Micaiah Predicts Failure

¹³ The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, 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.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”^(A)

¹⁵ When he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” He answered him, “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”^{(B) 16} But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷ Then Micaiah^[a] said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each one go home in peace.’ ”^{(C) 18} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favorable about me but only disaster?”^(D)

¹⁹ Then Micaiah^[b] said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him.^{(E) 20} And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ Then one said one thing, and another said another, ²¹ until a certain spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² ‘How?’ the Lord asked him. He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord^[c] said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.’^{(F) 23} So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has decreed disaster for you.”^(G)

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up to Micaiah, slapped him on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?”^{(H) 25} Micaiah replied, “You will find out on that day when you go in to hide in an inner chamber.”^{(I) 26} The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, ²⁷ and say: Thus says the king: Put this fellow in prison, and feed him on reduced rations of bread and water until I come in peace.”^{(J) 28} Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, you peoples, all of you!”^(K)