the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Hebrew Names Version
2 Chronicles 18
1 Now Yehoshafat had riches and honor in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ach'av. 2 After certain years he went down to Ach'av to Shomron. Ach'av killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people who were with him, and moved him to go up [with him] to Ramot-Gil`ad. 3 Ach'av king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat king of Yehudah, Will you go with me to Ramot-Gil`ad? He answered him, I am as you are, and my people as your people; and [we will be] with you in the war.
4 Yehoshafat said to the king of Yisra'el, Please inquire first for the word of the LORD. 5 Then the king of Yisra'el gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go to Ramot-Gil`ad to battle, or shall I forbear? They said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the hand of the king. 6 But Yehoshafat said, Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we may inquire of him? 7 The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, 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: the same is Mikhayahu the son of Imla. Yehoshafat said, Don't let the king say so. 8 Then the king of Yisra'el called an officer, and said, Get quickly Mikhayahu the son of Imla. 9 Now the king of Yisra'el and Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Shomron; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10 Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena`anah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus says the LORD, With these shall you push the Aram, until they be consumed. 11 All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramot-Gil`ad, and prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king. 12 The messenger who went to call Mikhayahu spoke to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the king with one mouth: let your word therefore, Please be like one of theirs, and speak you good. 13 Mikhayahu said, As the LORD lives, what my God says, that will I speak. 14 When he was come to the king, the king said to him, Mikhayahu, shall we go to Ramot-Gil`ad to battle, or shall I forbear? He said, Go up, and prosper; and they shall be delivered into your hand. 15 The king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD? 16 He said, I saw all Yisra'el scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in shalom. 17 The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, Didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? 18 [Mikhayahu] said, Therefore hear you the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 19 The LORD said, Who shall entice Ach'av king of Yisra'el, that he may go up and fall at Ramot-Gil`ad? One spoke saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. 20 There came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. The LORD said to him, 'How?' 21 He said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You shall entice him, and shall prevail also: go forth, and do so.' 22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you. 23 Then Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena`anah came near, and struck Mikhayahu on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak to you? 24 Mikhayahu said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself. 25 The king of Yisra'el said, Take Mikhayahu, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Yo'ash the king's 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 shalom. 27 Mikhayahu said, If you return at all in shalom, the LORD has not spoken by me. He said, Hear, you peoples, all of you.
28 So the king of Yisra'el and Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah went up to Ramot-Gil`ad. 29 The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put you on your robes. So the king of Yisra'el disguised himself; and they went into the battle. 30 Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Yisra'el. 31 It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Yehoshafat, that they said, It is the king of Yisra'el. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but Yehoshafat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them [to depart] from him. 32 It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Yisra'el, that they turned back from pursuing him. 33 A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Yisra'el between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded. 34 The battle increased that day: however the king of Yisra'el stayed himself up in his chariot against the Aram until the even; and about the time of the going down of the sun he died.
