Beginning

Micaiah Tells What Will Happen

18 Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor. And by a marriage he was joined with Ahab. ² After some years he went down to visit Ahab at Samaria. Ahab killed many sheep and cattle for him and for the people who were with him. And he wanted Jehoshaphat to fight against Ramoth-gilead. ³ King Ahab of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” He answered, “I am as you are. And my people are as your people. We will be with you in the battle.”

⁴ Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Ask first for word from the Lord.” ⁵ So the king of Israel gathered together the 400 men who told what would happen in the future. He said to them, “Should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should I wait?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁶ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not another man who speaks for the Lord here whom we may ask?” ⁷ The king of Israel said to him, “There is yet one man whom we may ask of the Lord. But I hate him. For he never tells me anything good, only bad. He is Micaiah, the son of Imla.” But Jehoshaphat said, “You should not say that.” ⁸ Then the king of Israel called for one of his captains and said, “Hurry, bring Micaiah the son of Imla.” ⁹ The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in king’s clothing. They were sitting at the grain-floor at the gate of Samaria. All the men who told what would happen in the future were speaking in front of them. ¹⁰ Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “The Lord says that with these you will hurt the Syrians until they are destroyed.” ¹¹ All the men who told what would happen in the future were saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and win the battle. For the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

¹² Then the man who was sent to call Micaiah said to him, “See, all the men who tell what will happen in the future are speaking in the king’s favor. So I ask that you let your word be like one of them, and speak in the king’s favor.” ¹³ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I will speak what my God says.” ¹⁴ When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or should I wait?” Micaiah said, “Go up and win the battle. For they will be given into your hand.” ¹⁵ Then the king said to him, “How many times must I tell you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁶ So he said, “I saw all Israel spread out on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no owner. Let each of them return to his house in peace.’” ¹⁷ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not tell me anything good, but bad?” ¹⁸ Micaiah said, “So hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne. All the armies of heaven were standing on His right and on His left. ¹⁹ The Lord said, ‘Who will lead King Ahab of Israel to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. ²⁰ Then a spirit came and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will lead him to do it.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘How?’ ²¹ He said, ‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all Ahab’s men who tell what will happen in the future.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are to make him want to go, and you will do well. Go and do so.’ ²² So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of your men who speak for God. For the Lord has said that trouble will come to you.”

²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and hit Micaiah on the side of the face, and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” ²⁴ Micaiah said, “See, you will see on that day when you go into a room to hide yourself.” ²⁵ Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city leader, and to Joash the king’s son. ²⁶ Tell them, ‘The king says to put this man in prison. Feed him only a little bread and water until I return in peace.’” ²⁷ Micaiah said, “If you do return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Listen, all you people.”

Ahab Dies in Battle

²⁸ So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will dress up to look like someone else and go into battle. But you wear your king’s clothing.” So the king of Israel dressed up to look like someone else, and they went into battle. ³⁰ Now the king of Syria had told the captains of his war-wagons, “Do not fight with small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³¹ So when the captains of the war-wagons saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” And they turned to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God made them go away from him. ³² When the captains of the war-wagons saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from going after him. ³³ But a certain man happened to shoot an arrow and hit the king of Israel in a joint of the battle-clothes. So the king said to the man on the war-wagon, “Turn around, and take me out of the battle. For I am hurt.” ³⁴ The battle was hard that day. And the king of Israel stood up against the sides of his war-wagon in front of the Syrians until the evening. When the sun went down, he died.

19 King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem. ² Jehu the son of Hanani the man who tells what will happen in the future went out to meet King Jehoshaphat, and said to him, “Should you help the sinful? Should you love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the Lord is angry with you. ³ But there is some good in you. For you have destroyed from the land the false goddess Asherah. And you have set your heart to follow God.”

The Changes Made by Jehoshaphat

⁴ So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim. And he brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ⁵ He chose judges in the land in all the strong cities of Judah, city by city. ⁶ And he said to the judges, “Think about what you do. For you do not judge for man, but for the Lord. He is with you when you judge between right and wrong. ⁷ So now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be very careful what you do. For the Lord our God will have nothing to do with what is not right and good, or with what is not fair, or with taking pay for doing what is wrong.”

⁸ In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat chose some of the Levites and religious leaders, and heads of families of Israel. He chose them to judge for the Lord, and to judge the troubles among the people of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then he told them what they must do. He said, “Do this in the fear of the Lord. Be faithful, and do your duty with your whole heart. ¹⁰ Whenever trouble comes to you between your brothers who live in the cities, between blood and blood, between one law and another, tell them not to sin before the Lord, so God’s anger may not come upon you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not be guilty. ¹¹ See, Amariah the head religious leader will be over you in everything that has to do with the Lord. And Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the family of Judah, will be over you in everything that has to do with the king. The Levites will work for you as leaders. Be strong in what you do, and the Lord will be with the good.”

War against Edom

20 After this the men of Moab, and Ammon, and some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “Very many people are coming against you from the other side of the sea, from Syria. See, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is, Engedi).” ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid and decided to call on the Lord. He made a special time of not eating in all Judah. ⁴ And Judah gathered together to pray for help from the Lord. They came to the Lord from all the cities of Judah to call on the Lord.

⁵ Jehoshaphat stood among the people of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, in front of the new open space. ⁶ Then he said, “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? Do You not rule over all the nations? Power and strength are in Your hand, so that no one is able to stand against You. ⁷ O our God, did You not make the people of this land leave so that Your people Israel could have it and give it to the children of Your friend Abraham forever? ⁸ And they have lived in it. They have built You a holy place in it for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘If what is bad comes upon us, fighting, hard times, disease, or no food, we will stand in front of this house. And we will stand before You, (for Your name is in this house). We will cry to You in our trouble. And You will hear and take us out of trouble.’ ¹⁰ Now see the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel fight when they came from the land of Egypt. (They turned aside from them and did not destroy them.) ¹¹ Look how they are paying us back. They are coming to make us leave Your land which You have given to us. ¹² O our God, will You not punish them? For we have no power against all these men who are coming against us. We do not know what to do. But our eyes look to You.” ¹³ And all the men of Judah were standing before the Lord, with their babies, their wives, and their children.

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph, as he stood among the people. ¹⁵ He said, “Listen, all Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or troubled because of these many men. For the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Go down to fight them tomorrow. See, they will come up by the hill of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, in front of the desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Just stand still in your places and see the saving power of the Lord work for you, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid or troubled. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.” ¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat put his face to the ground. And all Judah and the people of Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. ¹⁹ The Levites, of the Kohathites and Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ They got up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. When they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and people of Jerusalem. Trust in the Lord your God, and you will be made strong. Trust in the men who speak for Him, and you will do well.” ²¹ When he had spoken with the people, he called those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy clothing. They went out in front of the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord. For His loving-kindness lasts forever.” ²² When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set traps against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah. So they were destroyed. ²³ The men of Ammon and Moab fought against the people of Mount Seir, and killed all of them. And when they finished with the people of Seir, they all helped to kill each other.

²⁴ Judah came to the place where they could look out over the desert. When they looked toward the armies, they saw that dead bodies were lying on the ground. No one had been left alive. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away what they wanted from them. They found cattle, many good things, clothing, and things of great worth, which they took for themselves. There was more than they could carry. It took them three days to take all the things, because there was so much. ²⁶ They gathered together in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day. There they praised and thanked the Lord. So the name of that place has been the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷ Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned, with Jehoshaphat leading them. They returned to Jerusalem with joy. For the Lord had filled them with joy by saving them from those who hated them. ²⁸ They came to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem with horns and different kinds of harps. ²⁹ And the fear of God came upon all the nations of the lands, when they heard that the Lord had fought against those who hate Israel. ³⁰ So the nation of Jehoshaphat was at peace. His God gave him rest on all sides.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Rule

³¹ So Jehoshaphat ruled over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king. And he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² Jehoshaphat walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not leave it. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. ³³ But the high places were not taken away. The people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their fathers. ³⁴ The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the story of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is written in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ After this King Jehoshaphat of Judah joined with King Ahaziah of Israel who was very sinful. ³⁶ He joined him in making ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah told what would happen against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” So the ships were wrecked, and could not go to Tarshish.