2 ChroniclesChapter 18

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¹Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor. He joined himself to Ahab through a marriage. ²Some years later, he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab killed many sheep and cattle as a sacrifice for him and the people with him. And Ahab urged him to march up against Ramoth-gilead. ³Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you go with me to fight Ramoth-gilead?" Jehoshaphat answered, "I am as you are. My people are your people. We will join you in the war." ⁴But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "Please ask first what the LORD says." ⁵So the king of Israel called the prophets together. There were four hundred men. He asked them, "Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we hold back?" "Go up," they said. "God will hand it over to the king." ⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there still a prophet of the LORD here we can ask?" ⁷The king of Israel answered, "There is still one man we can ask the LORD through. But I hate him, because he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king should not say that!" Jehoshaphat replied. ⁸So the king of Israel called one of his officials. He said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah right away." ⁹The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah wore their royal robes. They sat on their thrones at the threshing floor by the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. ¹⁰Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself. He said, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are wiped out.'" ¹¹All the prophets were saying the same thing. They said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and win. The LORD will hand it over to the king." ¹²The messenger who had gone to get Micaiah told him, "Look, the prophets all agree. They are saying good things to the king. So please make your words like theirs. Say something good." ¹³But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will say whatever my God tells me." ¹⁴When Micaiah came, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we hold back?" "Go up and win," Micaiah answered. "They will be handed over to you." ¹⁵But 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?" ¹⁶So Micaiah said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep with no shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'" ¹⁷Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?" ¹⁸Micaiah went on, "So hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne. All the armies of heaven were standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹And the LORD said, 'Who will trick Ahab king of Israel into marching up to Ramoth-gilead so he will fall there?' One said this, and another said that. ²⁰Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD. He said, 'I will trick him.' 'How?' the LORD asked. ²¹He answered, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' The LORD said, 'You will trick him, and you will win. Go and do it.' ²²So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The LORD has said that disaster will come on you." ²³Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah walked up and hit Micaiah in the face. He said, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when he left me to speak to you?" ²⁴Micaiah answered, "You will soon find out. You'll see on the day you go and hide in an inner room." ²⁵The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah. Send him back to Amon, the ruler of the city, and to Joash, the king's son. ²⁶Tell them the king says, 'Put this man in prison. Give him only bread and water until I come back safe.'" ²⁷But Micaiah said, "If you ever come back safe, then the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Listen, all you people!" ²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will dress so no one knows me and go into battle. But you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel hid who he was and went into battle. ³⁰Now the king of Aram had given orders to his chariot leaders. He said, "Do not fight anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." ³¹The chariot leaders saw Jehoshaphat. They said, "This is the king of Israel!" So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God pulled them away from him. ³²The chariot leaders saw that he was not the king of Israel. So they stopped chasing him. ³³But a man pulled back his bow and shot without aiming at anyone. The arrow hit the king of Israel between the parts of his armor. So the king said to his chariot driver, "Turn around and get me out of the battle. I am badly hurt!" ³⁴The battle went on hard all that day. The king of Israel stayed propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.