1 Kings 22:3-8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 The king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours and we are doing nothing to take it from the king of Aram?” 4 He asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you come with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “You and I are as one, and your people and my people, your horses and my horses as well.”
Prophetic Condemnation. 5 Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Seek the word of the Lord at once.” 6 The king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked, “Shall I go to fight against Ramoth-gilead or shall I refrain?” They said, “Attack. The Lord will give it into the power of the king.”[a] 7 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no other prophet of the Lord here we might consult?” 8 The king of Israel answered, “There is one other man through whom we might consult the Lord; but I hate him because he prophesies not good but evil about me. He is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say that.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 22:6 Though Ahab is clearly intended to understand the oracle as prophesying his success, the prophets’ words are ambiguous. “The lord” (not “the Lord,” i.e., the proper name of Israel’s God) who will give victory is unidentified, as is the king to whom it will be given.
1 Kings 22:3-8
New International Version
3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead(A) belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?”
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight(B) against Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel(C) of the Lord.”
6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
“Go,”(D) they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”(E)
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet(F) of the Lord here whom we can inquire(G) of?”
8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate(H) him because he never prophesies anything good(I) about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
“The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.
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