|
Chapter 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 armor; 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 showed, 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. |
