1
Now for three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.
2
And it came about in the third year, that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.
3
And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you not see that Ramoth-gilead is ours? and we are doing nothing to get it back from the hands of the king of Aram.
4
And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead to make war? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are: my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
5
Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord.
6
So the king of Israel got all the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Am I to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And they said, Go up: for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.
7
But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions?
8
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9
Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah.
10
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them.
11
And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.
12
And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.
13
Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things.
14
And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say.
15
When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.
16
Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord?
17
Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace.
18
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil?
19
And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left.
20
And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another.