1 Kings 22
22
Micaiah Warns King Ahab
1For the next two years there was peace between Israel and Aram. 2Then during the third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit King Ahab of Israel.
3Ahab asked his officials, “Remember when the king of Aram took Ramoth Gilead from us? That city is ours, so why have we done nothing to get it back?” 4So Ahab asked King Jehoshaphat, “Will you join with us to go fight the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat answered, “Yes, you and I will be as one—my men and my horses will be as yours. 5But first let’s ask the Lord for advice.”
6So Ahab called a meeting of the prophets. There were about 400 prophets at that time. Ahab asked the prophets, “Should I go and attack the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead or not?”
The prophets answered Ahab, “Yes, because the Lord will let you defeat Ramoth Gilead.”
7But Jehoshaphat said, “Doesn’t the Lord have another prophet here? Let’s ask him the same question.”
8King Ahab answered, “Yes, there is another prophet. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he will not say anything good about me when he speaks for the Lord. He always says things that I don’t like.”
Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say that!”
9So King Ahab told one of his officers to go and find Micaiah.
10At that time the two kings were sitting on their thrones, with their royal robes on, at the judgment place near the gates of Samaria. All the prophets were standing before them, prophesying. 11One of the prophets was named Zedekiah son of Kenaanah. Zedekiah made some iron horns#22:11 iron horns These were a symbol of great strength. and said to Ahab, “The Lord says, ‘You will use these iron horns to fight against the army of Aram. You will defeat them and destroy them.’” 12All the other prophets agreed with Zedekiah and said, “Your army should march now to go fight against the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead. You will win the battle. The Lord will let you defeat them.”
13While this was happening, the officer went to find Micaiah. When he found him, the officer told him, “All the other prophets have said that the king will succeed, so you should say the same thing.”
14But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can say only what the Lord says.”
15Micaiah went and stood before King Ahab. The king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go and attack the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead or not?”
Micaiah answered, “Yes, go and be successful! The Lord will let you take the city.”
16But Ahab answered, “How many times do I have to tell you? Tell me the truth. What does the Lord say?”
17So Micaiah answered, “I can see the army of Israel scattered all over the hills, like sheep with no one to lead them. This is what the Lord says: ‘These men have no leaders. Let them go home in peace.’”
18Then Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “See, I told you! This prophet never says anything good about me. He always says something bad.”
19But Micaiah said, “Listen to this message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. All of heaven’s army was standing around him, some on his left side and some on his right side. 20The Lord said, ‘Which of you will go fool Ahab into attacking the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead so that he will be killed?’ The angels discussed many different plans. 21Then a spirit#22:21 a spirit Or “the Spirit.” went and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will fool him!’ The Lord asked, ‘How will you do it?’ 22The spirit answered, ‘I will go to Ahab’s prophets and cause them to tell lies.’ So the Lord said, ‘Yes, that will fool Ahab. Go out and do that.’
23“So that is what has happened here. The Lord made your prophets lie to you. The Lord himself decided to bring this disaster to you.”
24Then the prophet Zedekiah went to Micaiah and hit him on the face. Zedekiah said, “How is it that the Spirit of the Lord left me to speak through you?”
25Micaiah answered, “Look, what I said will happen! And you will see it one day when you are in a secret room somewhere hiding.”
26Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers to arrest Micaiah. Ahab said, “Arrest him and take him to Amon the governor of the city and prince Joash. 27Tell them to put Micaiah in prison. Give him nothing but bread and water to eat. Keep him there until I come home from the battle.”
28Micaiah said, “Listen to me, everyone! Ahab, if you come back alive from the battle, the Lord has not spoken through me.”
The Battle at Ramoth Gilead
29King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to fight the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead. 30Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Disguise yourself when you go into battle, but wear your own clothes. And I will disguise myself.” The king of Israel went into battle dressed like an ordinary soldier.
31The king of Aram had 32 chariot commanders. He gave them this command, “Don’t go after anyone except the king of Israel, no matter how important they are.” 32When the commanders saw King Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel, and so they went to kill him. Jehoshaphat started shouting. 33When the commanders saw that he was not King Ahab, they stopped chasing him.
34Then a soldier in the distance pulled back as far as he could on his bow and shot an arrow into the air. The arrow happened to hit the king of Israel in a small hole where his armor was fastened together. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “I’ve been hit! Turn the chariot around and take me off the battlefield!”
35The armies continued to fight while King Ahab was propped up in his chariot. He was leaning against the sides of the chariot, looking out toward the Arameans. His blood ran down onto the floor of the chariot. Later in the evening, he died. 36At sunset all the Israelites cheered when they were told to go home. So they all went back to their hometowns.
37And that is how King Ahab died. Some men carried his body to Samaria and buried him there. 38They took his chariot to the large pool in Samaria to clean it. The dogs licked up Ahab’s blood while the prostitutes washed the chariot. This happened just as the Lord said it would.
39The rest of what King Ahab did during the time he ruled is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel. That book tells about all the cities he built and about all the ivory that he used to decorate his palace. 40Ahab died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Ahaziah became the next king after him.
Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Rule
41Jehoshaphat son of Asa became the king of Judah in Ahab’s fourth year as king of Israel. 42Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 43Like his father Asa, Jehoshaphat was good and did everything that the Lord wanted, but he did not destroy the high places. The people continued offering sacrifices and burning incense there.
44Jehoshaphat made a peace agreement with the king of Israel. 45Jehoshaphat was very brave and fought many wars. The rest of what he did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah.
46Jehoshaphat forced all the men and women who sold their bodies for sex to leave the places of worship. They had served in these places of worship while his father Asa was king.
47In those days Edom did not have a king; it was ruled by a governor who was chosen by the king of Judah.
48King Jehoshaphat built some cargo ships. He wanted the ships to sail to Ophir for gold, but they never went there—they were destroyed in their home port at Ezion Geber. 49Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to put some of his own sailors with Jehoshaphat’s men on the ships,#22:49 King Ahaziah … ships Jehoshaphat controlled the port of Ezion Geber which was Israel’s only way to the Red Sea and the coasts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the coasts leading to the Persian Gulf and India. Ahaziah thought he could get control of that area by “helping” Jehoshaphat. but Jehoshaphat refused to accept his help.
50Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Jehoram became the next king.
Ahaziah, King of Israel
51Ahaziah was the son of Ahab. He became king of Israel during the 17th year that King Jehoshaphat ruled Judah. Ahaziah ruled in Samaria for two years. 52He sinned against the Lord just as his parents, Ahab and Jezebel, did. He caused Israel to sin just as Jeroboam son of Nebat did. 53Ahaziah served the false god Baal and worshiped him, just as his father did before him. He did all the things that his father did to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
1 Kings 22
22
The Prophet Micaiah Warns Ahab
(2 Chr 18.2–27)
1There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years, 2but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel.
3Ahab asked his officials, “Why is it that we have not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It belongs to us!” 4And Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?”
“I am ready when you are,” Jehoshaphat answered, “and so are my soldiers and my cavalry. 5But first let's consult the LORD.”
6So Ahab called in the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?”
“Attack it,” they answered. “The Lord will give you victory.”
7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the LORD?”
8Ahab answered, “There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him, because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad.”
“You shouldn't say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
9Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and fetch Micaiah at once.
10The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 11One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.’ ” 12All the other prophets said the same thing. “March against Ramoth and you will win,” they said. “The LORD will give you victory.”
13Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same.”
14But Micaiah answered, “By the living LORD I promise that I will say what he tells me to!”
15When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?”
“Attack!” Micaiah answered. “Of course you'll win. The LORD will give you victory.”
16But Ahab replied, “When you speak to me in the name of the LORD, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?”
17 #
Num 27.17; Mt 9.36; Mk 6.34 Micaiah answered, “I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.’ ”
18Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!”
19 #
Is 6.1; Job 1.6 Micaiah went on: “Now listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. 20The LORD asked, ‘Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?’ Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, 21until a spirit stepped forward, approached the LORD, and said, ‘I will deceive him.’ 22‘How?’ the LORD asked. The spirit replied, ‘I will go and make all Ahab's prophets tell lies.’ The LORD said, ‘Go and deceive him. You will succeed.’ ”
23And Micaiah concluded: “This is what has happened. The LORD has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!”
24Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, “Since when did the LORD's spirit leave me and speak to you?”
25“You will find out when you go into some back room to hide,” Micaiah replied.
26Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 27Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely.”
28“If you return safely,” Micaiah exclaimed, “then the LORD has not spoken through me!” And he added, “Listen, everyone, to what I have said!”
The Death of Ahab
(2 Chr 18.28–34)
29Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 30Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments.” So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise.
31The king of Syria had ordered his 32 chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. 32So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But when he cried out, 33they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack. 34By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armour. “I'm wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn round and pull out of the battle!”
35While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood from his wound ran down and covered the bottom of the chariot, and at evening he died. 36Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: “Every man go back to his own country and city!”
37So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried. 38His chariot was cleaned up at the pool of Samaria, where dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes washed themselves, as the LORD had said would happen.
39Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 40At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
King Jehoshaphat of Judah
(2 Chr 20.31—21.1)
41In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah 42at the age of 35, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 43Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the LORD; but the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. 44Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 46He got rid of all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan altars who were still left from the days of his father Asa.
47The land of Edom had no king; it was ruled by a deputy appointed by the king of Judah.
48King Jehoshaphat built ocean-going ships to sail to the land of Ophir for gold; but they were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed. 49Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men, but Jehoshaphat refused the offer.
50Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
King Ahaziah of Israel
51In the seventeenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years. 52He sinned against the LORD, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin. 53He worshipped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.