1 Kings 22
22
1And they sit still three years, there is no war between Aram and Israel,
2and it cometh to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat king of Judah cometh down unto the king of Israel,
3and the king of Israel saith unto his servants, ‘Have ye not known that ours [is] Ramoth-Gilead? and we are keeping silent from taking it out of the hand of the king of Aram!’
4And he saith unto Jehoshaphat, ‘Dost thou go with me to battle [to] Ramoth-Gilead?’ and Jehoshaphat saith unto the king of Israel, ‘As I am, so thou; as my people, so thy people; as my horses, so thy horses.’
5And Jehoshaphat saith unto the king of Israel, ‘Seek, I pray thee, to-day, the word of Jehovah;’
6and the king of Israel gathereth the prophets, about four hundred men, and saith unto them, ‘Do I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear?’ and they say, ‘Go up, and the Lord doth give [it] into the hand of the king.’
7And Jehoshaphat saith, ‘Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, and we seek by him?’
8And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, ‘Yet — one man to seek Jehovah by him, and I have hated him, for he doth not prophesy concerning me good, but evil — Micaiah son of Imlah;’ and Jehoshaphat saith, ‘Let not the king say so.’
9And the king of Israel calleth unto a certain eunuch, and saith, ‘Hasten Micaiah son of Imlah.’
10And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, in a threshing-floor, at the opening of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them.
11And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah maketh for himself horns of iron, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, By these thou dost push the Aramaeans till they are consumed;’
12and all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, ‘Go up to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper, and Jehovah hath given [it] into the hand of the king.’
13And the messenger who hath gone to call Micaiah hath spoken unto him, saying, ‘Lo, I pray thee, the words of the prophets, with one mouth, [are] good towards the king; let it be, I pray thee, thy word as the word of one of them — and thou hast spoken good.’
14And Micaiah saith, ‘Jehovah liveth; surely that which Jehovah saith unto me — it I speak.’
15And he cometh in unto the king, and the king saith unto him, ‘Micaiah, do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead, to battle, or do we forbear?’ and he saith unto him, ‘Go up, and prosper, and Jehovah hath given [it] into the hand of the king.’
16And the king saith unto him, ‘How many times am I adjuring thee that thou speak nothing unto me but truth in the name of Jehovah?’
17And he saith, ‘I have seen all Israel scattered on the hills as sheep that have no shepherd, and Jehovah saith, These have no master; they turn back each to his house in peace.’
18And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, ‘Have I not said unto thee, He doth not prophesy of me good, but evil?’
19And he saith, ‘Therefore, hear a word of Jehovah; I have seen Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing by Him, on His right and on His left;
20and Jehovah saith, Who doth entice Ahab, and he doth go up and fall in Ramoth-Gilead? and this one saith thus, and that one is saying thus.
21‘And the spirit goeth out, and standeth before Jehovah, and saith, I — I do entice him; and Jehovah saith unto him, By what?
22and he saith, I go out, and have been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets; and He saith, Thou dost entice, and also thou art able; go out and do so.
23And now, lo, Jehovah hath put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and Jehovah hath spoken concerning thee — evil.’
24And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah draweth nigh, and smiteth Micaiah on the cheek, and saith, ‘Where [is] this — he hath passed over — the Spirit of Jehovah — from me to speak with thee?’
25And Micaiah saith, ‘Lo, thou art seeing on that day, when thou goest in to the innermost chamber to be hidden.’
26And the king of Israel saith, ‘Take Micaiah, and turn him back unto Amon head of the city, and unto Joash son of the king,
27and thou hast said, Thus said the king, Place ye this one in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, till my coming in peace.’
28And Micaiah saith, ‘If thou at all return in peace — Jehovah hath not spoken by me;’ and he saith, ‘Hear, O peoples, all of them.’
29And the king of Israel goeth up, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, to Ramoth-Gilead.
30And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, ‘And thou, put on thy garments.’ And the king of Israel disguiseth himself, and goeth into battle.
31And the king of Aram commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he hath — thirty and two — saying, ‘Ye do not fight with small or with great, but with the king of Israel by himself.’
32And it cometh to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they said, ‘He [is] only the king of Israel;’ and they turn aside to him to fight, and Jehoshaphat crieth out,
33and it cometh to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that he [is] not the king of Israel, that they turn back from after him.
34And a man hath drawn with a bow, in his simplicity, and smiteth the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he saith to his charioteer, ‘Turn thy hand, and take me out from the camp, for I have become sick.’
35And the battle increaseth on that day, and the king hath been caused to stand in the chariot, over-against Aram, and he dieth in the evening, and the blood of the wound runneth out unto the midst of the chariot,
36and he causeth the cry to pass over through the camp, at the going in of the sun, saying, ‘Each unto his city, and each unto his land.’
37And the king dieth, and cometh into Samaria, and they bury the king in Samaria;
38and [one] rinseth the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood — when the armour they had washed — according to the word of Jehovah that He spake.
39And the rest of the matters of Ahab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?
40And Ahab lieth with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigneth in his stead.
41And Jehoshaphat son of Asa hath reigned over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel,
42Jehoshaphat [is] a son of thirty and five years in his reigning, and twenty and five years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
43And he walketh in all the way of Asa his father, he hath not turned aside from it, to do that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah; only the high places have not turned aside, yet are the people sacrificing and making perfume in high places.
44And Jehoshaphat maketh peace with the king of Israel;
45and the rest of the matters of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he got, and with which he fought, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46And the remnant of the whoremongers who were left in the days of Asa his father he took away out of the land;
47and there is no king in Edom; he set up a king.
48Jehoshaphat made ships at Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, and they went not, for the ships were broken in Ezion-Geber.
49Then said Ahaziah son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, ‘Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships;’ and Jehoshaphat was not willing.
50And Jehoshaphat lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigneth in his stead.
51Ahaziah son of Ahab hath reigned over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigneth over Israel two years,
52and doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and walketh in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin,
53and serveth the Baal, and boweth himself to it, and provoketh Jehovah, God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
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1 Kings 22: YLT98
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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.