Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

17 Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. ² He placed forces in all the ^(A)fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim ^(B)that Asa his father had captured. ³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, ⁴ but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, ^(C)and not according to the practices of Israel. ⁵ Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah ^(D)brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, ^(E)and he had great riches and honor. ⁶ His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, ^(F)he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

⁷ In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, ^(G)to teach in the cities of Judah; ^8 (H)and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ And ^(I)they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

^10 (J)And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines ^(K)brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. ¹² And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, ¹³ and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; ¹⁵ and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; ¹⁶ and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, ^(L)a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. ¹⁷ Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men ^(M)armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸ and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. ¹⁹ These were in the service of the king, besides ^(N)those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab

18 Now Jehoshaphat ^(O)had great riches and honor, ^(P)and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. ^2 (Q)After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. ³ Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.”

⁴ And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” ⁵ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁶ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” ⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” ⁸ Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” ⁹ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor ^(R)at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰ And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” ¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

¹² And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹³ But Micaiah said, ^(S)“As the Lord lives, ^(T)what my God says, that I will speak.” ¹⁴ And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” ¹⁵ But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁶ And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, ^(U)as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” ¹⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” ¹⁸ And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: ^(V)I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. ¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²⁰ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ ²¹ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be ^(W)a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²² Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.”

²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near ^(X)and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” ²⁴ And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” ²⁵ And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon ^(Y)the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, ²⁶ and say, ‘Thus says the king, ^(Z)Put this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace.’” ²⁷ And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, ^(AA)“Hear, all you peoples!”

The Defeat and Death of Ahab

²⁸ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. ³⁰ Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³¹ As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him. ³² For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³³ But a certain man drew his bow at random^[a] and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁴ And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died.

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife's knowledge ^(A)he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and ^(B)laid it at the apostles' feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(C)Satan filled your heart to lie ^(D)to the Holy Spirit and ^(E)to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but ^(F)to God.” ⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he ^(G)fell down and breathed his last. And ^(H)great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men rose and ^(I)wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you^[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together ^(J)to test ^(K)the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And ^(L)great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(M)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(N)together in ^(O)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(P)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(Q)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ^15 (R)so that they even ^(S)carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^(T)at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^(U)bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^(V)the Sadducees), and filled with ^(W)jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and ^(X)put them in the public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(Y)an angel of the Lord ^(Z)opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^(AA)the words of ^(AB)this ^(AC)Life.” ²¹ And when they heard this, ^(AD)they entered the temple ^(AE)at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²² But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when ^(AF)the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. ²⁵ And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison ^(AG)are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then ^(AH)the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for ^(AI)they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, ^(AJ)“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you ^(AK)intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, ^(AL)“We must obey God rather than men. ^30 (AM)The God of our fathers ^(AN)raised Jesus, ^(AO)whom you killed by hanging him on ^(AP)a tree. ³¹ God exalted ^(AQ)him at his right hand as ^(AR)Leader and ^(AS)Savior, ^(AT)to give ^(AU)repentance to Israel and ^(AV)forgiveness of sins.