| 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. |
