2 Chronicles 18–36

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

18:1–27pp—1Ki 22:1–28

18Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor,^u and he allied^v himself with Ahab^w by marriage. ²Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. ³Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.” ⁴But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”

⁵So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?”

“Go,” they answered, “for God will give it into the king’s hand.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”

⁷The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁸So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”

⁹Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. ¹⁰Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns, and he declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ”

¹¹All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead^x and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

¹²The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”

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

¹⁴When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?”

“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for they will be given into your hand.”

¹⁵The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

¹⁶Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel^z scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd,^a and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ”

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

¹⁸Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne^b with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. ²⁰Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

“ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

²¹“ ‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit^c in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

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

²²“So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours.^d The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

²³Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped^e Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from^a the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.

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

²⁵The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son, ²⁶and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison^f and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’ ”

²⁷Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

18:28–34pp—1Ki 22:29–36

²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ²⁹The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised^g himself and went into battle.

³⁰Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” ³¹When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out,^h and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, ³²for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

³³But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” ³⁴All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.ⁱ

19When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, ²Jehu^j the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked^k and love^a those who hate the Lord?^l Because of this, the wrath^m of the Lord is on you. ³There is, however, some goodⁿ in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles^o and have set your heart on seeking God.^p”

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

⁴Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁵He appointed judges^q in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. ⁶He told them, “Consider carefully what you do,^r because you are not judging for mere mortals^s but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. ⁷Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice^t or partiality^u or bribery.”

⁸In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites,^v priests^w and heads of Israelite families to administer^x the law of the Lord and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem. ⁹He gave them these orders: “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord. ¹⁰In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities—whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations—you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord;^y otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.

¹¹“Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage,^z and may the Lord be with those who do well.”

Jehoshaphat Defeats Moab and Ammon

20After this, the Moabites^a and Ammonites with some of the Meunites^ab came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.

²Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army^c is coming against you from Edom,^b from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar^d” (that is, En Gedi).^{e 3}Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast^f for all Judah. ⁴The people of Judah^g came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard ⁶and said:

“Lord, the God of our ancestors,^h are you not the God who is in heaven?ⁱ You rule over all the kingdoms^j of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.^{k 7}Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land^l before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?^{m 8}They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuaryⁿ for your Name, saying, ⁹‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine,^o we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

¹⁰“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt;^p so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession^q you gave us as an inheritance. ¹²Our God, will you not judge them?^r For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.^s”

¹³All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

¹⁴Then the Spirit^t of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah,^u a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

¹⁵He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged^v because of this vast army. For the battle^w is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see^x the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ”

¹⁸Jehoshaphat bowed down^y with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. ¹⁹Then some Levites…