King James Version

1 And they sat for three years; there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 And it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we are still silent, taking it out of the hand of the king of Aram?" 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to the battle at Ramoth Gilead?" And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "As you are, so am I; my people as your people; my horses as your horses." 5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire today of the word of the Lord." 6 And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Should I go to battle against Ramoth-Gilead, or should I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." 7 And Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?" 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man to inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but only evil; Micaiah the son of Imlah." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so." 9 And the king of Israel called to a certain eunuch and said, "Quickly, bring Micaiah the son of Imlah." 10 And the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron, and he said, "Thus says the Lord, 'With these you shall push the Arameans until they are consumed.'" 12 And all the prophets prophesied, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and succeed, and the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.” 13 And the angel who went to call Michah spoke to me, saying, "Behold, please, the words of the prophets are one good word to the king; let your words be like one of them, and you shall speak good." 14 And Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak." 15 And he came to the king, and the king said to him, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead for battle, or shall we refrain?" And he said to him, "Go up and succeed, for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king." 16 And the king said to me, "How many times will I swear you that you will not speak to me except the truth in the name of the LORD?" 17 And he said, "I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd." And the Lord said, "These have no masters; let each man return to his house in peace." 18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only evil?" 19 And he said, "Therefore hear 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 and on His left." 20 And the LORD said, "Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?" And one said this, and another said that. 21 And the spirit went out and stood before the LORD and said, “I will persuade him.” And the LORD said to me, “By what means?” 22 And he said, "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." And he said, "You will entice him, and also you will be able to go out and do so." 23 And now behold, the LORD has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all your prophets, and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you. 24 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah drew near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?" 25 And Michah said, "Behold, you will see on that day when you enter room after room to hide." 26 And the king of Israel said, "Take Michah and return him to Amon the chief of the city and to Joash the son of the king." 27 And you shall say, "Thus says the king: Put this man in the prison and feed him bread and water of affliction until I come in peace." 28 And Micaiah said, "If you return in peace, then the Lord has not spoken by me." And he said, "Hear, O all you peoples." 29 And the king of Israel went up, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah to Ramoth Gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Disguise yourself and enter the battle, and you wear your clothes." And the king of Israel disguised himself, and he entered the battle. 31 And the king of Aram commanded his chariot officers, saying, "You shall not fight with small or great, but only with the king of Israel." 32 And it happened when the charioteers saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely he is the king of Israel," and they turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And it was when the commanders of the chariots saw that he was not a king of Israel, and they turned back from pursuing him. 34 And a man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. He said to his charioteer, "Turn your hand and bring me out of the camp, for I am wounded." 35 And the battle rose up on that day, and the king was stationed in the chariot facing Aram, and he died in the evening, and the blood of the wound was poured into the lap of the chariot. 36 And the song passed through the camp as the sun came, saying, "A man to his city and a man to his land." 37 And the king died, and they came to Samaria and buried the king in Samaria. 38 And he poured out the chariot on the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the harlots washed themselves, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke. 39 And the rest of the words of Ahab and all that he did, and the house of the sun that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 And Ahab lay with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. 41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa reigned over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 43 And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 44 But the high places did not cease; the people still sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. 45 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. 46 And the rest of the words of Jehoshaphat and his might that he did, and how he fought, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 47 And the remainder of the holy place that remained in the days of Asa, my father, he burned from the land. 48 And there is no king in Edom; a king is standing. 49 Jehoshaphat made ten ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go because the ships were broken at Ezion Geber. 50 Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships," but Jehoshaphat would not. 51 And Jehoshaphat lay down with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 52 Ahazyahu son of Achav reigned over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 53 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin.