1 *Kings 22

₁There was no war_between the people of Aram and Israel for 3 years. ₂In the 3rd year Jehoshaphat, king_of_Judah, went to the king_of_Israel. ₃The king_of_Israel said to his officials: ‘You know, the town of Ramoth in Gilead belongs to us. Why don't we try to take it back from the king of Aram?’ ₄The king_of_Israel asked Jehoshaphat of Judah: ‘Will you go with me to war_against the town of Ramoth in Gilead?’ Jehoshaphat said to the king_of_Israel: ‘Yes, I will go with you and you can use my men and my horses too. ₅But first you must please ask the Lord and listen to what He says.’

₆So the king_of_Israel said all the prophets must come to him. There were about 400 prophets and he asked them: ‘Must I go to war_against Ramoth in Gilead or not?’ The prophets said: ‘You must go. The Lord will help you win.’ ₇Then Jehoshaphat asked: ‘Is there another prophet of God here? We must ask him too.’ ₈The king_of_Israel said to Jehoshaphat: ‘Yes, there is a prophet. His name is Micaiah, son of Imlah. We can ask him what the Lord says, but I do not like him because he always says bad things to me, and never anything good.’ Jehoshaphat said: ‘You must not say that.’ ₉The king_of_Israel told one of his officials: ‘Go quickly, and bring Micaiah, son of Imlah, here.’

₁₀The king_of_Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were wearing their royal clothes and they sat on thrones at the threshing-floor near the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were telling them what would happen. ₁₁Zedekiah, son of Kenaanah, made a pair of iron horns and he said: ‘The Lord said: “With these horns you will push the Arameans over and you will kill them all.” ’ ₁₂All the prophets said yes, that was what would happen. They said: ‘You must go to the town of Ramoth in Gilead, and you will win. God will give the town to you.’

₁₃The messenger who went to call Micaiah told him: ‘All the prophets said the king would win. You must please say the same as they did. Say the king must go and that he will win.’ ₁₄Micaiah said: ‘As sure as God lives, I will say what the Lord tells me.’

₁₅When Micaiah came to the king, the king asked him: ‘Micaiah, must we go to war_against the town of Ramoth in Gilead, or not?’ Micaiah said: ‘You must go, and you will win. God will give the town to you.’

₁₆But the king said to Micaiah: ‘I have often told you that you must tell only the truth when God sends you. Why don't you talk the truth?’ ₁₇Then Micaiah said: ‘I have seen the enemy. They were chasing the soldiers of Israel to all sides on the mountains. They were like sheep without a shepherd who leads them. The Lord said: “These people do not have a king. They must go home, and they must not fight.” ’

₁₈The king_of_Israel said to Jehoshaphat: ‘I told you that this prophet Micaiah always says bad things to me, and never anything good.’ ₁₉Micaiah talked again and said: ‘Listen to what the Lord says. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven and all the angels were standing in front of Him, on his right hand side and on his left hand side. ₂₀Then the Lord said: “I want to send someone who can go and deceive Ahab. Whom can I send? That person must tell Ahab to go to Ramoth in Gilead. I want Ahab to die there.” Everyone in heaven talked about it to each other ₂₁and then one of them came and he stood before the Lord and said: “I will go and deceive him.” Then the Lord asked him: “What will you do?” ₂₂And he said: “I will go and I will become a spirit who tell lies. I will tell all the prophets to tell lies to King Ahab.” The Lord said: “Yes, you will deceive him, and he will believe you. Go and do it.” ₂₃You must know this: The Lord has put a lying spirit into the mouths of all these prophets. But do you know what the Lord really said? The Lord said this will be your end, and you will die.’

₂₄Then Zedekiah, son of Kenaanah, came to Micaiah and he hit him in the face and he asked Micaiah: ‘Do you think the Spirit of the Lord went away from me to talk to you?’ ₂₅Micaiah said to Zedekiah: ‘You will see this on the day when you flee from one room to another room and try to hide.’ ₂₆Then the king_of_Israel said: ‘Take Micaiah to Amon the ruler of this city and to prince Joash. ₂₇Tell them the king said you must put this man in jail and give him only a little food and water, until I come back safely.’ ₂₈Micaiah said: ‘King Ahab, if you really come back safely, then the words that I have said did not come from the Lord.’ Micaiah said to all the soldiers: ‘Men, you must listen to what I say.’

₂₉The king_of_Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to the town of Ramoth in Gilead. ₃₀The king_of_Israel said to Jehoshaphat: ‘I will change and put on other clothes so that the people will not know who I am and then I will go to war with the men. You must not take off your royal clothes.’ The king_of_Israel then put on other clothes and he went to war with the men. ₃₁The king of Aram had 32 officers on war-chariots with him. He told them: ‘You must kill only the king_of_Israel. Fight him, but do not fight the other men. It does not_matter if they are important or unimportant.’

₃₂When the officers on the war-chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they thought that he was the king_of_Israel and they started to attack him. But Jehoshaphat shouted and asked his people to help him flee. ₃₃When the officers of Ramoth saw that it was not Ahab, the king_of_Israel, they stopped chasing Jehoshaphat.

₃₄One of the Aramean soldiers shot an arrow into the air. He did not know where the arrow went, but he shot and wounded the king_of_Israel. The arrow went under the plates of his armour. The king told the man who drove his war-chariot: ‘Turn_around and take me away, out of the war, because someone has shot me.’

₃₅But all the men were busy fighting very hard, and the king had to stand on his war-chariot all day long while they made war_against the Aramean soldiers. The blood from the wound ran down onto the floor of the war-chariot and when evening came, the king died. ₃₆When the sun went down, the officers shouted that they must stop fighting and that everyone must go to his town and his home. ₃₇When they came to Samaria, the king was dead and his people buried him in Samaria. ₃₈When they washed the war-chariot at the Pool of Samaria, the dogs licked the king's blood while the prostitutes washed themselves there. It happened as the Lord had said.

₃₉All the other things that Ahab did, and how he made his palace beautiful with ivory and built other towns, are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Israel. ₄₀After Ahab died, his son Ahaziah became king.

₄₁Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became king_of_Judah in the 4th year after Ahab had become king_of_Israel. ₄₂Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi. ₄₃Jehoshaphat lived the same as his father Asa had done. He did not stop doing good things, and he did what the Lord wanted. But he did not break down the places_of_sacrifice and the people kept on burning incense-offerings there. ₄₄There was peace between Jehoshaphat and the king_of_Israel.

₄₅All the other things that Jehoshaphat did, the important things and the wars he was fighting in, are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Judah. ₄₆He chased away the men who were temple-prostitutes that were still there after the time when his father was king. ₄₇In that time there was no king in Edom and Jehoshaphat chose a governor who ruled there. ₄₈Jehoshaphat built lots of boats to go to Ophir to get gold, but there was a storm at sea and the boats were destroyed at Ezion-Geber. ₄₉Then Ahaziah, son of Ahab, asked Jehoshaphat if his men could sail with Jehoshaphat's men on their boats, but Jehoshaphat said they could not.

₅₀Jehoshaphat died and they buried him in the city of his forefather David. His son Jehoram became king after him.

₅₁Ahaziah, son of Ahab, became king_of_Israel in Samaria in the 17th year after Jehoshaphat had become king_of_Judah. Ahaziah was king of Israel for 2 years. ₅₂He did things that the Lord said were wrong. He lived like his father and mother and like Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who made the Israelites sin. ₅₃Ahaziah served Baal and worshipped idols. He made the Lord, the God of Israel, angry and he did the same as his father had done.