1 Kings 22
New American Standard Bible
Ahab’s Third Campaign against Aram
22 Now [a]three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. 2 (A)In the third year, (B)Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 Now the king of Israel said to his servants, “Are you aware that (C)Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, yet we are hesitant to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?” 4 So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go to battle with me at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “[b](D)Consider me yours, my people yours, and my horses yours!”
5 However, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please request the word of the Lord [c]first.” 6 So (E)the king of Israel assembled the [d]prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead or should I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 7 But (F)Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him?” 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy anything good regarding me, but only bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “May the king not say so.” 9 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah quickly.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and (G)all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made (H)horns of iron for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘(I)With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed!’” 12 All the prophets were prophesying this as well, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
Micaiah Predicts Defeat
13 Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets are [e]unanimously favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said, “(J)As the Lord lives, whatever (K)the Lord says to me, I shall speak it.”
15 When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” And he said, “(L)Go up and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king!” 16 Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you will tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 17 So he said,
“I saw all Israel
Scattered on the mountains,
(M)Like sheep that have no shepherd.
And the Lord said,
‘These people have no master.
Each of them is to return to his house in peace.’”
18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “(N)Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything good regarding me, but only bad?”
19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. (O)I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and (P)all the [f]angels of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will [g]entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one spirit said this, while another said that. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will [h]entice him.’ 22 And the Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and (Q)be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You shall [i]entice him, and you will also prevail. Go and do so.’ 23 Now then, behold, (R)the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours; and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”
24 Then (S)Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek; and he said, “(T)How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” 25 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you are going to see how on that day when you (U)go from one inner room to [j]another trying to hide yourself.” 26 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son; 27 and say, ‘This is what the king says: “(V)Put this man in prison, and feed him enough bread and water to survive until I [k]return safely.”’” 28 But Micaiah said, “(W)If you actually return [l]safely, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “(X)Listen, all you people!”
Defeat and Death of Ahab
29 So (Y)the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “(Z)I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 31 Now (AA)the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with the small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” 32 So when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely he is the king of Israel!” And they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 Then, when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
34 Now one man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel [m]in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn [n]around and take me out of the battle, (AB)for I am severely wounded.” 35 The battle [o]raged on that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and he died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. 36 (AC)Then the word passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his [p]country!”
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. 38 They washed out the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (it was there that the prostitutes bathed themselves) (AD)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken. 39 Now as for the rest of the acts of Ahab and everything that he did, and (AE)the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab [q]lay down with his fathers, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.
The New Rulers
41 (AF)Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 (AG)He walked [r]entirely in the way of his father Asa; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. (AH)However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 44 (AI)Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might which he showed and how he made war, are they not written (AJ)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 46 And the remnant of (AK)the cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa, he eliminated from the land.
47 Now (AL)there was no king in Edom; a governor served as king. 48 Jehoshaphat built (AM)ships of Tarshish to go to (AN)Ophir for gold, but (AO)they did not go, because the ships were destroyed at (AP)Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 (AQ)And Jehoshaphat [s]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab (AR)became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 52 He did evil in the sight of the Lord and (AS)walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin. 53 (AT)So he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 22:1 Lit they sat for three years
- 1 Kings 22:4 Lit As me as you, as my people...as my horses, as your horses, an ancient idiom
- 1 Kings 22:5 Lit today
- 1 Kings 22:6 I.e., official prophets who at that time were false
- 1 Kings 22:13 Lit of one mouth
- 1 Kings 22:19 Lit host
- 1 Kings 22:20 Or persuade
- 1 Kings 22:21 Or persuade
- 1 Kings 22:22 Or persuade
- 1 Kings 22:25 Lit inner room
- 1 Kings 22:27 Lit come in peace
- 1 Kings 22:28 Lit in peace
- 1 Kings 22:34 Lit between the scales and the scale armor
- 1 Kings 22:34 Lit your hand
- 1 Kings 22:35 Lit went up
- 1 Kings 22:36 Lit land
- 1 Kings 22:40 I.e., died
- 1 Kings 22:43 Lit in all the way of
- 1 Kings 22:50 I.e., died
1 Kings 22
Common English Bible
Jehoshaphat and Ahab
22 For three years there was no war between Aram and the Israelites. 2 In the third year, Judah’s King Jehoshaphat visited Israel’s king. 3 Israel’s king said to his servants, “You know, don’t you, that Ramoth-gilead is ours? But we aren’t doing anything to take it back from the king of Aram.” 4 He said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me into battle at Ramoth-gilead?”
Jehoshaphat said to Israel’s king, “I am with you, and my troops and my horses are united with yours. 5 But,” Jehoshaphat said to Israel’s king, “first let’s see what the Lord has to say.”
6 So Israel’s king gathered about four hundred prophets, and he asked them, “Should I go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”
“Attack!” the prophets answered. “The Lord will hand it over to the king.”
7 But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there any other prophet of the Lord whom we could ask?”
8 “There is one other man who could ask the Lord for us,” Israel’s king told Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad. His name is Micaiah, Imlah’s son.”
“The king shouldn’t speak like that!” Jehoshaphat said.
9 So Israel’s king called an officer and ordered, “Bring Micaiah, Imlah’s son, right away.”
10 Now Israel’s king and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat were sitting on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor beside the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 11 Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, made iron horns for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans until there’s nothing left of them!”
12 All the other prophets agreed: “Attack Ramoth-gilead and win! The Lord will hand it over to the king!”
13 Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen, the prophets all agree that the king will succeed. You should say the same thing they say and prophesy success.”
14 But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what the Lord tells me to say.”
15 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”
“Attack and win!” Micaiah answered. “The Lord will hand it over to the king!”
16 But the king said, “How many times must I demand that you tell me the truth when you speak in the name of the Lord?”
17 Then Micaiah replied, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd! And then the Lord said: They have no master. Let them return safely to their own homes.”
18 Then Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you? He never prophesies anything good about me, only bad.”
19 Then Micaiah said, “Listen now to the Lord’s word: I saw the Lord enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed beside him, at his right and at his left. 20 The Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth-gilead and dies there?’ There were many suggestions 21 until one particular spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I’ll persuade him.’ ‘How?’ the Lord asked. 22 ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets,’ he said. The Lord agreed, ‘You will succeed in persuading him! Go ahead!’ 23 So now, since the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of every one of these prophets of yours, it is the Lord who has pronounced disaster against you!”
24 Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, approached Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. “Just how did the Lord’s spirit leave me to speak to you?” he asked.
25 Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room.”
26 “Arrest him,” ordered Israel’s king, “and turn him over to Amon the city official and to Joash the king’s son. 27 Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.’”
28 “If you ever return safely,” Micaiah replied, “then the Lord wasn’t speaking through me.” Then he added, “Pay attention, every last one of you!”
29 So Israel’s king and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat attacked Ramoth-gilead. 30 Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself when we go into battle,[a] but you should wear your royal attire.” When Israel’s king had disguised himself, they entered the battle.
31 Meanwhile, Aram’s king had commanded his thirty-two chariot officers, “Don’t bother with anyone big or small. Fight only with Israel’s king.”
32 As soon as the chariot officers saw Jehoshaphat, they assumed that he must be Israel’s king, so they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out for help. 33 When the chariot officers realized that he wasn’t Israel’s king, they stopped chasing him. 34 But someone randomly shot an arrow that struck Israel’s king between the joints in his armor.[b]
“Turn around and get me out of the battle,” the king told his chariot driver. “I’ve been hit!”
35 While the battle raged all that day, the king stood propped up in the chariot facing the Arameans. But that evening he died after his blood had poured from his wound into the chariot. 36 When the sun set, a shout spread throughout the camp: “Retreat to your towns! Retreat to your land!” 37 Once the king had died, people came from Samaria and buried the king there. 38 They cleaned the chariot at the pool of Samaria. The dogs licked up the king’s blood and the prostitutes bathed in it, just as the Lord had spoken.
Ahab’s last days
39 The rest of Ahab’s deeds and all that he did—including the ivory palace he built and all the towns he constructed—aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? 40 Ahab lay down with his ancestors. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
Jehoshaphat rules Judah
41 Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king over Judah in the fourth year of Israel’s King Ahab. 42 Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah; she was Shilhi’s daughter. 43 Jehoshapat walked in all the ways of his father Asa, not deviating from it. He did the right things in the Lord’s eyes, with the exception that he didn’t remove the shrines. The people continued to sacrifice and offer incense at them. 44 Jehoshaphat made peace with Israel’s king. 45 The rest of Jehoshaphat’s deeds, the great acts he did, and how he fought in battle, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 46 Additionally, Jehoshaphat purged the land of the consecrated workers[c] who remained from the days of Asa.
47 Now Edom had no king; only a deputy was ruler. 48 Jehoshaphat built Tarshish-styled ships to go to Ophir for gold. But the fleet didn’t go because it was wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my sailors go with your sailors on the ships.” But Jehoshaphat didn’t agree to this. 50 Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in his ancestor David’s City. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
Ahaziah rules Israel
51 In the seventeenth year of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled over Israel for two years. 52 He did evil in the Lord’s eyes. He walked in his father’s ways and his mother’s ways—that is, in the ways of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, who had caused Israel to sin. 53 Ahaziah served Baal and worshipped him. He angered the Lord, Israel’s God, by doing all the same things his father had done.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 22:30 LXX, Tg; MT Disguise yourself and go
- 1 Kings 22:34 Heb uncertain
- 1 Kings 22:46 Traditionally cultic prostitutes
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