel
called
one
of his officials
and said,
“Bring
Micaiah
the son
of Imlah at once.”
Dressed
in royal attire,
the king
of Israel
and Jehoshaphat
king
of Judah
were sitting
on
their thrones
at the threshing floor
by the entrance
of the gate
of Samaria,
with all
the prophets
prophesying
before them.
Now Zedekiah
son
of Chenaanah
had made
for himself
iron
horns
and declared,
“This is what
the LORD
says:
‘With these
you shall gore
the Arameans
until
they are finished off.’”
And all
the prophets
were prophesying
the same,
saying,
“Go up
to Ramoth-gilead
and prosper,
for the LORD
will deliver it
into the hand
of the king.”
Then the messenger
who
had gone
to call
Micaiah
instructed him,
“Behold
now,
with one
accord
the words
of the prophets
are favorable
to the king.
So please
let your words
be
like theirs,
and speak
favorably.”
When Micaiah arrived,
the king
asked
him,
“Micaiah,
should we go
to war
against
Ramoth-gilead,
or
should we refrain?”
“Go up
and triumph,”
Micaiah replied,
“for the LORD
will give it
into the hand
of the king.”
But the king
said
to him,
“How many
times
must I
make you swear
not
to tell
me anything but
the truth
in the name
of the LORD?”
So Micaiah declared:
“I saw
all
Israel
scattered
on
the hills
like sheep
without
a shepherd.
And the LORD
said,
‘These people
have no
master;
let each one
return
home
in peace.’”
Then the king
of Israel
said
to
Jehoshaphat,
“Did I not
tell
you
that he never
prophesies
good
for me,
but only
bad?”
Micaiah continued,
“Therefore
hear
the word
of the LORD:
I saw
the LORD
sitting
on
His throne,
and all
the host
of heaven
standing
on His right hand
and on His left.
And the LORD
said,
‘Who
will entice
Ahab
to march up
and fall
at Ramoth-gilead?’
And one
suggested
this,
and another
that.
Then a spirit
came forward,
stood
before
the LORD,
and said,
‘I
will entice him.’
‘By what means?’
asked
the LORD.
And he replied,
‘I will go out
and be
a lying
spirit
in the mouth
of all
his prophets.’
‘You will surely
entice him
and prevail,’
said the LORD.
‘Go
and do
it.’
So
you see,
the LORD
has put
a lying
spirit
in the mouths
of all
these
prophets of yours,
and the LORD
has pronounced
disaster
against you.”
Then Zedekiah
son
of Chenaanah
went up,
struck
Micaiah
in
the face,
and demanded,
“Which way
did the Spirit
of the LORD go
when He departed
from me
to speak
to you?”
And the king
of Israel
declared,
“Take
Micaiah
and return
him to
Amon
the governor
of the city
and to
Joash
the king’s
son,
and tell them
that this is what
the king
says:
‘Put
this man
in prison
and feed him
only bread
and water
until
I return
safely.’”
But Micaiah
replied,
“If
you ever return
safely,
the LORD
has not
spoken through me.”
Then he added,
“Take heed,
all
you people!”
And the king
of Israel
said
to
Jehoshaphat,
“I will disguise
myself and go
into battle,
but you
wear
your royal robes.”
So the king
of Israel
disguised himself
and went
into battle.
Now the king
of Aram
had ordered
his thirty-two
chariot
commanders,
“Do not
fight
with anyone,
small
or great,
except
the king
of Israel.”
When the chariot
commanders
saw
Jehoshaphat,
they
said,
“Surely
this
is the king
of Israel!”
So they turned
to fight
against him,
but Jehoshaphat
cried out.
And
when the chariot
commanders
saw
that
he
was not
the king
of Israel,
they turned back
from pursuing him.
However, a certain man
drew
his bow
without taking special aim,
and he struck
the king
of Israel
between
the joints
of his armor.
So the king said
to his charioteer,
“Turn around
and take me out
of
the battle,
for
I am badly wounded!”
The battle
raged
throughout that
day,
and the king
was
propped up
in his chariot
facing
the Arameans.
And the blood
from his wound
ran out
onto
the floor
of the chariot,
and that evening
he died.
As the sun
was setting,
the cry
rang out
in the army:
“Every man
to
his own city,
and every man
to
his own land!”
And someone washed
the chariot
at
the pool
of Samaria
where the prostitutes
bathed,
and the dogs
licked up
Ahab's blood,
according to the word
that the LORD
had spoken.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Ahab,
along with all
his accomplishments
and the ivory
palace
and all
the cities
he built,
are they
not
written
in
the Book
of the Chronicles
of the Kings
of Israel?
Jehoshaphat
was thirty-five
years
old
when he became king,
and he reigned
in Jerusalem
twenty-five
years.
His mother’s
name
was Azubah
daughter
of Shilhi.
And Jehoshaphat walked
in all
the ways
of his father
Asa;
he did not
turn away
from them,
but did
what was right
in the eyes
of the LORD.
The high places,
however,
were not
removed;
the people
still
sacrificed
and burned incense
on the high places.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Jehoshaphat,
along with the might
he exercised
and how
he waged war,
are they
not
written
in
the Book
of the Chronicles
of the Kings
of Judah?
He banished
from
the land
any
male cult prostitutes
who
had remained
from the days
of his father
Asa.
Jehoshaphat
built
ships
of Tarshish
to go
to Ophir
for gold,
but they never
set sail,
because
they
were wrecked
at Ezion-geber.
At that time
Ahaziah
son
of Ahab
said
to
Jehoshaphat,
“Let my servants
sail
with
your servants,”
but Jehoshaphat
refused.
And Jehoshaphat
rested
with
his fathers
and was buried
with
them
in the city
of his father
David,
and his son
Jehoram
reigned
in his place.
In the seventeenth
year
of Jehoshaphat's
reign
over Judah,
Ahaziah
son
of Ahab
became king
of
Israel,
and he reigned
in Samaria
two years.
And he did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD
and walked
in the ways
of his father
and
mother,
and
of Jeroboam
son
of Nebat,
who
had caused Israel
to sin.
Ahaziah served
and worshiped
Baal,
provoking
the LORD,
the God
of Israel, to anger,
just as
his father
had done.