Ahab’s Third Campaign against Aram

22 Three ^[a]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, “Do you know that ^(C)Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we ^[b]are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?” ⁴ And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “^(D)I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

⁵ Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire ^[c]first for the word of the Lord.” ⁶ Then ^(E)the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁷ But ^(F)Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” ⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” ⁹ Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “^[d]Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.” ¹⁰ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed 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, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^(I)With these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.’” ¹² All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of 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 uniformly 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, what ^(K)the Lord says to me, that I shall speak.”

¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he ^[e]answered him, “^(L)Go up and succeed, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶ Then the king said to him, “How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷ So he said,

¹⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “^(N)Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

^19 [f]Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. ^(O)I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and ^(P)all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. ²⁰ The Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and ^(Q)be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’ ²³ Now therefore, behold, ^(R)the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”

²⁴ Then ^(S)Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “^(T)How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” ²⁵ Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you ^(U)enter an inner room 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, ‘Thus says the king, “^(V)Put this man in prison and feed him ^[g]sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.”’” ²⁸ Micaiah said, “^(W)If you indeed return 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 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 captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.” ³² So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel,” and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

³⁴ Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel ^[h]in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn ^[i]around and take me out of the ^[j]fight; ^(AB)for I am severely wounded.” ³⁵ The battle ^[k]raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. ^36 (AC)Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his ^[l]country.”

³⁷ So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), ^(AD)according to the word of the Lord which He spoke. ³⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all 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 slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son 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 twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ^43 (AG)He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. ^(AH)However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. ^44 (AI)Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might which he showed and how he warred, are they not written ^(AJ)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ The remnant of ^(AK)the sodomites who remained in the days of his father Asa, he ^[m]expelled from the land.

⁴⁷ Now ^(AL)there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat made ^(AM)ships of Tarshish to go to ^(AN)Ophir for gold, but ^(AO)they did not go for the ships were broken 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 slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and Jehoram his son 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 two years over Israel. 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 caused Israel to 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.

The Rewards of Wisdom

Giving to the Poor and Prayer

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men ^(A)to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

² “So when you ^[a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they ^(B)may be honored by men. ^(C)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you ^[b]give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your ^[c]giving will be in secret; and ^(D)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to ^(E)stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners ^[d](F)so that they may be seen by men. ^(G)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But you, when you pray, ^(H)go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and ^(I)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their ^(J)many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for ^(K)your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “^(L)Pray, then, in this way:

^14 (S)For if you forgive ^[h]others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But ^(T)if you do not forgive ^[i]others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth (Mammon)

¹⁶ “^(U)Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they ^[j]neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. ^(V)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, ^(W)anoint your head and wash your face ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your ^(X)Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

¹⁹ “^(Y)Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves ^(Z)treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for ^(AA)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²² “^(AB)The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is ^[k]clear, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if ^(AC)your eye is ^[l]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

²⁴ “^(AD)No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^[m](AE)wealth.

The Cure for Anxiety

²⁵ “^(AF)For this reason I say to you, ^[n]do not be ^(AG)worried about your ^[o]life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ^26 (AH)Look at the birds of the ^[p]air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? ²⁷ And who of you by being ^(AI)worried can ^(AJ)add a single ^[q]hour to his ^[r]life? ²⁸ And why are you ^(AK)worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, ²⁹ yet I say to you that not even ^(AL)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the ^(AM)grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? ^(AN)You of little faith! ³¹ Do not ^(AO)worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for ^(AP)your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But ^[s]seek first ^[t]His kingdom and His righteousness, and ^(AQ)all these things will be ^[u]added to you.

³⁴ “So do not ^(AR)worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will ^[v]care for itself. ^[w]Each day has enough trouble of its own.