22:1 And they continued three years without war between Syria
and Israel.
22:2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the
king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
22:3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, Know ye that
Ramoth in Gilead [is] ours, and we [are] still, [and] take it
not out of the hand of the king of Syria?
22:4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle
to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I
[am] as thou [art], my people as thy people, my horses as thy
horses.
22:5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray
thee, at the word of the LORD to-day.
22:6 Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four
hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead
to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the
LORD will deliver [it] into the hand of the king.
22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, [Is there] not here a prophet of the
LORD besides, that we may inquire of him?
22:8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, [There is] yet
one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of
the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king
say so.
22:9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten
[hither] Micaiah the son of Imlah.
22:10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void
place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the
prophets prophesied before them.
22:11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron:
and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push
the Syrians, until thou hast consumed them.
22:12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to
Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD will deliver [it] into
the king's hand.
22:13 And the messenger that went to call Micaiah, spoke to him,
saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets [declare] good to
the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the
word of one of them, and speak [that which is] good.
22:14 And Micaiah said, [As] the LORD liveth, what the LORD
saith to me, that will I speak.
22:15 So he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micaiah,
shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we
forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD
will deliver [it] into the hand of the king.
22:16 And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure
thee that thou tell me nothing but [that which is] true in the
name of the LORD?
22:17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as
sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have
no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
22:18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell
thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I
saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go
up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said in this manner, and
another said in that manner.
22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD,
and said, I will persuade him.
22:22 And the LORD said to him, With what? And he said, I will
go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his
prophets? And he said, Thou shalt persuade [him], and prevail
also: go forth, and do so.
22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in
the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken
evil concerning thee.
22:24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote
Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of
the LORD from me to speak to thee?
22:25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when
thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
22:26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him
back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's
son;
22:27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this [man] in the
prison, and feed him with bread of affliction, and with water
of affliction, until I come in peace.
22:28 And Micaiah said, If thou shalt return at all in peace,
the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people,
every one of you.
22:29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
went up to Ramoth-gilead.
22:30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will
disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy
robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into
the battle.
22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two
captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither
with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
22:32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it [is] the king of Israel.
And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat
cried out.
22:33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots
perceived that it [was] not the king of Israel, that they
turned back from pursuing him.
22:34 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the
king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he
said to the driver of his chariot, Turn thy hand, and carry me
out of the host; for I am wounded.
22:35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed
up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at evening: and
the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
22:36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about
the setting of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and
every man to his own country.
22:37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they
buried the king in Samaria.
22:38 And [one] washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and
the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor;
according to the word of the LORD which he spoke.
22:39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and
the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he
built, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel?
22:40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son
reigned in his stead.
22:41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah
in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
22:42 Jehoshaphat [was] thirty and five years old when he began
to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name [was] Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
22:43 And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he turned
not aside from it, doing [that which was] right in the eyes of
the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away;
[for] the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high
places.
22:44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
22:45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might
that he showed, and how he warred, [are] they not written in
the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
22:46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the
days of his father Asa, he removed from the land.
22:47 [There was] then no king in Edom: a deputy [was] king.
22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for
gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at
Ezion-geber.
22:49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab to Jehoshaphat, Let my
servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat
would not.
22:50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried
with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram
his son reigned in his stead.
22:51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in
Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and
reigned two years over Israel.
22:52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and 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 made Israel to sin:
22:53 For he served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to
anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father
had done.
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