1 Kings 22:3–15

³The king of Israel had said to his servants, “Don’t you know that Ramoth-gilead^q is ours, but we’re doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram?” ⁴So^r he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight Ramoth-gilead?”^s

Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”^{t 5}But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “First, please ask what the Lord’s will is.”^u

⁶So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred men,^v and asked them, “Should I go against Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?”

They replied, “March up, and the Lord will hand it over to the king.”^w

⁷But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here anymore?^x Let’s ask him.”

⁸The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him^y because he never prophesies good about me,^z but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn’t say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁹So the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Hurry and get Micaiah son of Imlah!”

¹⁰Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah,^aa clothed in royal attire, were each sitting on his own throne. They were on the threshing floor^ab at the entrance to the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them. ¹¹Then Zedekiah^ac son of Chenaanah made iron horns^ad and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You will gore the Arameans with these until they are finished off.’ ” ¹²And all the prophets were prophesying the same: “March up to Ramoth-gilead^ae and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

MICAIAH’S MESSAGE OF DEFEAT

¹³The messenger^af who went to call Micaiah instructed him, “Look, the words of the prophets are unanimously favorable for the king. So let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.”

¹⁴But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives,^ag I will say whatever the Lord says to me.”^ah

¹⁵So he went to the king, and the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war, or should we refrain?”

Micaiah told him, “March up and succeed. The Lord will hand it over to the king.”