Second Book of Chronicles 18

¹ Jehoshaphat, then, enjoyed great wealth and honour, and allied himself by marriage to Ahab.

² After some years he went to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered for him and for his retinue great numbers of sheep and oxen to induce him to attack Ramoth-gilead.

³ ‘Will you come with me to Ramoth-gilead?’ Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, ‘I am as ready for battle as you, my men as your men’.

⁴ Jehoshaphat, however, said to the king of Israel, ‘First, please consult the word of Yahweh’

⁵ ‘So the king of Israel called the prophets together, four hundred of them. ‘Should we march to attack Ramoth-gilead,’ he asked ‘or should I refrain?’ ‘March,’ they replied ‘Yahweh will deliver it into the power of the king.’

⁶ But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there no other prophet of Yahweh here for us to consult?’

⁷ The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is one more man through whom we can consult Yahweh, but I hate him because he never has a favourable prophecy for me, always unfavourable ones; he is Micaiah son of Imlah’. ‘The king should not say such things’ Jehoshaphat said.

⁸ Accordingly the king of Israel summoned one of the eunuchs and said, ‘Bring Micaiah son of Imlah immediately’.

⁹ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were both sitting on their thrones in full regalia; they sat at the threshing-floor outside the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets raving in front of them.

¹⁰ Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made himself iron horns. ‘Yahweh says this’ he said. ‘”With these you will gore the Aramaeans till you make an end of them.”‘

¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied the same. ‘March to Ramoth-gilead,’ they said ‘and conquer. Yahweh will deliver it into the power of the king.’

¹² The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said, ‘Here are all the prophets as one man in speaking favourably to the king. Try to speak like one of them and foretell success.’

¹³ But Micaiah answered, ‘As Yahweh lives, what my God says, that will I utter!’

¹⁴ When he came to the king, the king said, ‘Micaiah, should we march to attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?’ He answered, ‘March and conquer. They will be delivered into your power.’

¹⁵ But the king said, ‘How often must I put you on oath to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?’

¹⁶ Then Micaiah spoke: ‘I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And Yahweh said, “These have no master, let each one go home unmolested”.’

¹⁷ At this the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he never gives me favourable prophecies, but only unfavourable ones?’

¹⁸ Micaiah went on, ‘Listen rather to the word of Yahweh. I have seen Yahweh seated on his throne; all the array of heaven stood to his right and to his left.

¹⁹ Yahweh said, “Who will trick Ahab king of Israel into marching to his death at Ramoth-gilead?” At which some answered one way, and some another.

²⁰ Then the spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh. “I,” he said “I will trick him.” “How?” Yahweh asked.

²¹ He replied, “I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets”. “You shall trick him,” Yahweh said “you shall succeed. Go and do it.”

²² Now see how Yahweh has put a lying spirit into the mouths of your prophets here. But Yahweh has pronounced disaster on you.’

²³ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up and struck Micaiah on the jaw. ‘Which way’ he asked ‘did the spirit of Yahweh leave me, to talk to you?’

²⁴ ‘This is what you will find out,’ Micaiah retorted ‘the day you flee to an inner room to hide.’

²⁵ The king of Israel said, ‘Seize Micaiah and hand him over to Amon, governor of the city, and to Prince Joash,

²⁶ and say, “This is the king’s order: Put this man in prison and feed him on nothing but bread and water until I come back safe and sound”‘

²⁷ Micaiah said, ‘If you come back safe and sound, Yahweh has not spoken through me’.

²⁸ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead.

²⁹ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will disguise myself to go into battle, but I want you to wear your royal uniform.’ The king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

³⁰ The king of Aram had given his chariot commanders the following order: ‘Do not attack anyone of whatever rank, except the king of Israel’.

³¹ When the chariot commanders caught sight of Jehoshaphat, they said, ‘That is the king of Israel’. And they wheeled to the attack. But Jehoshaphat gave a shout and Yahweh came to his help, God drew them away from him,

³² for the chariot commanders, realising that he was not the king of Israel, called off their pursuit.

³³ Now one of the men, drawing his bow at random, hit the king of Israel between the corslet and the scale-armour of his breastplate. ‘Turn about,’ the king said to his charioteer ‘get me out of the battle; I have been hurt.’

³⁴ But the battle grew fiercer as the day went on; until evening the king held himself upright in his chariot facing the Aramaeans, and at sunset he died.