2 Chronicles 18–36

The Prophet Micaiah Warns Ahab

18When King Jehoshaphat of Judah became rich and famous, he arranged a marriage between a member of his family and the family of King Ahab of Israel. ²A number of years later Jehoshaphat went to the city of Samaria to visit Ahab. To honour Jehoshaphat and those with him, Ahab had a large number of sheep and cattle slaughtered for a feast. He tried to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in attacking the city of Ramoth in Gilead. ³He asked, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?”

Jehoshaphat replied, “I am ready when you are, and so is my army. We will join you.” ⁴Then he added, “But first let’s consult the Lord.”

⁵So Ahab called in the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?”

“Attack it,” they answered. “God will give you victory.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?”

⁷Ahab 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.

⁸So King Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and fetch Micaiah at once.

⁹The 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. ¹⁰One 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.’ ” ¹¹All the other prophets said the same thing. “March against Ramoth and you will win,” they said. “The Lord will give you victory.”

¹²Meanwhile, the official who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same.”

¹³But Micaiah answered, “By the living Lord, I will say what my God tells me to!”

¹⁴When 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.”

¹⁵But 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?”

^16*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.’ ”

¹⁷Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you that he never prophesies anything good for me; it’s always something bad!”

¹⁸Micaiah 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. ¹⁹The Lord asked, ‘Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and get killed at Ramoth?’ Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, ²⁰until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, ‘I will deceive him.’ ‘How?’ the Lord asked. ²¹The spirit replied, ‘I will go and make all Ahab’s prophets tell lies.’ The Lord said, ‘Go and deceive him. You will succeed.’ ”

²²And 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!”

²³Then 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?”

²⁴“You will find out when you go into some back room to hide,” Micaiah replied.

²⁵Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. ²⁶Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely.”

²⁷“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

²⁸Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. ²⁹Ahab 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.

³⁰The king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel. ³¹So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat gave a shout, and the Lord God rescued him and turned the attack away from him. ³²The chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, so they stopped pursuing him. ³³By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armour. “I’m wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn round and pull out of the battle!” ³⁴While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. At sunset he died.

A Prophet Reprimands Jehoshaphat

19King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ²A prophet, Jehu son of Hanani, went to meet the king and said to him, “Do you think it is right to help those who are wicked and to take the side of those who hate the Lord? What you have done has brought the Lord’s anger on you. ³But even so, there is some good in you. You have removed all the symbols of the goddess Asherah which people worshipped, and you have tried to follow God’s will.”

Jehoshaphat’s Reforms

⁴Even though King Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, he travelled regularly among the people, from Beersheba in the south to the edge of the hill country of Ephraim in the north, in order to call the people back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁵He appointed judges in each of the fortified cities of Judah ⁶and instructed them: “Be careful in pronouncing judgement; you are not acting on human authority, but on the authority of the Lord, and he is with you when you pass sentence. ⁷Honour the Lord and act carefully, because the Lord our God does not tolerate fraud or partiality or the taking of bribes.”

⁸In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed Levites, priests, and some of the leading citizens as judges in cases involving a violation of the Law of the Lord or legal disputes between inhabitants of the city.^{c 9}He gave them the following instructions: “You must perform your duties in reverence for the Lord, faithfully obeying him in everything you do. ¹⁰Whenever your fellow-citizens from any of the cities bring before you a case of homicide or any other violation of a law or commandment, you must instruct them carefully how to conduct themselves during the trial, so that they do not become guilty of sinning against the Lord. Unless you do, you and your fellow-citizens will feel the force of the Lord’s anger. But if you do your duty, you will not be guilty. ¹¹Amariah the High Priest will have final authority in all religious cases, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, governor of Judah, will have final authority in all civil cases. The Levites have the responsibility of seeing that the decisions of the courts are carried out. Be courageous and carry out these instructions, and may the Lord be on the side of the right!”

War against Edom

20Some time later the armies of Moab and Ammon, together with their allies, the Meunites,^d invaded Judah. ²Some messengers came and announced to King Jehoshaphat: “A large army from Edom has come from the other side of the Dead Sea to attack you. They have already captured Hazazon Tamar.” (This is another name for Engedi.) ³Jehoshaphat was frightened and prayed to the Lord for guidance. Then he gave orders for a fast to be observed throughout the country. ⁴From every city of Judah people hurried to Jerusalem to ask the Lord for guidance, ⁵and they and the people of Jerusalem gathered in the new courtyard of the Temple. King Jehoshaphat went and stood before them ⁶and prayed aloud, “O Lord God of our ancestors, you rule in heaven over all the nations of the world. You are powerful and mighty, and no one can oppose you. ^7*You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs for ever. ⁸They have lived here and have built a temple to honour you, knowing ⁹that if any disaster struck them to punish them—a war,^e an epidemic, or a famine—then they could come and stand in front of this Temple where you are worshipped. They could pray to you in their trouble, and you would hear them and rescue them.

^10*“Now the people of Ammon, Moab, and Edom have attacked us. When our ancestors came out of Egypt, you did not allow them to enter those lands, so our ancestors went round them and did not destroy them. ¹¹This is how they repay us—they come to drive us out of the land that you gave us. ¹²You are our God! Punish them, for we are helpless in the face of this large army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you for help.”

¹³All the men of Judah, with their wives and children, were standing there at the Temple. ¹⁴The spirit of the Lord came upon a Levite who was present in the crowd. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah; he was a member of the clan of Asaph and was descended from Asaph through Mattaniah, Jeiel, and Benaiah. ^15*Jahaziel said, “Your Majesty and all you people of Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord says that you must not be discouraged or be afraid to face this large army. The battle depends on God, not on you. ^16*Attack them tomorrow as they come up the pass at Ziz. You will meet them at the end of the valley that leads to the wild country near Jeruel. ^17*You will not have to fight this battle. Just take up your positions and wait; you will see the Lord give you victory. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not hesitate or be afraid. Go out to battle, and the Lord will be with you!”

¹⁸Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low, with his face touching the ground, and all the people bowed with him and worshipped the Lord. ¹⁹The members of the Levite…