¹⁹Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne^t with all the multitudes^u of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. ²⁰And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. ²¹Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

²²“ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

“ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving^v spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

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

²³“So now the Lord has put a deceiving^w spirit in the mouths of all these prophets^x of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster^y for you.”

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Cross references

t Ps 47:8; Isa 6:1; 63:15; Eze 1:26; Da 7:9
u Job 1:6; 15:8; 38:7; Ps 103:20–21; 148:2; Jer 23:18, 22; Lk 2:13
vSee Jdg 9:23; 2 Th 2:11
wSee Dt 13:3
x Eze 14:9
ySee Dt 31:29

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand. And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ So one was saying this and another was saying that.

“Then a spirit came forward, stood in the Lord’s presence, and said, ‘I will entice him.’

“The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

“He said, ‘I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’

“Then he said, ‘You will certainly entice him and prevail. Go and do that.’

“You see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced disaster against you.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, ‘Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?’

“There were many suggestions, and finally a spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I can do it!’

“ ‘How will you do this?’ the Lord asked.

“And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’

“ ‘You will succeed,’ said the Lord. ‘Go ahead and do it.’

“So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the Lord has pronounced your doom.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he said, “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand. And Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?’ Then this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another. Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, ‘I will entice him,’ and Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.’ So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

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