1 And they continued three yeere without warre betweene Aram and Israel. 2 And in the third yeere did Iehoshaphat the King of Iudah come downe to ye King of Israel. 3 (Then the King of Israel saide vnto his seruants, Knowe yee not that Ramoth Gilead was ours? and wee stay, and take it not out of ye hand of the King of Aram?) 4 And he sayde vnto Iehoshaphat, Wilt thou goe with mee to battel against Ramoth Gilead? And Iehoshaphat saide vnto the King of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and mine horses as thine horses. 5 Then Iehoshaphat saide vnto the King of Israel, Aske counsaile, I pray thee, of the Lord to day. 6 Then the King of Israel gathered the prophets vpon a foure hundreth men, and said vnto them, Shal I go against Ramoth Gilead to battel, or shall I let it alone? And they said, Go vp: for ye Lord shall deliuer it into the hands of the King. 7 And Iehoshaphat said, Is there here neuer a Prophet of the Lord more, that we might inquire of him? 8 And the King of Israel said vnto Iehoshaphat, There is yet one man (Michaiah the sonne of Imlah) by whom we may aske counsel of the Lord, but I hate him: for he doeth not prophecie good vnto me, but euill. And Iehoshaphat sayd, Let not the King say so. 9 Then the King of Israel called an Eunuche, and sayde, Call quickely Michaiah the sonne of Imlah. 10 And the King of Israel and Iehoshaphat the King of Iudah sate either of them on his throne in their apparell in the voyde place at the entring in of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophecied before them. 11 And Zidkiiah the sonne of Chenaanah made him hornes of yron, and sayd, Thus sayth the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Aramites, vntill thou hast consumed them. 12 And all the prophets prophecied so, saying, Goe vp to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliuer it into the Kings hand. 13 And the messenger that was gone to call Michaiah spake vnto him, saying, Beholde now, the wordes of the prophets declare good vnto the King with one accorde: let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like the worde of one of them, and speake thou good. 14 And Michaiah saide, As the Lord liueth, whatsoeuer the Lord sayth vnto me, that will I speake. 15 So he came to the King, and the King said vnto him, Michaiah, shall we go against Ramoth Gilead to battel, or shall we leaue off? And he answered him, Goe vp, and prosper: and the Lord shall deliuer it into the hand of the King. 16 And the King said vnto him, How oft shall I charge thee, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the Name of the Lord? 17 Then he said, I sawe all Israel scattered vpon the mountaines, as sheepe that had no shepheard. And the Lord sayde, These haue no master, let euery man returne vnto his house in peace. 18 (And the King of Israel saide vnto Iehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee, that he would prophecie no good vnto me, but euill?) 19 Againe he said, Heare thou therefore the worde of the Lord. I sawe the Lord sit on his throne, and all the hoste of heauen stood about him on his right hand and on his left hand. 20 And the Lord sayd, Who shall entise Ahab that he may go and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this maner, and another sayd on that maner. 21 Then there came forth a spirit, and stoode before the Lord, and sayd, I wil entise him. And the Lord sayd vnto him, Wherewith? 22 And he sayd, I will goe out, and be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. Then he sayd, Thou shalt entise him, and shalt also preuayle: goe forth, and doe so. 23 Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirite in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath appoynted euill against thee. 24 Then Zidkiiah the sonne of Chenaanah came neere, and smote Michaiah on the cheeke and sayd, When went the Spirite of the Lord from me, to speake vnto thee? 25 And Michaiah saide, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt goe from chamber to chamber to hide thee. 26 And the King of Israel sayd, Take Michaiah, and cary him vnto Amon the gouernour of the citie, and vnto Ioash the Kings sonne, 27 And say, Thus saith the King, Put this man in the prison house, and feede him with bread of affliction, and with water of affliction, vntill I returne in peace. 28 And Michaiah sayde, If thou returne in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he sayd, Hearken all ye people. 29 So the King of Israel and Iehoshaphat the King of Iudah went vp to Ramoth Gilead. 30 And the King of Israel sayde to Iehoshaphat, I will change mine apparell, and will enter into the battell, but put thou on thine apparell. And the King of Israel changed himselfe, and went into the battel. 31 And the King of Aram commanded his two and thirtie captaines ouer his charets, saying, Fight neither with small, nor great, saue onely against the King of Israel. 32 And when the captaines of the charets saw Iehoshaphat, they sayd, Surely it is the King of Israel, and they turned to fight against him: and Iehoshaphat cryed. 33 And when the captaines of the charets saw that he was not the King of Israel, they turned backe from him. 34 Then a certaine man drewe a bow mightily and smote the King of Israel betweene the ioyntes of his brigandine. Wherefore he sayde vnto his charet man, Turne thine hand and cary me out of the hoste: for I am hurt. 35 And the battel encreased that day, and the King stoode still in his charet against the Aramites, and dyed at euen: and the blood ran out of the wound into the middes of the charet. 36 And there went a proclamation thorowout the hoste about the going downe of the sunne, saying, Euery man to his citie, and euery man to his owne countrey. 37 So the King died, and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the King in Samaria. 38 And one washed the charet in the poole of Samaria, and the dogs licked vp his blood (and they washed his armour) according vnto the word of the Lord which he spake. 39 Concerning the rest of the actes of Ahab and all that he did, and the yuorie house which he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his sonne reigned in his stead. 41 And Iehoshaphat the sonne of Asa began to reigne vpon Iudah in the fourth yeere of Ahab King of Israel. 42 Iehoshaphat was fiue and thirty yere olde, when he began to reigne, and reigned fiue and twentie yeere in Ierusalem. And his mothers name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 And he walked in all the wayes of Asa his father, and declined not therefrom, but did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Neuerthelesse the hie places were not taken away: for the people offred still and burnt incense in the hie places. 44 And Iehoshaphat made peace with the King of Israel. 45 Concerning the rest of the actes of Iehoshaphat, and his worthy deedes that he did, and his battels which he fought, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah? 46 And the Sodomites, which remayned in the dayes of his father Asa, he put cleane out of the land. 47 There was then no King in Edom: the deputie was King. 48 Iehoshaphat made shippes of Tharshish to sayle to Ophir for golde, but they went not, for the shippes were broken at Ezion Gaber. 49 Then sayde Ahaziah the sonne of Ahab vnto Iehoshaphat, Let my seruants goe with thy seruants in the ships, But Iehoshaphat would not. 50 And Iehoshaphat did sleepe with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the citie of Dauid his father, and Iehoram his sonne reigned in his stead. 51 Ahaziah the sonne of Ahab began to reigne ouer Israel in Samaria, the seuenteenth yeere of Iehoshaphat King of Iudah, and reigned two yeeres ouer Israel. 52 But he did euill 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 Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, which made Israel to sinne. 53 For he serued Baal and worshipped him, and prouoked the Lord God of Israel vnto wrath, according vnto all that his father had done.
The Prophet Micaiah Warns Ahab
(2 Chronicles 18.2-27)1 There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years, 2 but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel.
3 Ahab 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!” 4 And 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. 5 But first let's consult the Lord.”
6 So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, “Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?”
“Attack it,” they answered. “The Lord will give you victory.”
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?”
8 Ahab 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.
9 Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once.
10 The 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. 11 One 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.’” 12 All the other prophets said the same thing. “March against Ramoth and you will win,” they said. “The Lord will give you victory.”
13 Meanwhile, 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.”
14 But Micaiah answered, “By the living Lord I promise that I will say what he tells me to!”
15 When 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.”
16 But 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 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.’”
18 Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!”
19 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. 20 The 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, 21 until 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 of Ahab's prophets tell lies.’ The Lord said, ‘Go and deceive him. You will succeed.’”
23 And 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!”
24 Then 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.
26 Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. 27 Tell 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 Chronicles 18.28-34)29 Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. 30 Ahab 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.
31 The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. 32 So 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, 33 they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack. 34 By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. “I'm wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn around and pull out of the battle!”
35 While 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. 36 Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: “Each of you go back to your own country and city!”
37 So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried. 38 His 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.
39 Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 40 At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
King Jehoshaphat of Judah
(2 Chronicles 20.31—21.1)41 In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah 42 at the age of thirty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 43 Like 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. 44 Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 46 He 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.
47 The land of Edom had no king; it was ruled by a deputy appointed by the king of Judah.
48 King Jehoshaphat had ocean-going ships built to sail to the land of Ophir for gold; but they were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed. 49 Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men, but Jehoshaphat refused the offer.
50 Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
King Ahaziah of Israel
51 In 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. 52 He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin. 53 He worshiped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.