1
When King Jehoshaphat of Judah became rich and famous, he arranged a marriage between a member of his family and the family of King Ahab of Israel.
2
A number of years later Jehoshaphat went to the city of Samaria to visit Ahab. To honor Jehoshaphat and those with him, Ahab had a large number of sheep and cattle slaughtered for a feast. He tried to persuade Jehoshaphat to join him in attacking the city of Ramoth in Gilead.
3
He asked, "Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?" Jehoshaphat replied, "I am ready when you are, and so is my army. We will join you."
4
Then he added, "But first let's consult the Lord."
5
So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, "Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?" "Attack it," they answered. "God will give you victory."
6
But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?"
7
Ahab answered, "There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad." "You shouldn't say that!" Jehoshaphat replied.
8
So King Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once.
9
The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them.
10
One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, "This is what the Lord says, "With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' "
11
All the other prophets said the same thing. "March against Ramoth and you will win," they said. "The Lord will give you victory."