1And they continued three years without war
between Syria and Israel.
2And it came to pass in the third year, that
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king
of Israel.
3And the king of Israel said unto his
servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours,
and we be still, and take
it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
4And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go
with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat
said to the king of Israel, I am as
thou art,
my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
5And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of
Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the
LORD to day.
6Then the king of Israel gathered the
prophets together, about four hundred men, and said
unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to
battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up;
for the Lord shall deliver it into
the hand of the king.
7And Jehoshaphat said, Is
there not here a prophet of the LORD besides,
that we might enquire of him?
8And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, There
is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by
whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for
he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.
And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9Then the king of Israel called an officer,
and said, Hasten hither Micaiah
the son of Imlah.
10And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the
king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on
their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the
gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied
before them.
11And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him
horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD,
With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou
have consumed them.
12And all the prophets prophesied so, saying,
Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD
shall deliver it into
the king's hand.
13And the messenger that was gone to call
Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the
words of the prophets declare good
unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray
thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that
which is good.
14And Micaiah said, As the
LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will
I speak.
15So he came to the king. And the king said
unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead
to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him,
Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into
the hand of the king.
16And the king said unto him, How many times
shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that
which is true in the name of the LORD?
17And he said, I saw all Israel scattered
upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd:
and the LORD said, These have no master: let them
return every man to his house in peace.
18And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would
prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19And he said, Hear thou therefore the word
of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne,
and all the host of heaven standing by him on his
right hand and on his left.
20And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab,
that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one
said on this manner, and another said on that
manner.
21And there came forth a spirit, and stood
before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
22And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And
he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he
said, Thou shalt persuade him,
and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
23Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a
lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets,
and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
24But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went
near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said,
Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to
speak unto thee?
25And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in
that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber
to hide thyself.
26And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah,
and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the
city, and to Joash the king's son;
27And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in
the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction
and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
28And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in
peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said,
Hearken, O people, every one of you.
29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the
king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.
30And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into
the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king
of Israel disguised himself, and went into the
battle.
31But the king of Syria commanded his thirty
and two captains that had rule over his chariots,
saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save
only with the king of Israel.
32And it came to pass, when the captains of
the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely
it is the
king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight
against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
33And it came to pass, when the captains of
the chariots perceived that it was not
the king of Israel, that they turned back from
pursuing him.
34And a certain man
drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of
Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore
he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine
hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am
wounded.
35And the battle increased that day: and the
king was stayed up in his chariot against the
Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of
the wound into the midst of the chariot.
36And there went a proclamation throughout
the host about the going down of the sun, saying,
Every man to his city, and every man to his own
country.
37So the king died, and was brought to
Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
38And one washed
the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs
licked up his blood; and they washed his armour;
according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.
39Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all
that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and
all the cities that he built, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel?
40So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah
his son reigned in his stead.
41And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to
reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of
Israel.
42Jehoshaphat was thirty
and five years old when he began to reign; and he
reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name was Azubah
the daughter of Shilhi.
43And he walked in all the ways of Asa his
father; he turned not aside from it, doing that
which was right in the eyes of the LORD:
nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the
people offered and burnt incense yet in the high
places.
44And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of
Israel.
45Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat,
and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
46And the remnant of the sodomites, which
remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out
of the land.
47There
was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
48Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go
to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships
were broken at Eziongeber.
49Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto
Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in
the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
50And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and
was buried with his fathers in the city of David his
father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
51Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over
Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of
Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years
over Israel.
52And he did evil in the sight 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 made Israel to sin:
53For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and
provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according
to all that his father had done.