1: And they continued three years without war
between Syria and Israel.
2: And it came to pass in the third year,
that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3: And 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?
4: And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to
battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as
thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
5: And
Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of
the LORD to day.
6: Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets
together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against
Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord
shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7: And Jehoshaphat said,
Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might inquire of him?
8: And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one
man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire 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.
9: Then the king of Israel called an
officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
10: And
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.
11: And
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.
12: And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to
Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.
13: And 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.
14: And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what
the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
15: So he came to the
king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead 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.
16: And 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?
17: And 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.
18: And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee
that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19: And 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.
20: And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go
up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on
that manner.
21: And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the
LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
22: And 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.
23: Now 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.
24: But 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?
25: And Micaiah said, Behold,
thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide
thyself.
26: And 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;
27: And 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.
28: And 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.
29: So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up
to Ramoth-gilead.
30: And 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.
31:
But 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.
32: And 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.
33: And 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.
34: And 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.
35: And 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.
36: And 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.
37: So the king
died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
38: And 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.
39: Now 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?
40: So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son
reigned in his stead.
41: And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to
reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42:
Jehoshaphat 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.
43: And 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.
44: And Jehoshaphat
made peace with the king of Israel.
45: Now 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?
46: And
the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he
took out of the land.
47: There was then no king in Edom: a deputy
was king.
48: Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for
gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
49: Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my
servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
50: And 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.
51: Ahaziah 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.
52: And 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:
53: For he served
Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel,
according to all that his father had done.