1 Kings 22 :: New International Version (NIV)

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

(2Ch 18:1–27 )

1Ki 22:1For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.

1Ki 22:2But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel.

1Ki 22:3The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?”

1Ki 22:4

1Ki 22:4So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

1Ki 22:5

1Ki 22:5But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”

1Ki 22:6

1Ki 22:6So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

1Ki 22:7

1Ki 22:7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?”

1Ki 22:8

1Ki 22:8The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.

1Ki 22:9

1Ki 22:9So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”

1Ki 22:10

1Ki 22:10Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.

1Ki 22:11

1Ki 22:11Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ”

1Ki 22:12

1Ki 22:12All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”

1Ki 22:13

1Ki 22:13The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”

1Ki 22:14

1Ki 22:14But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me.”

1Ki 22:15

1Ki 22:15When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?” “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”

1Ki 22:16

1Ki 22:16The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”

1Ki 22:17

1Ki 22:17Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ”

1Ki 22:18

1Ki 22:18The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”

1Ki 22:19

1Ki 22:19Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.

1Ki 22:20

1Ki 22:20And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that.

1Ki 22:21

1Ki 22:21Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’

1Ki 22:22

1Ki 22:22“ ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

1Ki 22:23

1Ki 22:23“So now the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”

1Ki 22:24

1Ki 22:24Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from[fn] the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.

1Ki 22:25

1Ki 22:25Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”

1Ki 22:26

1Ki 22:26The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son

1Ki 22:27

1Ki 22:27and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’ ”

1Ki 22:28

1Ki 22:28Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

(2Ch 18:28–34 )

1Ki 22:29

1Ki 22:29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.

1Ki 22:30

1Ki 22:30The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

1Ki 22:31

1Ki 22:31Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”

1Ki 22:32

1Ki 22:32When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “Surely this is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out,

1Ki 22:33

1Ki 22:33the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him.

1Ki 22:34

1Ki 22:34But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.”

1Ki 22:35

1Ki 22:35All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.

1Ki 22:36

1Ki 22:36As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: “Every man to his town. Every man to his land!”

1Ki 22:37

1Ki 22:37So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there.

1Ki 22:38

1Ki 22:38They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed),[fn] and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared.

1Ki 22:39

1Ki 22:39As for the other events of Ahab’s reign, including all he did, the palace he built and adorned with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

1Ki 22:40

1Ki 22:40Ahab rested with his ancestors. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoshaphat King of Judah

(2Ch 20:31—21:1 )

1Ki 22:41

1Ki 22:41Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

1Ki 22:42

1Ki 22:42Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.

1Ki 22:43

1Ki 22:43In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.[fn]

1Ki 22:44

1Ki 22:44Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.

1Ki 22:45

1Ki 22:45As for the other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

1Ki 22:46

1Ki 22:46He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.

1Ki 22:47

1Ki 22:47There was then no king in Edom; a provincial governor ruled.

1Ki 22:48

1Ki 22:48Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships[fn] to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.

1Ki 22:49

1Ki 22:49At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with yours,” but Jehoshaphat refused.

1Ki 22:50

1Ki 22:50Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king.

Ahaziah King of Israel

1Ki 22:51

1Ki 22:51Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

1Ki 22:52

1Ki 22:52He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

1Ki 22:53

1Ki 22:53He served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(22:24)

Or Spirit of

(22:38)

Or Samaria and cleaned the weapons

(22:43)

In Hebrew texts this sentence (22:43b) is numbered 22:44, and 22:44-53 is numbered 22:45-54.

(22:48)

Hebrew of ships of Tarshish

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