Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 22"

1 Kings 22

Common English Bible CEB

1 For three years there was no war between Aram and the Israelites.

2 In the third year, Judah's King Jehoshaphat visited Israel's king.

3 Israel's king said to his servants, "You know, don't you, that Ramoth-gilead is ours? But we aren't doing anything to take it back from the king of Aram."

4 He said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me into battle at Ramoth-gilead?" Jehoshaphat said to Israel's king, "I am with you, and my troops and my horses are united with yours.

5 But," Jehoshapat said to Israel's king, "first let's see what the LORD has to say."

6 So Israel's king gathered about four hundred prophets, and he asked them, "Should I go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?" "Attack!" the prophets answered. "The LORD will hand it over to the king."

7 But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there any other prophet of the Lord whom we could ask?"

8 "There is one other man who could ask the LORD for us," Israel's king told Jehoshaphat, "but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad. His name is Micaiah, Imlah's son." "The king shouldn't speak like that!" Jehoshaphat said.

9 So Israel's king called an officer and ordered, "Bring Micaiah, Imlah's son, right away."

10 Now Israel's king and Judah's King Jehoshaphat were sitting on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor beside the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

11 Zedekiah, Chenaanah's son, made iron horns for himself and said, "This is what the LORD says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans until there's nothing left of them!"

12 All the other prophets agreed: "Attack Ramoth-gilead and win! The LORD will hand it over to the king!"

13 Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Listen, the prophets all agree that the king will succeed. You should say the same thing they say and prophesy success."

14 But Micaiah answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will say only what the LORD tells me to say."

15 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?" "Attack and win!" Micaiah answered. "The LORD will hand it over to the king!"

16 But the king said, "How many times must I demand that you tell me the truth when you speak in the name of the LORD?"

17 Then Micaiah replied, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd! And then the LORD said: They have no master. Let them return safely to their own homes."

18 Then Israel's king said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you? He never prophesies anything good about me, only bad."

19 Then Micaiah said, "Listen now to the LORD's word: I saw the LORD enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed beside him, at his right and at his left.

20 The LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth-gilead and dies there?' There were many suggestions

21 until one particular spirit approached the LORD and said, ‘I'll persuade him.' ‘How?' the LORD asked.

22 ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets,' he said. The LORD agreed, ‘You will succeed in persuading him! Go ahead!'

23 So now, since the LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of every one of these prophets of yours, it is the LORD who has pronounced disaster against you!"

24 Zedekiah, Chenaanah's son, approached Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. "Just how did the LORD's spirit leave me to speak to you?" he asked.

25 Micaiah answered, "You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room."

26 "Arrest him," ordered Israel's king, "and turn him over to Amon the city official and to Joash the king's son.

27 Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.'"

28 "If you ever return safely," Micaiah replied, "then the LORD wasn't speaking through me." Then he added, "Pay attention, every last one of you!"

29 So Israel's king and Judah's King Jehoshaphat attacked Ramoth-gilead.

30 Israel's king said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself when we go into battle, but you should wear your royal attire." When Israel's king had disguised himself, they entered the battle.

31 Meanwhile, Aram's king had commanded his thirty-two chariot officers, "Don't bother with anyone big or small. Fight only with Israel's king."

32 As soon as the chariot officers saw Jehoshaphat, they assumed that he must be Israel's king, so they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out for help.

33 When the chariot officers realized that he wasn't Israel's king, they stopped chasing him.

34 But someone randomly shot an arrow that struck Israel's king between the joints in his armor. "Turn around and get me out of the battle," the king told his chariot driver. "I've been hit!"

35 While the battle raged all that day, the king stood propped up in the chariot facing the Arameans. But that evening he died after his blood had poured from his wound into the chariot.

36 When the sun set, a shout spread throughout the camp: "Retreat to your towns! Retreat to your land!"

37 Once the king had died, people came from Samaria and buried the king there.

38 They cleaned the chariot at the pool of Samaria. The dogs licked up the king's blood and the prostitutes bathed in it, just as the LORD had spoken.

39 The rest of Ahab's deeds and all that he did—including the ivory palace he built and all the towns he constructed—aren't they written in the official records of Israel's kings?

40 Ahab lay down with his ancestors. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

41 Jehoshaphat, Asa's son, became king over Judah in the fourth year of Israel's King Ahab.

42 Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah; she was Shilhi's daughter.

43 Jehoshapat walked in all the ways of his father Asa, not deviating from it. He did the right things in the LORD's eyes, with the exception that he didn't remove the shrines. The people continued to sacrifice and offer incense at them.

44 Jehoshaphat made peace with Israel's king.

45 The rest of Jehoshaphat's deeds, the great acts he did, and how he fought in battle, aren't they written in the official records of Judah's kings?

46 Additionally, Jehoshaphat purged the land of the consecrated workers who remained from the days of Asa.

47 Now Edom had no king; only a deputy was ruler.

48 Jehoshaphat built Tarshish-styled ships to go to Ophir for gold. But the fleet didn't go because it was wrecked at Ezion-geber.

49 Then Ahaziah, Ahab's son, said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my sailors go with your sailors on the ships." But Jehoshaphat didn't agree to this.

50 Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in his ancestor David's City. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.

51 In the seventeenth year of Judah's King Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah, Ahab's son, became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled over Israel for two years.

52 He did evil in the LORD's eyes. He walked in his father's ways and his mother's ways—that is, in the ways of Jeroboam, Nebat's son, who had caused Israel to sin.

53 Ahaziah served Baal and worshipped him. He angered the LORD, Israel's God, by doing all the same things his father had done.

The Message Bible MSG

1 They enjoyed three years of peace - no fighting between Aram and Israel.

2 In the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah had a meeting with the king of Israel.

3 Israel's king remarked to his aides, "Do you realize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, and we're sitting around on our hands instead of taking it back from the king of Aram?"

4 He turned to Jehoshaphat and said, "Will you join me in fighting for Ramoth Gilead?"

5 He then continued, "But before you do anything, ask God for guidance."

6 The king of Israel got the prophets together - all four hundred of them - and put the question to them: "Should I attack Ramoth Gilead? Or should I hold back?" "Go for it," they said. "God will hand it over to the king."

7 But Jehoshaphat dragged his heels: "Is there still another prophet of God around here we can consult?"

8 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "As a matter of fact, there is still one such man. But I hate him. He never preaches anything good to me, only doom, doom, doom - Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king shouldn't talk about a prophet like that," said Jehoshaphat.

9 So the king of Israel ordered one of his men, "On the double! Get Micaiah son of Imlah."

10 Meanwhile, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat were seated on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes, resplendent in front of the Samaria city gates. All the prophets were staging a prophecy-performance for their benefit.

11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had even made a set of iron horns, and brandishing them called out, "God's word! With these horns you'll gore Aram until there's nothing left of him!"

12 All the prophets chimed in, "Yes! Go for Ramoth Gilead! An easy victory! God's gift to the king!"

13 The messenger who went to get Micaiah said, "The prophets have all said Yes to the king. Make it unanimous - vote Yes!"

14 But Micaiah said, "As surely as God lives, what God says, I'll say."

15 With Micaiah before him, the king asked him, "So Micaiah - do we attack Ramoth Gilead, or do we hold back?" "Go ahead," he said. "An easy victory. God's gift to the king."

16 "Not so fast," said the king. "How many times have I made you promise under oath to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth?"

17 "All right," said Micaiah, "since you insist. I saw all of Israel scattered over the hills, sheep with no shepherd. Then God spoke: 'These poor people have no one to tell them what to do. Let them go home and do the best they can for themselves.'"

18 Then the king of Israel turned to Jehoshaphat, "See! What did I tell you? He never has a good word for me from God, only doom."

19 Micaiah kept on: "I'm not done yet; listen to God's word: I saw God enthroned, and all the angel armies of heaven Standing at attention ranged on his right and his left.

20 And God said, 'How can we seduce Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead?' Some said this, and some said that.

21 Then a bold angel stepped out, stood before God, and said, 'I'll seduce him.' 'And how will you do it?' said God.

22 'Easy,' said the angel, 'I'll get all the prophets to lie.' 'That should do it,' said God. 'On your way - seduce him!'

23 "And that's what has happened. God filled the mouths of your puppet prophets with seductive lies. God has pronounced your doom."

24 Just then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came up and punched Micaiah in the nose, saying, "Since when did the Spirit of God leave me and take up with you?"

25 Micaiah said, "You'll know soon enough; you'll know it when you're frantically and futilely looking for a place to hide."

26 The king of Israel had heard enough: "Get Micaiah out of here! Turn him over to Amon the city magistrate and to Joash the king's son

27 with this message, 'King's orders: Lock him up in jail; keep him on bread and water until I'm back in one piece.'"

28 Micaiah said, "If you ever get back in one piece, I'm no prophet of God." He added,"When it happens, O people, remember where you heard it!"

29 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead.

30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Wear my kingly robe; I'm going into battle disguised." So the king of Israel entered the battle in disguise.

31 Meanwhile, the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders (there were thirty-two of them): "Don't bother with anyone, whether small or great; go after the king of Israel and him only."

32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they said, "There he is! The king of Israel!" and took after him. Jehoshaphat yelled out,

33 and the chariot commanders realized they had the wrong man - it wasn't the king of Israel after all. They let him go.

34 Just then someone, without aiming, shot an arrow randomly into the crowd and hit the king of Israel in the chink of his armor. The king told his charioteer, "Turn back! Get me out of here - I'm wounded."

35 All day the fighting continued, hot and heavy. Propped up in his chariot, the king watched from the sidelines. He died that evening. Blood from his wound pooled in the chariot.

36 As the sun went down, shouts reverberated through the ranks, "Abandon camp! Head for home!

37 The king is dead!"

38 They washed down the chariot at the pool of Samaria where the town whores bathed, and the dogs lapped up the blood, just as God's word had said.

39 The rest of Ahab's life - everything he did, the ivory palace he built, the towns he founded, and the defense system he built up - is all written up in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

40 He was buried in the family cemetery and his son Ahaziah was the next king.

41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.

43 He continued the kind of life characteristic of his father Asa - no detours, no dead ends - pleasing God with his life. But he failed to get rid of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines. People continued to pray and worship at these idolatrous shrines.

44 And he kept on good terms with the king of Israel.

45 The rest of Jehoshaphat's life, his achievements and his battles, is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

46 Also, he got rid of the sacred prostitutes left over from the days of his father Asa.

47 Edom was kingless during his reign; a deputy was in charge.

48 Jehoshaphat built ocean-going ships to sail to Ophir for gold. But they never made it; they shipwrecked at Ezion Geber.

49 During that time Ahaziah son of Ahab proposed a joint shipping venture, but Jehoshaphat wouldn't go in with him.

50 Then Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the family cemetery in the City of David his ancestor. Jehoram his son was the next king.

51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He ruled Israel for two years.

52 As far as God was concerned, he lived an evil life, reproducing the bad life of his father and mother, repeating the pattern set down by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.

53 Worshiping at the Baal shrines, he made God, the God of Israel, angry, oh, so angry. If anything, he was worse than his father.