1 Kings 22
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22
1 And they continued three
years without war between Syria and Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year,
that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said unto his
servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and
take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou
go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of
Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as
thy horses.
5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of
Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the
prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go
against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for
the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there
not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?
8 And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we
may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9 Then the king of Israel called an
officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat
the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void
place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied
before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made
him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push
the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so,
saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it
into the king’s hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call
Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare
good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word
of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD
liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
15 So he came to the king.
And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle,
or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall
deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 And the king said unto him, How many
times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is
true in the name of the LORD?
17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered
upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have
no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me,
but evil?
19 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.
20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade
Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner,
and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and
stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
22 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.
23 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.
24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went
near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the
LORD from me to speak unto thee?
25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt
see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
26 And the king of Israel said, Take
Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the
king’s son;
27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow
in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of
affliction, until I come in peace.
28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all
in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every
one of you.
29 So the king of Israel and
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.
30 And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on
thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 But the king of Syria commanded his
thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither
with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
32 And it came to pass, when the captains
of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of
Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 And it came to pass, when the captains
of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they
turned back from pursuing him.
34 And a certain man drew a bow at
a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness:
wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me
out of the host; for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increased that day: and
the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and
the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
36 And there went a proclamation
throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his
city, and every man to his own country.
37 So the king died, and was brought to
Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
38 And one washed the chariot in
the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his
armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and
all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he
built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and
Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to
reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five
years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in
Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa
his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in
the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for
the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.
44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the
king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of
Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which
remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
47 There was then no king in Edom:
a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to
go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at
Eziongeber.
49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto
Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat
would not.
50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers,
and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his
son reigned in his stead.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign
over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and
reigned two years over Israel.
52 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 the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:
53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him,
and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father
had done.
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