1 Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he became related by marriage to Ahab.
2 Some years later he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered a great many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him, and urged him to march against Ramoth-gilead.
3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you come with me against Ramoth-gilead?" He replied, "I am as you are, and my people as yours; we will go with you to the battle."
4 But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "First, please, seek the word of the LORD."
5 So the king of Israel brought the prophets together, four hundred men, and asked them, "Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?" They said, "Go up; God will hand it over to the king."
6 Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not another prophet of the LORD here whom we can consult?"
7 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "There is one more man through whom we can consult the LORD, but I hate him, because he never prophesies anything good about me, only evil all the time. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not talk like that."
8 So the king of Israel summoned an official and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."
9 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, wearing their royal robes, were each seated on his throne at the threshing floor by the entrance of Samaria's gate, with all the prophets prophesying in front of them.
10 Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made iron horns for himself, and he said, "This is what the LORD says: With these you will gore the Syrians until you have finished them off."
11 All the prophets were prophesying the same thing: "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and be victorious, for the LORD will hand it over to the king."
12 The messenger who had gone to call Micaiah told him, "Listen, the prophets are of one voice in predicting good for the king. Please let your word agree with theirs, and predict good."
13 Micaiah replied, "By the life of the LORD, I will say whatever my God tells me."
14 When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?" He said, "Go up and be victorious; they will be handed over to you."
15 The king said to him, "How often must I put you under oath to tell me only the truth in the LORD's name?"
16 So he said, "I saw all Israel scattered over the mountains like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'"
17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you he would not prophesy good about me, only evil?"
18 Micaiah went on, "So hear the LORD's word: I saw the LORD seated on his throne, with the whole army of heaven standing to his right and to his left.
19 The LORD asked, 'Who will lure Ahab king of Israel into going up and falling at Ramoth-gilead?' One said this, and another said that.
20 Then a spirit stepped forward, stood in front of the LORD, and said, 'I will lure him.' The LORD asked him, 'How?'
21 He replied, 'I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' And the LORD said, 'You will lure him, and you will prevail. Go and do it.'
22 So now, see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has decreed evil against you."
23 Zedekiah son of Chenaanah stepped up and slapped Micaiah on the cheek, saying, "Which way did the LORD's Spirit leave me to speak with you?"
24 Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you run into an inner room to hide."
25 The king of Israel said, "Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon the city governor and Joash the king's son,
26 and tell them, 'The king says this: Lock this fellow in prison and give him scant bread and scant water until I come back safely.'"
27 Micaiah said, "If you ever come back safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." And he added, "Mark this, all you peoples!"
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah marched up to Ramoth-gilead.
29 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "I will go into battle in disguise, but you put on your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into the battle.
30 The king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders, "Fight no one, small or great, except the king of Israel."
31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "This is the king of Israel," and they closed in to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; God lured them away from him.
32 As soon as the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.
33 Then a man drew his bow without taking aim and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his armor and the breastplate. The king told his chariot driver, "Turn around and get me out of the battle; I am wounded."
34 The fighting raged that day, and the king of Israel kept himself standing in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and as the sun went down, he died.