1 ¶ For three years there was no war between Syria and Israel.

2 But in the third year, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.

3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead belongs to us, and we sit still, and do not take it from the king of Syria?

4 And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

5 But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire first, as to the word of the LORD today.

6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead in battle, or shall I hold back? And they said, Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.

7 But Jehoshaphat asked, Is there not a prophet of the LORD here as well, that we might inquire of him?

8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah: but I hate him; because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, the king must not say that.

9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah here quickly.

10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah had put on their robes, and each of them was sitting on his throne, in an open area at the entrance to the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron: and said, The LORD said this, With these you will push the Syrians, until you have destroyed them.

12 And all the prophets agreed, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD will deliver it into the king’s hand.

13 And the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, Realize this, the words of the prophets are with one voice favorable to the king: I urge you to let what you say agree with what they say, and speak that which is favorable.

14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, I will say what the LORD tells me.

15 ¶ So he went to the king. And the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead in battle, or shall we hold back? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.

16 And the king said to him, How many times must I order you not to tell me anything 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 no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: 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 any good concerning me, only evil?

19 Then Micaiah said, Hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and the entire host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

20 And the LORD said, Who will persuade Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said this, and another said that.

21 Then a spirit came forward, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.

22 And the LORD said to him, How? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You will persuade him, and succeed: go, and do it.

23 So the LORD has now put a lying spirit in the mouth of all your prophets, and the LORD has decreed evil concerning you.

24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, How did the Spirit of the LORD leave me to speak to you?

25 And Micaiah said, Behold, you will know on the day when you go into an inner room to hide.

26 And the king of Israel said, Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;

27 And say, The king said, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him the bread and water of affliction, until I return safely.

28 And Micaiah said, If you return safely, then the LORD has not spoken by me. And he said, Listen, O people, every one of you.

29 ¶ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into battle; but you wear your robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into battle.

31 But the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains who commanded his chariots, saying, Do not fight with anyone small or great, but only with the king of Israel.

32 And when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely this is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out.

33 And when the captains of the chariots saw he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

34 But one man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor: therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn around, and carry me out of the army; for I am wounded.

35 As the battle grew worse that day: the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at nightfall: and the blood ran out of his wound onto the floor of the chariot.

36 And a cry went throughout the army about sundown, saying, Let every man return to his city, and to his own country.

37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

38 And they washed his chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according to the word which was spoken by the LORD.

39 Now the rest of the things Ahab did, all his accomplishments, the ivory house that he built, and all the cities that he fortified, are they not written in the book of the records of the kings of Israel?

40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

41 ¶ Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign 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 for twenty-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 did not turn aside from doing what was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the hilltop shrines were not removed; and the people still offered and burned incense in those high places.

44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

45 Now the rest of the things that Jehoshaphat did, the great deeds that he did, and how he fought, are they not written in the book of the records of the kings of Judah?

46 And he expelled from the land the remaining sodomites, who were left from the days of his father Asa.

47 At that time there was no king in Edom: a deputy served as king.

48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they did not go; because the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

49 At that time Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat refused.

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 place.

51 In the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria and reigned over Israel for two years.

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 caused Israel to sin:

53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, in all the ways his father had done.