2 Chronicles 18

1 Jehoshaphat still had great wealth and glory, and he made a marriage alliance with the house of Ahab. 2 And after some years he went down to Ahab at Samaria, and Ahab sacrificed sheep and many calves for him and for the people who were with him; and he enticed him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead. [a]

3 And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” And he said to him, “As I am, so are you; as your people, so are my people with you for the war.” 4 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please seek the Lord today.”

5 And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to Ramoth-gilead to war, or shall I hold back?” And they said, “Go up, and God will give it into the king’s hands.” 6 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may seek from him?”

7 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom to seek the Lord — and I hate him, because he does not prophesy good about me; all his days are for evil. This is Micaiah son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Do not let the king say so.” [c] 8 And the king of Israel called one of his eunuchs and said, “Quickly — Micaiah son of Imlah.”

9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, dressed in their robes, sitting in the open square at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made himself iron horns and said, “Thus says the Lord: With these you will gore Aram until it is finished off.” [d] 11 And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and you will succeed, and the Lord will give it into the king’s hands.”

12 And the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him and said, “Look, the prophets have spoken good things about the king with one mouth. Let your words be like the words of one of them, and speak good things.” [f] 13 And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever God says to me, that is what I will speak.”

14 And he came to the king, and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall I go to Ramoth-gilead to war, or shall I hold back?” And he said, “Go up, and you will succeed, and they will be given into your hands.” [g] 15 And the king said to him, “How many times must I put you under oath to speak nothing to me but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 16 And he said, “I saw Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘They have no leader; let each of them go back to his house in peace.’”

17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he does not prophesy good about me, but evil?” 18 And he said, “Not so. Hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing at his right hand and at his left. [h] 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel, so that he goes up and falls at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this, and another said that. 20 And the spirit came out and stood in front of the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said, ‘By what means?’ [i] 21 And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You will entice him, and you will be able to. Go out and do so.’ 22 And now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has spoken evil against you.”

23 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said to him, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” 24 And Micaiah said, “You will see on that day, when you go from room to room to hide yourself.”

25 And the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and turn him back to Emer the ruler of the city and to Joash the ruler, the king’s son, [j] 26 and you are to say, ‘The king says this: Put this man in the prison house, and let him eat the bread of affliction and drink the water of affliction until I return in peace.’” [k] 27 And Micaiah said, “If you really do return in peace, the Lord has not spoken in me. Hear, all you peoples.” [l]

28 So the king of Israel went up, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, to Ramoth-gilead. 29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, and you put on my clothing.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. [m] 30 Now the king of Aram had given orders to the commanders of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Do not fight the small or the great, but only the king of Israel.”

31 And when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel!” And they surrounded him to fight him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord saved him, and God turned them away from him. 32 And when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him.

33 And a man drew a bow with a good aim and struck the king of Israel between the lung and the breastplate. And he said to his charioteer, “Turn your hand and take me out of the battle, for I am hurt.” [n] 34 And the battle turned that day; and the king of Israel was standing up in the chariot, facing Aram, until evening, and he died as the sun went down.