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¹ NOW Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance, and he made an alliance with Ahab.² And after two years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the armed forces that were with him, and advised him to go up to Ramath-gilead.³ And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Will you go up with me to Ramath-gilead? And he answered him, I will go up as you do; and my people are as your people; and my horses as your horses, and we will go with you to war.

⁴ And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray, for the word of the LORD today.⁵ Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go to Ramath-gilead to battle or shall I forbear? And they said to him, Go up; for the LORD will deliver your enemies into your hands.⁶ But King Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a true prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of him?⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him; for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. His name is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.⁸ And the king of Israel called for one of the officers and said to him, Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.⁹ And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each man on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the false prophets were prophesying before them.¹⁰ And Zedekiah the son of a Canaanitish woman had made for himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus says the LORD: With these you shall pierce the Arameans until they are cut off and destroyed.¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramath-gilead, and triumph: for the LORD will deliver your enemies into your hands, O king.¹² And the messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold, the words of the false prophets have declared good to the king with one accord; let your words, therefore, be pleasant like one of theirs, and you also prophesy good.¹³ And Micaiah said, As the LORD God lives, what my God puts into my heart, that will I speak.¹⁴ And when he was come to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramath-gilead or shall I forbear? And he said to him, Go up and triumph, and they shall be delivered into your hands.¹⁵ And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD?¹⁶ Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd; and the LORD said, These have no king; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.¹⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?¹⁸ Then Micaiah said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.¹⁹ And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and be slain at Ramath-gilead? And one said, I will entice him after this manner, and another said, I will entice him after that manner.²⁰ Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD and said, I will entice him, and the LORD said to him, With what?²¹ And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail; go out, and do according to what you have said.²² Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, and the LORD has decreed evil against you.²³ Then Zedekiah the son of the Canaanitish woman came near and struck Micaiah on his cheek, and said to him, Since when did the Spirit of the LORD depart from me to speak to you?²⁴ And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.²⁵ Then the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back and detain him in the house of Amon the governor of the city and in the house of Joash the kings son;²⁶ And say, Thus says the king: Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I return in peace.²⁷ And Micaiah said, If you certainly return in peace, then the LORD has not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, all you people.

²⁸ So Jehoshaphat the king of Judah and Ahab the king of Israel went up to Ramath-gilead.²⁹ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will put on my armor, and go and stand in the battle array; and you put on your armor. So the king of Israel put on his armor, and went and stood in the battle array.³⁰ Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, thirty-two in number, saying, Fight not with small or great, but only with the king of Israel.³¹ And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they came against him to fight him; but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him; and he turned them away from him.³² And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.³³ And a certain man shot an arrow unwittingly towards him, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of his breastplate; therefore he said to his chariot man, Turn your hand and carry me out of the host; for I am grievously wounded.³⁴ And the battle grew fiercer that day; but the king of Israel was seated in the chariot fighting against the Arameans until the evening, and at sunset he died.