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2 Chronicles 18:4-27
New English Translation

4 Then Jehoshaphat said further to the king of Israel,[a] “First,[b] please seek an oracle from the Lord.”[c] 5 So the king of Israel assembled 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?”[d] They said, “Attack! God[e] will hand it over to the king.” 6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord still here, that we may ask him?” 7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will,[f] but I despise[g] him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but always[h] disaster—Micaiah son of Imlah.” Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things!” 8 The king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”

9 Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, dressed in their royal robes, at the threshing floor at[i] the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying before them. 10 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.’” 11 All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 12 Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed.[j] Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success!”[k] 13 But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what my God tells me to say!”

14 Micaiah[l] came before the king and the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” He answered him, “Attack! You will succeed; they will be handed over to you.”[m] 15 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you solemnly promise in[n] the name of the Lord to tell me only the truth?” 16 Micaiah[o] replied, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. Then the Lord said, ‘They have no master. They should go home in peace.’” 17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster?” 18 Micaiah[p] said, “That being the case, listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left. 19 The Lord said, ‘Who will deceive King Ahab of Israel, so he will attack Ramoth Gilead and die there?’ One said this and another that. 20 Then a spirit[q] stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’ 21 He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord[r] said, ‘Deceive and overpower him.[s] Go out and do as you have proposed.’ 22 So now, look, the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, but the Lord has decreed disaster for you.” 23 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the Lord’s Spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?” 24 Micaiah replied, “Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide.” 25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city official and Joash the king’s son. 26 Say, ‘This is what the king says: “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water[t] until I return safely.”’” 27 Micaiah said, “If you really do return safely, then the Lord has not spoken through me!” Then he added, “Take note,[u] all you people.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 18:4 tn The word “further” has been added on the basis that this is a second speech act. The narrator uses the title “king of Israel” to convey a sense of formality.
  2. 2 Chronicles 18:4 tn Or “even today,” “right away.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 18:4 tn Heb “inquire for the Lord’s message.” Jehoshaphat is requesting a prophetic oracle revealing the Lord’s will in the matter and their prospects for success. For examples of such oracles, see 2 Sam 5:19, 23-24.
  4. 2 Chronicles 18:5 tn Heb “Should we go against Ramoth Gilead for war or should I refrain?”
  5. 2 Chronicles 18:5 tn Though Jehoshaphat had requested an oracle from “the Lord” (יְהוָה, yehvah, “Yahweh”), the Israelite prophets stop short of actually using this name and substitute the title הָאֱלֹהִים (haʾelohim, “the God”). This ambiguity may explain in part Jehoshaphat’s hesitancy and caution (vv. 7-8). He seems to doubt that the 400 are genuine prophets of the Lord.
  6. 2 Chronicles 18:7 tn Heb “to seek the Lord from him.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 18:7 tn Or “hate.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 18:7 tn Heb “all his days.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 18:9 tn Heb “at,” which in this case probably means “near.”
  10. 2 Chronicles 18:12 tn Heb “the words of the prophets are [with] one mouth good for the king.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 18:12 tn Heb “let your words be like one of them and speak good.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 18:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Micaiah) has been specified in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
  13. 2 Chronicles 18:14 sn One does not expect Micaiah, having just vowed to speak only what the Lord tells him, to agree with the other prophets and give the king an inaccurate prophecy. Micaiah’s actions became understandable later, when we discover that the Lord desires to deceive the king and lead him to his demise. The Lord even dispatches a lying spirit to deceive Ahab’s prophets. Micaiah can lie to the king because he realizes this lie is from the Lord. It is important to note that in v. 13 Micaiah only vows to speak the word of his God; he does not necessarily say he will tell the truth. In this case the Lord’s word is deliberately deceptive. Only when the king adjures him to tell the truth (v. 15), does Micaiah do so.
  14. 2 Chronicles 18:15 tn Or “swear an oath by.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 18:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Micaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  16. 2 Chronicles 18:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Micaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  17. 2 Chronicles 18:20 tn Heb “the spirit.” The significance of the article prefixed to רוּחַ (ruakh) is uncertain, but it could contain a clue as to this spirit’s identity, especially when interpreted in light of verse 23. It is certainly possible, and probably even likely, that the article is used in a generic or dramatic sense and should be translated, “a spirit.” In the latter case it would show that this spirit was vivid and definite in the mind of Micaiah the storyteller. However, if one insists that the article indicates a well-known or universally known spirit, the following context provides a likely referent. Verse 23 tells how Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face and then asked sarcastically, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord (רוּחַ־יְהוָה, ruakh yehvah) go when he went from me to speak to you?” When the phrase “the spirit of the Lord” refers to the divine spirit (rather than the divine breath or mind, as in Isa 40:7, 13) elsewhere, the spirit energizes an individual or group for special tasks or moves one to prophesy. This raises the possibility that the deceiving spirit of vv. 20-22 is the same as the divine spirit mentioned by Zedekiah in v. 23. This would explain why the article is used on רוּחַ (ruakh); he can be called “the spirit” because he is the well-known spirit who energizes the prophets.
  18. 2 Chronicles 18:21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  19. 2 Chronicles 18:21 tn The Hebrew text has two imperfects connected by וְגַם (vegam). These verbs could be translated as specific futures, “you will deceive and also you will prevail,” in which case the Lord is assuring the spirit of success on his mission. However, in a commissioning context (note the following imperatives) such as this, it is more likely that the imperfects are injunctive, in which case one could translate, “Deceive, and also overpower.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 18:26 tn Heb “the bread of affliction and the water of affliction.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 18:27 tn Heb “Listen.”
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2 Chronicles 18:4-27
Common English Bible

4 But,” Jehoshaphat said to Israel’s king, “first, let’s see what the Lord has to say.” 5 So Israel’s king gathered four hundred prophets and asked them, “Should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”

“Attack!” the prophets answered. “God will hand it over to the king.”

6 But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there any other prophet of the Lord around whom we could ask?”

7 “There’s 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.

8 So Israel’s king called an officer and ordered, “Bring Micaiah, Imlah’s son, right away.”

9 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. 10 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!”

11 The other prophets agreed: “Attack Ramoth-gilead and win! The Lord will hand it over to the king!”

12 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.”

13 But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what God tells me to say.”[a]

14 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.”

15 But the king said, “How many times must I demand that you tell me the truth when you speak in the Lord’s name?”

16 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.’”

17 Then Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you? He never prophesies anything good about me, only bad.”

18 Then Micaiah said, “Listen now to the Lord’s word: I saw the Lord enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed at his right and at his left. 19 The Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Israel’s King Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth-gilead and dies there?’ There were several suggestions, 20 until one particular spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ ‘How?’ the Lord asked. 21 ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. The Lord agreed: ‘You will succeed in persuading him! Go ahead!’ 22 So now, since the Lord placed a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, it is the Lord who has pronounced disaster against you!”

23 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.

24 Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room.”

25 “Arrest him,” ordered Israel’s king, “and turn him over to Amon the city governor and to Joash the king’s son. 26 Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.’”

27 “If you ever return safely,” Micaiah replied, “then the Lord wasn’t speaking through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, every last one of you!”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 18:13 LXX, 1 Kgs 22:14; MT omits me.
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