¹³ Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Please now, the words of the prophet are unanimously^[a] favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably.” ¹⁴ Then Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives,^[b] surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak.” ¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?” He said to him, “Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶ Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me anything but truth in the name of Yahweh?” ¹⁷ So he said, “I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, ‘There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.’” ¹⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but disaster?”

¹⁹ And he^[c] said, “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand. ²⁰ And Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?’ Then this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another.^{[d] 21} Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, ‘I will entice him,’ and Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ ²² He said, ‘I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he^[e] said, ‘You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.’ ²³ So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you.”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came near and slapped Micaiah on the cheek and said, “When did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak with you?” ²⁵ Then Micaiah said, “Behold, you are about to see on that day when you go from room to room^[f] to hide.” ²⁶ The king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king; ²⁷ and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in the house of imprisonment and feed him reduced rations of food and water until I come in peace.”’” ²⁸ Then Micaiah said, “If you indeed return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken with me.” Then he said, “Let all the peoples hear!”