1 Now Jehoshaphat was very wealthy and highly honored, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. 2 Some years later he went to pay Ahab a visit in Samaria. Ahab sacrificed many sheep and cattle for him and the people who accompanied him, and encouraged him to attack Ramoth-gilead.

3 Ahab, king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, “Would you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “You and I are as one, and my men and your men are as one. We will join forces with you in this war.” 4 Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first though, please find out what the Lord says.”

5 So the king of Israel brought out the prophets—four hundred of them—and he asked them, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?”

“Yes, go ahead,” they replied, “for God will hand it over to the king.”

6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet of the Lord here that we can ask?”

7 “Yes, there's another man who could consult the Lord,” the king of Israel replied, “but I don't like him because he never prophesies anything good for me—it's always bad! His name is Micaiah, son of Imlah.”

“You shouldn't talk like that,” said Jehoshaphat.

8 The king of Israel called over one of his officials and told him, “Bring me Micaiah, son of Imlah, right away.”

9 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor beside the gate of Samaria, with all of the prophets prophesying in front of them. 10 One of them, Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, had made himself iron horns. He announced, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these horns you will gore the Arameans until they're dead!”

11 All the prophets were prophesying the same thing, saying, “Go ahead, attack Ramoth-gilead; you will be successful, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”

12 The messenger who went to call Micaiah told him, “Look, all the prophets are unanimous in prophesying positively to the king. So please make sure to speak positively like them.”

13 But Micaiah replied, “As the Lord lives, I can only say what my God tells me.”

14 When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Should we go up and attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?”

“Yes, go ahead and be victorious,” Micaiah replied, “for they will be handed over to the king.”* Clearly there is something in the tone of this statement that led Ahab to respond as he did in the next verse.

15 But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me only the truth in the name of the Lord?”

16 So Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people have no master;† “No master”: implying that their master is dead. let each of them go home in peace.’ ”

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good for me, only bad?”

18 Micaiah went on to say, “So listen to what the Lord says. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, surrounded by the whole army of heaven standing to his right and to his left. 19 The Lord asked, ‘Who will trick Ahab, king of Israel, into attacking Ramoth-gilead so he will be killed there?’

One said this, another said that, and another said something else. 20 Finally a spirit came and approached the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’

‘How are you going to do that?’ the Lord asked.

21 ‘I will go and be a lying spirit and make all his prophets tell lies,’ the spirit replied.

‘That will work,’ the Lord responded. ‘Go and do it.’

22 As you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced your death sentence.”

23 Then Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, went and slapped Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go when he left me to speak to you?”

24 “You'll soon find out when you try and find some secret place to hide!” Micaiah replied.

25 The king of Israel ordered, “Place Micaiah under arrest and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to my son Joash. 26 Tell them these are the king's instructions: ‘Put this man in jail. Give him only bread and water until my safe return.’ ”

27 “If you do in fact return safely then the Lord has not spoken through me,” Micaiah declared. “Pay attention everyone to all I've said!”

28 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack Ramoth-gilead. 29 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “When I go into battle I will be in disguise, but you should wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

30 The king of Aram had already given these orders to his chariot commanders: “Head straight for the king of Israel alone. Don't fight with anyone else, whoever they are.”

31 So when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “There's the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat called out for help, and the Lord did help him. God redirected them away from him, 32 for when the chariot commanders realized that he wasn't the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him. 33 However, an enemy archer shot an arrow at random, hitting the king of Israel between the joints of his armor by his breastplate. The king told his charioteer, “Turn around and get me out of the fight, because I've been wounded!” 34 The battle lasted all day. The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot to face the Arameans until the evening. But he died at sunset.