-
And they
continued three years without war between Syria
and Israel.
02 And it came to pass in the third year, that
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the
king of Israel.
03 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?
04 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.
05 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel,
Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to
day.
06 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.
07 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a
prophet of the Lord besides, that we might
enquire of him?
08 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.
09 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 persude 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;
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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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