Beginning

Micaiah Warns King Ahab

18 Jehoshaphat had much wealth and honor. He made an agreement with King Ahab through marriage.^{[a] 2} A few years later Jehoshaphat visited Ahab in Samaria. Ahab sacrificed many sheep and cattle as a great feast to honor Jehoshaphat and the people with him. He encouraged Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth in Gilead. ³ Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth in Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat answered, “I will be with you. And my soldiers will be like your own soldiers. We will join you in the battle.” ⁴ Jehoshaphat also said to Ahab, “But first we should ask the Lord to guide us.”

⁵ So King Ahab called a meeting of the prophets. There were 400 men. Ahab asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?”

They answered, “Go, because God will let you defeat it.”

⁶ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet of the Lord here? If there is, let’s ask him what we should do.”

⁷ Then King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “There is one other prophet. We could ask the Lord through him. But I hate him. When he prophesies, he never says anything good about me. He always says something bad. He is Micaiah, Imlah’s son.”

Jehoshaphat said, “King Ahab, you shouldn’t say that.”

⁸ So King Ahab told one of his officers to bring Micaiah to him at once.

⁹ King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah had on their royal robes. They were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor. This was near the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were speaking messages in front of the two kings. ¹⁰ One of the prophets was Zedekiah son of Kenaanah. He had made some iron horns. He said to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You will use these horns to fight the Arameans. And you will destroy them.’”

¹¹ All the other prophets said the same thing. They said, “Attack Ramoth in Gilead and win. The Lord will let you defeat the Arameans.”

¹² The messenger who had gone to get Micaiah found him. He said to Micaiah, “All the other prophets are saying the same thing. They are saying that King Ahab will win against the Arameans. You had better agree with them. Give the king a good answer.”

¹³ But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”

¹⁴ Then Micaiah came to King Ahab. The king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth in Gilead or not?”

Micaiah answered, “Attack and win. You will defeat it.”

¹⁵ King Ahab said to Micaiah, “Tell me only the truth by the power of the Lord. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

¹⁶ Then Micaiah answered, “I saw the army of Israel. They were scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘They have no leaders. Let each one go home and not fight.’”

¹⁷ Then King Ahab of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you! This prophet never says anything good about me. He only says bad things about me.”

¹⁸ But Micaiah continued to speak. He said, “Hear the message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. His heavenly army was standing on his right and on his left. ¹⁹ The Lord said, ‘Who will trick King Ahab of Israel into attacking Ramoth in Gilead? Do this so he will go and be killed.’ The spirits did not agree about what they should do. ²⁰ Then a spirit came and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will trick him.’ The Lord asked, ‘How will you do it?’ ²¹ The spirit answered, ‘I will go to Ahab’s prophets. I will make them tell lies.’ So the Lord said, ‘You will succeed in tricking him. Go and do it.’”

²² Micaiah said, “Ahab, this has now happened. The Lord has caused your prophets to lie to you. The Lord has decided that great trouble should come to you.”

²³ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up to Micaiah. And he slapped Micaiah in the face. Zedekiah said, “Do you really believe that the Lord’s Spirit has left me and is now speaking through you?”

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

²⁵ Then King Ahab ordered, “Take Micaiah. Send him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son. ²⁶ Tell them I said to put Micaiah in prison. Give him only bread and water. Keep him there until I come back safely from the battle.”

²⁷ Micaiah said, “Ahab, if you come back safely from the battle, the Lord has not spoken through me. Remember my words, all you people!”

Ahab Is Killed

²⁸ So Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went to Ramoth in Gilead. ²⁹ King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will go into battle. But I will wear other clothes so no one will know who I am. But you wear your royal clothes.” So King Ahab of Israel wore other clothes and went into battle.

³⁰ The king of Aram gave an order to his chariot commanders. He said, “Don’t fight with anyone but the king of Israel. It doesn’t matter if they are important or unimportant.” ³¹ When these commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel. So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat called out, and the Lord helped him. God made the chariot commanders turn away from Jehoshaphat. ³² When they saw he was not King Ahab, they stopped chasing him.

³³ By chance, a soldier shot an arrow. And it hit Ahab king of Israel. The arrow went in between the pieces of his armor. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and get me out of the battle. I’ve been wounded.” ³⁴ The battle went on all day. King Ahab held himself up in his chariot. He faced the Arameans until evening. Then Ahab died at sunset.

19 Jehoshaphat king of Judah came back safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ² Jehu son of Hanani went out to meet him. Jehu was a seer. He said to King Jehoshaphat, “Why did you help evil people? Why do you love those who hate the Lord? That is the reason the Lord is angry with you. ³ But there is some good in you. You took the Asherah idols out of this country. And you have wanted to obey God.”

Jehoshaphat Chooses Judges

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again to be with the people. He went from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim. He brought these people back to the Lord, the God their ancestors followed. ⁵ Jehoshaphat appointed judges in all the land. He appointed judges for each of the strong, walled cities of Judah. ⁶ Jehoshaphat said to them, “Be careful in what you do. This is because you are not judging for people but for the Lord. He will be with you when you make a decision. ⁷ Now let each of you fear the Lord. Be careful in what you do because the Lord our God wants people to be fair. He wants all people to be treated the same. And he doesn’t want people to accept money to change their judgments.”

⁸ And in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and leaders of Israelite families to be judges. They were to decide cases about the law of the Lord. And they were to settle problems between the people who lived in Jerusalem. ⁹ Jehoshaphat gave them commands. He said, “You must always serve the Lord completely. You must fear him. ¹⁰ You will have cases about killing, about the teachings, commands, rules or some other law. These cases will come from your people living in the cities. In all these cases you must warn the people not to sin against the Lord. If you don’t, the Lord will be angry with you and your people. But if you warn them, you won’t be guilty.

¹¹ “Amariah is the leading priest. He will be over you in all cases about the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ishmael is a leader in the tribe of Judah. He will be over you in all cases about the king. Also, the Levites will serve as officers for you. Have courage. May the Lord be with those who do what is right.”

Jehoshaphat Faces War

20 Later some people came to start a war with Jehoshaphat. They were the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A large army is coming against you from Edom. They are coming from the other side of the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazazon Tamar!” (Hazazon Tamar is also called En Gedi.) ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid. So he decided to ask the Lord what to do. He announced that no one in Judah should eat during this special time of prayer to God. ⁴ The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord for help. They came from every town in Judah to ask for his help.

⁵ The people of Judah and Jerusalem met in front of the new courtyard in the Temple of the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood up before them. ⁶ He said, “Lord, you are the God of our ancestors. You are the God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You have power and strength. No one can stand against you. ⁷ Our God, you forced out the people who lived in this land. You forced them out as your people Israel moved in. And you gave this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham. ⁸ They lived in this land and built a Temple for worshiping you. They said, ⁹ ‘Trouble may come to us. It may be war, punishment, sickness or a time of hunger. If it comes, we will stand before you and before this Temple where you have chosen to be worshiped. We will cry out to you when we are in trouble. Then you will hear and save us.’

¹⁰ “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Edom. You wouldn’t let the Israelites enter their lands when the Israelites came from Egypt. So the Israelites turned away and did not destroy them. ¹¹ But see how they repay us for not destroying them! They have come to force us out of your land. And you gave us this land as our own. ¹² Our God, punish those people. We have no power against this large army that is attacking us. We don’t know what to do. So we look to you for help.”

¹³ All the men of Judah stood before the Lord. Their babies, wives and children were with them. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Jahaziel. (Jahaziel was Zechariah’s son. Zechariah was Benaiah’s son. Benaiah was Jeiel’s son, and Jeiel was Mattaniah’s son.) Jahaziel was a Levite and a descendant of Asaph. He stood up in the meeting. ¹⁵ And he said: “Listen to me, King Jehoshaphat! Listen, all you people living in Judah and Jerusalem! The Lord says this to you: ‘Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of this large army. The battle is not your battle. It is God’s battle. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down there and fight those people. They will come up through the Pass of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine that leads to the Desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You won’t need to fight in this battle. Just stand strong in your places. You will see the Lord save you. Judah and Jerusalem, don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged. The Lord is with you. So go out against those people tomorrow!’”

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed facedown on the ground. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem bowed down before the Lord. And they worshiped him. ¹⁹ Then some Levites from the Kohathite and Korahite people stood up and praised the Lord. They praised the God of Israel with very loud voices.

²⁰ Jehoshaphat’s army went out into the Desert of Tekoa early in the morning. As they were starting out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God. Then you will stand strong. Have faith in the Lord’s prophets. Then you will succeed.” ²¹ Jehoshaphat listened to the people’s advice. Then he chose men to be singers to the Lord. They were to praise the Lord because he is holy and wonderful. They marched in front of the army. They said,

²² As they began to sing and praise God, the Lord set ambushes. He set them for the people of Ammon, Moab and Edom. They were the ones who came to attack Judah. And they were defeated. ²³ The men of Ammon and Moab started to attack the men from Edom. They killed and destroyed them. After they had killed the men from Edom, they killed each other.

²⁴ The men from Judah came to a place where they could see the desert. They looked at the enemy’s large army. But they only saw dead bodies lying on the ground. No one had escaped. ²⁵ Jehoshaphat and his army came to take valuable things from the dead bodies. They found many supplies, much clothing, and other valuable things. There was more than they could carry away. There was so much it took three days to gather it all. ²⁶ On the fourth day Jehoshaphat and his army met in the Valley of Beracah. There they praised the Lord. That is why that place has been called the Valley of Beracah^[b] to this day.

²⁷ Then Jehoshaphat led all the men from Judah and Jerusalem back to Jerusalem. The Lord had made them happy because their enemies were defeated. ²⁸ They entered Jerusalem with lyres, harps and trumpets and went to the Temple of the Lord.

²⁹ All the kingdoms of the lands around them heard how the Lord had fought Israel’s enemies. So they feared the Lord. ³⁰ So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was not at war. His God gave him peace from all the countries around him.

Jehoshaphat’s Rule Ends

³¹ Jehoshaphat ruled over the country of Judah. He was 35 years old when he began to rule. And he ruled 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² Jehoshaphat lived as his father Asa had lived. He followed what Asa had done. He did what the Lord said was right. ³³ But the places where false gods were worshiped were not removed. And the people did not strongly desire to follow the God their ancestors had followed.

³⁴ The other things Jehoshaphat did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written down. They are in the writings of Jehu son of Hanani. These writings are in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an agreement with Ahaziah king of Israel. It was wrong for him to do this. ³⁶ Jehoshaphat agreed with Ahaziah to build trading ships. They built them in the town of Ezion Geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu spoke against Jehoshaphat. Eliezer was from the town of Mareshah. He said, “Jehoshaphat, because you joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked. So Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah could not send them out to trade.