2 Chronicles 18

1 Jehoshaphat became very wealthy and was greatly honored. But then he arranged for one of his family to marry someone from the family of King Ahab [of Israel].

Now Jehoshaphat was very wealthy and highly honored, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.

2 Several years later, he went down [from Jerusalem] to Samaria to visit Ahab. Ahab welcomed him and the people who had come with him by slaughtering many sheep and cattle [for a feast].

Some years later he went to pay Ahab a visit in Samaria. Ahab sacrificed many sheep and cattle for him and the people who accompanied him, and encouraged him to attack Ramoth-gilead.

3 Then he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you [and your army] go with my army to attack Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region]?” Jehoshaphat replied, “My soldiers and I will go to the battle when you tell us to go.”

Ahab, king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, “Would you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “You and I are as one, and my men and your men are as one. We will join forces with you in this war.”

4 Then he added, “But we should ask Yahweh first, to find out what he wants us to do.”

Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first though, please find out what the Lord says.”

5 So the king of Israel gathered all his 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we go to attack the people of Ramoth [city], or should we not do that?” They replied, “Yes, go [and attack them] because God will enable your army to defeat them.”

So the king of Israel brought out the prophets—four hundred of them—and he asked them, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” “Yes, go ahead,” they replied, “for God will hand it over to the king.”

6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here whom we can ask?”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet of the Lord here that we can ask?”

7 The king of Israel replied, “There is still one man here, whom we can ask to find out what Yahweh wants, his name is Micaiah, the son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never says anything good about me. He always predicts [that] bad [things will happen to me].” Jehoshaphat replied, “King Ahab, you should not say that!”

“Yes, there's another man who could consult the Lord,” the king of Israel replied, “but I don't like him because he never prophesies anything good for me—it's always bad! His name is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” “You shouldn't talk like that,” said Jehoshaphat.

8 So the king of Israel told one of his officials to summon Micaiah immediately.

The king of Israel called over one of his officials and told him, “Bring me Micaiah, son of Imlah, right away.”

9 The king of Israel and the king of Judah were sitting there on their thrones, wearing their royal robes. They were at the place where people threshed grain, near the gate of Samaria [city]. All of [Ahab’s] prophets were standing in front of them, predicting what was going to happen.

Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor beside the gate of Samaria, with all of the prophets prophesying in front of them.

10 [One of them whose name was] Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, had made from iron something that resembled the horns of a bull. He proclaimed to Ahab, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘With horns [like these], your [army] will keep attacking the army of Syria [like a bull attacks another animal], until you completely destroy them.’”

One of them, Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, had made himself iron horns. He announced, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these horns you will gore the Arameans until they're dead!”

11 All the other prophets [of Ahab] agreed. They said, “Yes! If you attack Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], you will be successful, because Yahweh will enable you to defeat them.”

All the prophets were prophesying the same thing, saying, “Go ahead, attack Ramoth-gilead; you will be successful, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

12 The messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen to me! All the other prophets are unitedly predicting that the king will be successful [in the battle]. So be sure to agree with them and say that the king’s army will be successful!”

The messenger who went to call Micaiah told him, “Look, all the prophets are unanimous in prophesying positively to the king. So please make sure to speak positively like them.”

13 But Micaiah said, “As surely as Yahweh lives, I will tell the king only what Yahweh tells me to say.”

But Micaiah replied, “As the Lord lives, I can only say what my God tells me.”

14 When Micaiah arrived, the king [of Israel] asked him, “Should we go to attack Ramoth, or not?” Micaiah replied, “Sure, go! Yahweh will enable your army to defeat them!”

When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” “Yes, go ahead and be victorious,” Micaiah replied, “for they will be handed over to the king.”

15 But King Ahab [realized that Micaiah was lying, so he] said to Micaiah, “I have told you many times that you must always tell only the truth when you say what Yahweh [has revealed to you]!”

But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me only the truth in the name of the Lord?”

16 Then Micaiah replied, “[The truth is that in a vision] I saw all the troops of Israel scattered on the mountains. They seemed to be like sheep that did not have a shepherd. And Yahweh said, ‘Their master has been killed. So tell them all to go home peacefully.’”

So Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people have no master; let each of them go home in peace.’”

17 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you that he never predicts that anything good will happen to me! He [always] predicts that bad things will happen to me.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?”

18 But Micaiah continued, saying, “Listen to what Yahweh showed to me! [In a vision] I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, with all the armies of heaven [standing around him], on his right side and on his left side.

Micaiah went on to say, “So listen to what the Lord says. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, surrounded by the whole army of heaven standing to his right and to his left.

19 And Yahweh said, ‘Who can persuade Ahab, the king of Israel, to go to fight against the people of Ramoth, in order that he may be killed there?’ “Some suggested one thing, and others suggested something else.

The Lord asked, ‘Who will trick Ahab, king of Israel, into attacking Ramoth-gilead so he will be killed there?’ One said this, another said that, and another said something else.

20 “Finally one spirit, [having received a message from Satan], came to Yahweh and said, ‘I can do it!’ “Yahweh asked him, ‘How will you do it?’

Finally a spirit came and approached the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’ ‘How are you going to do that?’ the Lord asked.

21 “The spirit replied, ‘I will go and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to tell lies.’ Yahweh said, ‘You will be successful; go and do it!’

‘I will go and be a lying spirit and make all his prophets tell lies,’ the spirit replied. ‘That will work,’ the Lord responded. ‘Go and do it.’

22 “So now [I tell you that] Yahweh has caused your prophets to lie to you. Yahweh has decided that something terrible will happen to you.”

As you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced your death sentence.”

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah walked over to Micaiah and slapped him on his face. He said, “Do you think that Yahweh’s Spirit left me in order to speak to you?”

Then Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, went and slapped Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go when he left me to speak to you?”

24 Micaiah replied, “You will find out for yourself [to which of us Yahweh’s Spirit has truly spoken] on the day when you go into a room of some house to hide [from the Syrian soldiers]!”

“You'll soon find out when you try and find some secret place to hide!” Micaiah replied.

25 King Ahab commanded [his soldiers], “Seize Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of this city, and to my son Joash.

The king of Israel ordered, “Place Micaiah under arrest and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to my son Joash.

26 Tell them that I have commanded that they should put this man in prison and give him only bread and water. Do not give him anything else to eat until I return safely [from the battle]!”

Tell them these are the king's instructions: ‘Put this man in jail. Give him only bread and water until my safe return.’”

27 Micaiah replied, “If you return safely, [it will be clear that] it was not Yahweh who told me what to say to you!” Then he said [to all those who were standing there], “Do not forget what I have said [to King Ahab]!”

“If you do in fact return safely then the Lord has not spoken through me,” Micaiah declared. “Pay attention everyone to all I've said!”

28 So the king of Israel and the king of Judah [led their armies] to Ramoth, in [the] Gilead [region].

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack Ramoth-gilead.

29 King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will put on different clothes, [in order that no one will recognize that I am the king.] But you should wear your royal robe.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they both went into the battle.

The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “When I go into battle I will be in disguise, but you should wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

30 The King of Syria told his soldiers who were driving the chariots, “Attack only the king of Israel!”

The king of Aram had already given these orders to his chariot commanders: “Head straight for the king of Israel alone. Don't fight with anyone else, whoever they are.”

31 So when the soldiers who were driving the Syrian chariots saw Jehoshaphat [wearing the royal robes], they thought “He must be the king of Israel!”

So when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “There's the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat called out for help, and the Lord did help him. God redirected them away from him,

32 So they turned to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat cried out, Yahweh helped him, and they realized that he was not the king of Israel. And God caused them to stop pursuing him.

for when the chariot commanders realized that he wasn't the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.

33 But one [Syrian] soldier shot an arrow at Ahab, without knowing that it was Ahab. The arrow struck Ahab between the places where the parts of his armor joined together. Ahab told the driver of his chariot, “Turn the chariot around and take me out of here! I have been [severely] wounded!”

However, an enemy archer shot an arrow at random, hitting the king of Israel between the joints of his armor by his breastplate. The king told his charioteer, “Turn around and get me out of the fight, because I've been wounded!”

34 The battle continued all that day. Ahab was sitting propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrian soldiers. And late in the afternoon, when the sun was setting, he died.

The battle lasted all day. The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot to face the Arameans until the evening. But he died at sunset.