2 Chronicles 16–18

Asa’s Last Years

16In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s rule, Baasha king of Israel attacked Judah. He made the town of Ramah strong so he could keep people from leaving or entering Judah, Asa’s country.

²Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and out of his own palace. Then he sent it with messengers to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus. Asa said, ³“Let there be a treaty between you and me as there was between my father and your father. I am sending you silver and gold. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will leave my land.”

⁴Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies to attack the towns of Israel. They defeated the towns of Ijon, Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all the towns in Naphtali where treasures were stored. ⁵When Baasha heard about this, he stopped building up Ramah and left his work. ⁶Then King Asa brought all the people of Judah to Ramah, and they carried away the rocks and wood that Baasha had used. And they used them to build up Geba and Mizpah.

⁷At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “You depended on the king of Aram to help you and not on the Lord your God. So the king of Aram’s army escaped from you. ⁸The Cushites and Libyans had a large and powerful army and many chariots and horsemen. But you depended on the Lord to help you, so he handed them over to you. ⁹The Lord searches all the earth for people who have given themselves completely to him. He wants to make them strong. Asa, you did a foolish thing, so from now on you will have wars.”

¹⁰Asa was angry with Hanani the seer because of what he had said; he was so angry that he put Hanani in prison. And Asa was cruel to some of the people at the same time.

¹¹Everything Asa did as king, from the beginning to the end, is written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, Asa got a disease in his feet. Though his disease was very bad, he did not ask for help from the Lord, but only from the doctors. ¹³Then Asa died in the forty-first year of his rule. ¹⁴The people buried Asa in the tomb he had made for himself in Jerusalem. They laid him on a bed filled with spices and different kinds of mixed perfumes, and they made a large fire to honor him.

Jehoshaphat King of Judah

17Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king of Judah in his place. Jehoshaphat made Judah strong so they could fight against Israel. ²He put troops in all the strong, walled cities of Judah, in the land of Judah, and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

³The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he lived as his ancestor David had lived when he first became king. Jehoshaphat did not ask for help from the Baal idols, ⁴but from the God of his father. He obeyed God’s commands and did not live as the people of Israel lived. ⁵The Lord made Jehoshaphat a strong king over Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he had much wealth and honor. ⁶He wanted very much to obey the Lord. He also removed the places for worshiping gods and the Asherah idols from Judah.

⁷During the third year of his rule, Jehoshaphat sent his officers to teach in the towns of Judah. These officers were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. ⁸Jehoshaphat sent with them these Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹These leaders, Levites, and priests taught the people in Judah. They took the Book of the Teachings of the Lord and went through all the towns of Judah and taught the people.

¹⁰The nations near Judah were afraid of the Lord, so they did not start a war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver to Jehoshaphat as he demanded. Some Arabs brought him flocks: seventy-seven hundred sheep and seventy-seven hundred goats.

¹²Jehoshaphat grew more and more powerful. He built strong, walled cities and towns for storing supplies in Judah. ¹³He kept many supplies in the towns of Judah, and he kept trained soldiers in Jerusalem. ¹⁴These soldiers were listed by families. From the families of Judah, these were the commanders of groups of a thousand men: Adnah was the commander of three hundred thousand soldiers; ¹⁵Jehohanan was the commander of two hundred eighty thousand soldiers; ¹⁶Amasiah was the commander of two hundred thousand soldiers. Amasiah son of Zicri had volunteered to serve the Lord.

¹⁷These were the commanders from the families of Benjamin: Eliada, a brave soldier, had two hundred thousand soldiers who used bows and shields. ¹⁸And Jehozabad had one hundred eighty thousand men armed for war.

¹⁹All these soldiers served King Jehoshaphat. The king also put other men in the strong, walled cities through all of Judah.

Micaiah Warns King Ahab

18Jehoshaphat had much wealth and honor, and he made an agreement with King Ahab through marriage. ^{n 2}A few years later Jehoshaphat went to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab sacrificed many sheep and cattle as a great feast to honor Jehoshaphat and the people with him. He encouraged Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth in Gilead. ³Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth in Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat answered, “I will go with you, and my soldiers are yours. We will join you in the battle.” ⁴Jehoshaphat also said to Ahab, “But first we should ask if this is the Lord’s will.”

⁵So King Ahab called four hundred prophets together and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?”

They answered, “Go, because God will hand them over to you.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? Let’s ask him what we should do.”

⁷Then King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “There is one other prophet. We could ask the Lord through him, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me, but always something bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Jehoshaphat said, “King Ahab, you shouldn’t say that!”

⁸So Ahab king of Israel told one of his officers to bring Micaiah to him at once.

⁹Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah had on their royal robes and were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor, near the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were standing before them speaking their messages. ¹⁰Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made some iron horns. He said to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You will use these horns to fight the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ”

¹¹All the other prophets said the same thing, “Attack Ramoth in Gilead and win, because the Lord will hand the Arameans over to you.”

¹²The messenger who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets are saying King Ahab will win. You should agree with them and give the king a good answer.”

¹³But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”

¹⁴When Micaiah came to Ahab, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth in Gilead or not?”

Micaiah answered, “Attack and win! They will be handed over to you.”

¹⁵But Ahab said to Micaiah, “How many times do I have to tell you to speak only the truth to me in the name of the Lord?”

¹⁶So Micaiah answered, “I saw the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘They have no leaders. They should go home and not fight.’ ”

¹⁷Then Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you! He never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad.”

¹⁸But Micaiah said, “Hear the message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with his heavenly army standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹The Lord said, ‘Who will trick King Ahab of Israel into attacking Ramoth in Gilead where he will be killed?’

“Some said one thing; some said another. ²⁰Then one spirit came and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’

“The Lord asked, ‘How will you do it?’

²¹“The spirit answered, ‘I will go to Ahab’s prophets and make them tell lies.’

“So the Lord said, ‘You will succeed in tricking him. Go and do it.’ ”

²²Micaiah said, “Ahab, the Lord has made your prophets lie to you, and the Lord has decided that disaster should come to you.”

²³Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up to Micaiah and slapped him in the face. Zedekiah said, “Has the Lord’s Spirit left me to speak through you?”

²⁴Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inside room.”

²⁵Then Ahab king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son. ²⁶Tell them I said to put this man in prison and give him only bread and water until I return safely from the battle.”

²⁷Micaiah said, “Ahab, if you come back safely from the battle, the Lord has not spoken through me. Remember my words, all you people!”

Ahab Is Killed

²⁸So Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went to Ramoth in Gilead. ²⁹King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will go into battle, but I will wear other clothes so no one will recognize me. But you wear your royal clothes.” So Ahab wore other clothes, and they went into battle.

³⁰The king of Aram ordered his chariot commanders, “Don’t fight with anyone—important or unimportant—except the king of Israel.” ³¹When these commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel, so they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat began shouting, and the Lord helped him. God made the chariot commanders turn away from Jehoshaphat. ³²When they saw he was not King Ahab, they stopped chasing him.

³³By chance, a soldier shot an arrow which hit Ahab king of Israel between the pieces of his armor. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and get me out of the battle, because I am hurt!” ³⁴The battle continued all day. King Ahab held himself up in his chariot and faced the Arameans until evening. Then he died at sunset.