18Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor. He joined forces with Ahab by getting married to Ahab’s daughter. ²Some years later he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab killed a lot of sheep and cattle for him and the people who were with him. Ahab tried to get Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth Gilead. ³Ahab was the king of Israel. He spoke to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. He asked, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes. I’ll go with you. My men will also go with you. We’ll join you in the war.” ⁴He continued, “First ask the Lord for advice.”

⁵So the king of Israel brought 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or should I stay here?”

“Go,” they answered. “God will hand it over to you.”

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

⁷The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat. He said, “There is still one other man we can go to. We can ask the Lord for advice through him. But I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me. He only prophesies bad things. His name is Micaiah. He’s the son of Imlah.”

“You shouldn’t say bad things about him,” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁸So the king of Israel called for one of his officials. He told him, “Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, at once.”

⁹The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were wearing their royal robes. They were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor. It was near the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All of the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

¹⁰Zedekiah was the son of Kenaanah. Zedekiah had made horns out of iron. They looked like animal horns. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘With these horns you will drive back the men of Aram until they are destroyed.’ ”

¹¹All of the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead,” they said. “Win the battle over it. The Lord will hand it over to you.”

¹²A messenger went to get Micaiah. He said to him, “Look. The other prophets agree. All of them are saying the king will have success. So agree with them. Say the same thing they do.”

¹³But Micaiah said, “You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that I can only tell the king what my God says.”

¹⁴When Micaiah arrived, the king spoke to him. He asked, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or should I stay here?”

“Attack,” he answered. “You will win. The people of Ramoth Gilead will be handed over to you.”

¹⁵The king said to him, “I’ve made you promise to tell the truth many times before. So don’t tell me anything but the truth in the name of the Lord.”

¹⁶Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all of the people of Israel scattered on the hills. They were like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people do not have a master. Let each of them go home in peace.’ ”

¹⁷The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies anything good about me? He only prophesies bad things.”

¹⁸Micaiah continued, “Listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. Some of the angels of heaven were standing at his right side. The others were standing at his left side. ¹⁹The Lord said, ‘Who will try to get Ahab, the king of Israel, to attack Ramoth Gilead? I want him to die there.’

“One angel suggested one thing. Another suggested something else. ²⁰Finally, a spirit came forward and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, ‘I’ll try to get Ahab to do it.’

“ ‘How?’ the Lord asked.

²¹“The spirit said, ‘I’ll go and put lies in the mouths of all of his prophets.’

“ ‘You will have success in getting Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

²²“So the Lord has put lies in the mouths of your prophets. He has said that great harm will come to you.”

²³Then Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “So you think the spirit that was sent by the Lord went away from me to speak to you, do you?” he asked. “Which way did he go?”

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

²⁵Then the king of Israel gave an order. He said, “Take Micaiah away. Send him back to Amon. Amon is the ruler of the city of Samaria. And send him back to Joash. Joash is a member of the royal court. ²⁶Tell them, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in prison. Don’t give him anything but bread and water until I return safely.” ’ ”

²⁷Micaiah announced, “Do you really think you will return safely? If you do, the Lord hasn’t spoken through me.” He continued, “All of you people, remember what I’ve said!”

Ahab Is Killed at Ramoth Gilead

²⁸So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went there too.

²⁹The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “I’ll go into battle wearing different clothes. Then people won’t recognize me. But you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel put on different clothes. Then he went into battle.

³⁰The king of Aram had given an order to his chariot commanders. He had said, “Fight only against the king of Israel. Don’t fight against anyone else.”

³¹The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought, “That’s the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. And the Lord helped him. God drew the commanders away from him. ³²They saw he wasn’t the king of Israel after all. So they stopped chasing him.

³³But someone shot an arrow without taking aim. The arrow hit the king of Israel between the parts of his armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Turn the chariot around. Get me out of this battle. I’ve been wounded.”

³⁴All day long the battle continued. The king of Israel kept himself standing up by leaning against the inside of his chariot. He kept his face toward the men of Aram until evening. At sunset he died.

19Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ²The prophet Jehu went out to meet him. He was the son of Hanani. Jehu said to the king, “You shouldn’t help evil people. You shouldn’t love those who hate the Lord. The Lord is angry with you. ³But there’s some good in you. You have gotten rid of all of the poles in the land that are used to worship the goddess Asherah. And you have worshiped God with all your heart.”

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

⁴Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again among the people. He went from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim. He turned the people back to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁵Jehoshaphat appointed judges in the land. He put them in all of the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. ⁶He told the judges, “Think carefully about what you do. After all, you aren’t judging for mere men. You are judging for the Lord. He’s with you every time you make a decision. ⁷Have respect for the Lord. Judge carefully. He is always right. He treats everyone the same. He doesn’t want his judges to take money from people who want special favors.”

⁸In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat chose some Levites and priests. He also chose some leaders of Israelite families. He appointed all of them to apply the law of the Lord fairly. He wanted them to decide cases. He wanted them to settle matters between people. All of those judges lived in Jerusalem.

⁹Here are the orders Jehoshaphat gave them. He said, “Have respect for the Lord. Serve him faithfully. Do it with all your heart. ¹⁰Cases will come to you from your fellow judges who live in the other cities. The cases might be about murder or other matters that the law, commands, directions and rules deal with. Warn the judges not to sin against the Lord. If you don’t warn them, he will be angry with you and your fellow judges. Do what I say. Then you won’t sin.

¹¹“The chief priest Amariah will be over you in any matter that concerns the Lord. Zebadiah is the leader of the tribe of Judah. He is the son of Ishmael. Zebadiah will be over you in any matter that concerns the king. The Levites will serve as your officials. Be brave. And may the Lord be with those of you who do well.”

Jehoshaphat Wins the Battle Over Moab and Ammon

20After that, the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites went to war against Jehoshaphat.

²Some people came and told him, “A huge army is coming from Edom to fight against you. They have come across the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazazon Tamar.” Hazazon Tamar is also called En Gedi.

³Jehoshaphat was alarmed. So he decided to ask the Lord for advice. He told all of the people of Judah to go without eating. ⁴The people came together to ask the Lord for help. In fact, they came from every town in Judah to pray to him.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood up among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He was in front of the new courtyard at the Lord’s temple. ⁶He said,

“Lord, you are the God of our people. You are the God who is in heaven. You rule over all of the kingdoms of the nations. Your hands are strong and powerful. No one can fight against you and win.

⁷“Our God, you drove out the people who lived in this land. You drove them out to make room for your people Israel. You gave this land forever to those who belong to the family line of your friend Abraham.

⁸“They have lived in this land. They’ve built a temple here for your Name. They have said, ⁹‘Suppose trouble comes on us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a punishing sword, plague or hunger. We’ll serve you. We’ll stand in front of this temple where your Name is. We’ll cry out to you when we’re in trouble. Then you will hear us. You will save us.’

¹⁰“But here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir. You wouldn’t allow Israel to march in and attack their territory when the Israelites came from Egypt. So Israel turned away from them. They didn’t destroy them. ¹¹See how they are paying us back. They are coming to drive us out. They want to take over the land you gave us as our share.

¹²“Our God, won’t you please judge them? We don’t have the power to face this huge army that’s…

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