221 Kings 22

Micaiah Warns Ahab about Disaster

1For the next three years there was peace between Israel and Syria.Select 1 Kings 22:1

2During the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit King Ahab of Israel.Select 1 Kings 22:2

3Ahab asked his officials, “Why haven't we tried to get Ramoth in Gilead back from the Syrians? It belongs to us.”Select 1 Kings 22:3

4Then he asked Jehoshaphat, “Would you go to Ramoth with me and attack the Syrians?” “Just tell me what to do,” Jehoshaphat answered. “My army and horses are at your command.Select 1 Kings 22:4

5But first, let's ask the Lord.”Select 1 Kings 22:5

6Ahab sent for about 400 prophets and asked, “Should I attack the Syrians at Ramoth?” “Yes!” the prophets answered. “The Lord will help you defeat them.”Select 1 Kings 22:6

7But Jehoshaphat said, “Just to make sure, is there another of the Lord's prophets we can ask?”Select 1 Kings 22:7

8“We could ask Micaiah son of Imlah,” Ahab said. “But I hate Micaiah. He always has bad news for me.” “Don't say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.Select 1 Kings 22:8

9Then Ahab sent someone to bring Micaiah as soon as possible.Select 1 Kings 22:9

10All this time, Ahab and Jehoshaphat were dressed in their royal robes and were seated on their thrones at the threshing place near the gate of Samaria. They were listening to the prophets tell them what the Lord had said.Select 1 Kings 22:10

11Zedekiah son of Chenaanah was one of the prophets. He had made some horns out of iron and shouted, “Ahab, the Lord says you will attack the Syrians like a bull with iron horns and wipe them out!”Select 1 Kings 22:11

12All the prophets agreed that Ahab should attack the Syrians at Ramoth, and they promised that the Lord would help him defeat them.Select 1 Kings 22:12

13Meanwhile, the messenger who went to get Micaiah whispered, “Micaiah, all the prophets have good news for Ahab. Now go and say the same thing.”Select 1 Kings 22:13

14“I'll say whatever the living Lord tells me to say,” Micaiah replied.Select 1 Kings 22:14

15Then Micaiah went to Ahab, and Ahab asked, “Micaiah, should I attack the Syrians at Ramoth?” “Yes!” Micaiah answered. “The Lord will help you defeat them.”Select 1 Kings 22:15

16“Micaiah, I've told you over and over to tell me the truth!” Ahab shouted. “What does the Lord really say?”Select 1 Kings 22:16

17He answered, “In a vision I saw Israelite soldiers walking around in the hills like sheep without a shepherd to guide them. The Lord said, ‘This army has no leader. They should go home and not fight.’ ”Select 1 Kings 22:17

18Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat and said, “I told you he would bring bad news!”Select 1 Kings 22:18

19Micaiah replied: Listen to this! I also saw the Lord seated on his throne with every creature in heaven gathered around him.Select 1 Kings 22:19

20The Lord asked, “Who can trick Ahab and make him go to Ramoth where he will be killed?” They talked about it for a while,Select 1 Kings 22:20

21then finally a spirit came forward and said to the Lord, “I can trick Ahab.” “How?” the Lord asked.Select 1 Kings 22:21

22“I'll make Ahab's prophets lie to him.” “Good!” the Lord replied. “Now go and do it.”Select 1 Kings 22:22

23This is exactly what has happened, Ahab. The Lord made all your prophets lie to you, and he knows you will soon be destroyed.Select 1 Kings 22:23

24Zedekiah walked up to Micaiah and slapped him on the face. Then he asked, “Do you really think the Lord would speak to you and not to me?”Select 1 Kings 22:24

25Micaiah answered, “You'll find out on the day you have to hide in the back room of some house.”Select 1 Kings 22:25

26Ahab shouted, “Arrest Micaiah! Take him to Prince Joash and Governor Amon of Samaria.Select 1 Kings 22:26

27Tell them to put him in prison and to give him nothing but bread and water until I come back safely.”Select 1 Kings 22:27

28Micaiah said, “If you do come back, I was wrong about what the Lord wanted me to say.” Then he told the crowd, “Don't forget what I said!”Select 1 Kings 22:28

Ahab Dies at Ramoth

29Ahab and Jehoshaphat led their armies to Ramoth in Gilead.Select 1 Kings 22:29

30Before they went into battle, Ahab said, “Jehoshaphat, I'll disguise myself, but you wear your royal robe.” Then Ahab disguised himself and went into battle.Select 1 Kings 22:30

31The king of Syria had ordered his 32 chariot commanders to attack only Ahab.Select 1 Kings 22:31

32So when they saw Jehoshaphat in his robe, they thought he was Ahab and started to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat shouted out to them,Select 1 Kings 22:32

33they realized he wasn't Ahab, and they left him alone.Select 1 Kings 22:33

34However, during the fighting a soldier shot an arrow without even aiming, and it hit Ahab where two pieces of his armor joined. He shouted to his chariot driver, “I've been hit! Get me out of here!”Select 1 Kings 22:34

35The fighting lasted all day, with Ahab propped up in his chariot so he could see the Syrian troops. He bled so much that the bottom of the chariot was covered with blood, and by evening he was dead.Select 1 Kings 22:35

36As the sun was going down, someone in Israel's army shouted to the others, “Retreat! Go back home!”Select 1 Kings 22:36

37Ahab's body was taken to Samaria and buried there.Select 1 Kings 22:37

38Some workers washed his chariot near a spring in Samaria, and prostitutes washed themselves in his blood. Dogs licked Ahab's blood off the ground, just as the Lord had warned.Select 1 Kings 22:38

39Everything else Ahab did while he was king, including the towns he strengthened and the palace he built and furnished with ivory, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.Select 1 Kings 22:39

40Ahab died, and his son Ahaziah became king.Select 1 Kings 22:40

King Jehoshaphat of Judah

41Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in Ahab's fourth year as king of Israel.Select 1 Kings 22:41

42Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.Select 1 Kings 22:42

46Jehoshaphat obeyed the Lord, just as his father Asa had done, and during his rule he was at peace with the king of Israel. He got rid of the rest of the prostitutes from the local shrines, but he did not destroy the shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices. Everything else Jehoshaphat did while he was king, including his brave deeds and military victories, is written in The History of the Kings of Judah.Select 1 Kings 22:46

47The country of Edom had no king at the time, so a lower official ruled the land.Select 1 Kings 22:47

48Jehoshaphat had seagoing ships built to sail to Ophir for gold. But they were wrecked at Ezion-Geber and never sailed.Select 1 Kings 22:48

49Ahaziah son of Ahab offered to let his sailors go with Jehoshaphat's sailors, but Jehoshaphat refused.Select 1 Kings 22:49

50Jehoshaphat died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became king.Select 1 Kings 22:50

King Ahaziah of Israel

51Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat's rule in Judah, and he ruled two years from Samaria.Select 1 Kings 22:51

52Ahaziah disobeyed the Lord, just as his father, his mother, and Jeroboam had done. They all led Israel to sin.Select 1 Kings 22:52

53Ahaziah worshiped Baal and made the Lord God of Israel very angry, just as his father had done.Select 1 Kings 22:53