1 Kings
22:1 And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
22:2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of
Judah came down to the king of Israel.
22:3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in
Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the
king of Syria?
22:4 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.
22:5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at
the word of the LORD to day.
22:6 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.
22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides,
that we might enquire of him?
22:8 And the king of Israel said 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 doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And
Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
22:9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither
Micaiah the son of Imlah.
22:10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his
throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of
the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
22:11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said,
Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou
have consumed them.
22:12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and
prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.
22:13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying,
Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with
one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them,
and speak that which is good.
22:14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that
will I speak.
22:15 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 prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the
king.
22:16 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?
22:17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that
have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them
return every man to his house in peace.
22:18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that
he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD
sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his
right hand and on his left.
22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall
at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that
manner.
22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I
will persuade him.
22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? 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.
22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of
all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
22:24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the
cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak
unto thee?
22:25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go
into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
22:26 And 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;
22:27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed
him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come
in peace.
22:28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not
spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
22:29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to
Ramothgilead.
22:30 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.
22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had
rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save
only with the king of Israel.
22:32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat,
that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside
to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
22:33 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.
22:34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel
between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of
his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am
wounded.
22:35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his
chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of
the wound into the midst of the chariot.
22:36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down
of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own
country.
22:37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king
in Samaria.
22:38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked
up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the
LORD which he spake.
22:39 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?
22:40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his
stead.
22:41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth
year of Ahab king of Israel.
22:42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he
reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
22:43 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.
22:44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
22:45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed,
and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Judah?
22:46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his
father Asa, he took out of the land.
22:47 There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they
went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
22:49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go
with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
22:50 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.
22:51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the
seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years
over Israel.
22:52 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 to sin:
22:53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD
God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
