The Daily Audio Bible
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Jehoshaphat King of Judah
17 Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king of Judah in his place. Jehoshaphat made Judah strong so they could fight against Israel. 2 He put troops in all the strong, walled cities of Judah, in the land of Judah, and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he lived as his ancestor David had lived when he first became king. Jehoshaphat did not ask for help from the Baal idols, 4 but from the God of his father. He obeyed God’s commands and did not live as the people of Israel lived. 5 The Lord made Jehoshaphat a strong king over Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he had much wealth and honor. 6 He wanted very much to obey the Lord. He also removed the places for worshiping gods and the Asherah idols from Judah.
7 During the third year of his rule, Jehoshaphat sent his officers to teach in the towns of Judah. These officers were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. 8 Jehoshaphat sent with them these Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 These leaders, Levites, and priests taught the people in Judah. They took the Book of the Teachings of the Lord and went through all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
10 The nations near Judah were afraid of the Lord, so they did not start a war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver to Jehoshaphat as he demanded. Some Arabs brought him flocks: seventy-seven hundred sheep and seventy-seven hundred goats.
12 Jehoshaphat grew more and more powerful. He built strong, walled cities and towns for storing supplies in Judah. 13 He kept many supplies in the towns of Judah, and he kept trained soldiers in Jerusalem. 14 These soldiers were listed by families. From the families of Judah, these were the commanders of groups of a thousand men: Adnah was the commander of three hundred thousand soldiers; 15 Jehohanan was the commander of two hundred eighty thousand soldiers; 16 Amasiah was the commander of two hundred thousand soldiers. Amasiah son of Zicri had volunteered to serve the Lord.
17 These were the commanders from the families of Benjamin: Eliada, a brave soldier, had two hundred thousand soldiers who used bows and shields. 18 And Jehozabad had one hundred eighty thousand men armed for war.
19 All these soldiers served King Jehoshaphat. The king also put other men in the strong, walled cities through all of Judah.
Micaiah Warns King Ahab
18 Jehoshaphat had much wealth and honor, and he made an agreement with King Ahab through marriage.[a] 2 A few years later Jehoshaphat went to visit 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 go with you, and my soldiers are yours. We will join you in the battle.” 4 Jehoshaphat also said to Ahab, “But first we should ask if this is the Lord’s will.”
5 So King Ahab called four hundred prophets together and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?”
They answered, “Go, because God will hand them over to you.”
6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? 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. He never prophesies anything good about me, but always something bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
Jehoshaphat said, “King Ahab, you shouldn’t say that!”
8 So Ahab king of Israel told one of his officers to bring Micaiah to him at once.
9 Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah had on their royal robes and were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor, near the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were standing before them speaking their messages. 10 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made some iron horns. He said to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You will use these horns to fight the Arameans until they are destroyed.’”
11 All the other prophets said the same thing, “Attack Ramoth in Gilead and win, because the Lord will hand the Arameans over to you.”
12 The messenger who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets are saying King Ahab will win. You should agree with them and give the king a good answer.”
13 But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”
14 When Micaiah came to Ahab, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth in Gilead or not?”
Micaiah answered, “Attack and win! They will be handed over to you.”
15 But Ahab said to Micaiah, “How many times do I have to tell you to speak only the truth to me in the name of the Lord?”
16 So Micaiah answered, “I saw the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘They have no leaders. They should go home and not fight.’”
17 Then Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you! He never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad.”
18 But Micaiah said, “Hear the message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with his heavenly army standing on his right and on his left. 19 The Lord said, ‘Who will trick King Ahab of Israel into attacking Ramoth in Gilead where he will be killed?’
“Some said one thing; some said another. 20 Then one spirit came and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’
“The Lord asked, ‘How will you do it?’
21 “The spirit answered, ‘I will go to Ahab’s prophets and make them tell lies.’
“So the Lord said, ‘You will succeed in tricking him. Go and do it.’”
22 Micaiah said, “Ahab, the Lord has made your prophets lie to you, and the Lord has decided that disaster should come to you.”
23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up to Micaiah and slapped him in the face. Zedekiah said, “Has the Lord’s Spirit left me to speak through you?”
24 Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inside room.”
25 Then Ahab king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son. 26 Tell them I said to put this man in prison and give him only bread and water until I return 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 recognize me. But you wear your royal clothes.” So Ahab wore other clothes, and they went into battle.
30 The king of Aram ordered his chariot commanders, “Don’t fight with anyone—important or unimportant—except the king of Israel.” 31 When these commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel, so they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat began shouting, 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 which hit Ahab king of Israel between the pieces of his armor. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and get me out of the battle, because I am hurt!” 34 The battle continued all day. King Ahab held himself up in his chariot and faced the Arameans until evening. Then he died at sunset.
25 As the Scripture says in Hosea:
“I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And I will show my love
to those people I did not love.” Hosea 2:1, 23
26 “They were called,
‘You are not my people,’
but later they will be called
‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10
27 And Isaiah cries out about Israel:
“The people of Israel are many,
like the grains of sand by the sea.
But only a few of them will be saved,
28 because the Lord will quickly and completely punish the people on the earth.” Isaiah 10:22–23
29 It is as Isaiah said:
“The Lord All-Powerful
allowed a few of our descendants to live.
Otherwise we would have been completely destroyed
like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”[a] Isaiah 1:9
30 So what does all this mean? Those who are not Jews were not trying to make themselves right with God, but they were made right with God because of their faith. 31 The people of Israel tried to follow a law to make themselves right with God. But they did not succeed, 32 because they tried to make themselves right by the things they did instead of trusting in God to make them right. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble. 33 As it is written in the Scripture:
“I will put in Jerusalem a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
10 Brothers and sisters, the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God. 2 I can say this about them: They really try to follow God, but they do not know the right way. 3 Because they did not know the way that God makes people right with him, they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right. 4 Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.
5 Moses writes about being made right by following the law. He says, “A person who obeys these things will live because of them.”[b] 6 But this is what the Scripture says about being made right through faith: “Don’t say to yourself, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (That means, “Who will go up to heaven and bring Christ down to earth?”) 7 “And do not say, ‘Who will go down into the world below?’” (That means, “Who will go down and bring Christ up from the dead?”) 8 This is what the Scripture says: “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.”[c] That is the teaching of faith that we are telling. 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”[d] 12 That Scripture says “anyone” because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him, 13 as the Scripture says, “Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.”[e]
A Prayer for the King
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in times of trouble.
May the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from his Temple
and support you from Mount Zion.
3 May he remember all your offerings
and accept all your sacrifices. Selah
4 May he give you what you want
and make all your plans succeed,
5 and we will shout for joy when you succeed,
and we will raise a flag in the name of our God.
May the Lord give you all that you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord helps his appointed king.
He answers him from his holy heaven
and saves him with his strong right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, others in horses,
but we trust the Lord our God.
8 They are overwhelmed and defeated,
but we march forward and win.
9 Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call for help.
2 An angry king is like a roaring lion.
Making him angry may cost you your life.
3 Foolish people are always fighting,
but avoiding quarrels will bring you honor.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.