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 slaves, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we are late in not taking it out of the hand of the king of Syria? 4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? 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, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD today. 6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead 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 even yet a prophet of the LORD here that we might enquire of him? 8 And the king of Israel replied unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. 9 Then the king of Israel called a eunuch and said, Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, here quickly. 10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in the plaza at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. 11 And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus hath the LORD said, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. 12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead and be prospered, for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.
13 And the messenger that had gone to call Micaiah spoke unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth; now 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 lives, all that the LORD says unto me, that will I speak. 15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go and be prospered, 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 Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep without a shepherd; and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return each man to his house in peace. 18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? 19 Then he said, Hear thou, therefore, the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne and all the host of the heavens 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 Ramothgilead? And one said in this manner and another said in 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, In what manner? 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 has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD has decreed evil concerning thee.
24 Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go 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 Then 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 hath the king said, Put this fellow in the prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. 28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. Then he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramothgilead. 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-two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the king of Israel. 32 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely this is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him, but 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 But a certain man, shooting his bow in perfection, smote the king of Israel between the joints of his coat of mail; therefore, he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thy hand and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded. 35 And the battle had increased that day, and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians and died in the evening, and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. 36 And at the going down of the sun there went a proclamation throughout the camp, saying, Every man to his city and every man to his own land.
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and they also washed his armour; {Heb. fornications}; and the dogs licked up his blood, according unto the word of the LORD which he had spoken. 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-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. 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 showed 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 male cult prostitutes, which had remained from the days of his father Asa, he consumed out of the land.
47 There was then no king in Edom; there was a president instead of a king. 48 Jehoshaphat had made ships in Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were broken at Eziongeber. 49 Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said unto Jehoshaphat, Let my slaves go with thy slaves 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 in the year seventeen 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 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.