1 Kings

The Prophet Micaiah

There was no war between Aram and Israel for three years.

But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.

The king of Israel asked his officers: “Have you forgotten that Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us? Yet we do nothing to take it back from the Arameans.”

So he asked Jehoshaphat: “Will you come with me to conquer Ramoth-Gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel: “I am with you, my people are with your people, and my horses with yours.”

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, said to the king of Israel: “Let us consult the Lord before setting out for war.”

So the king of Israel gathered all the prophets, numbering about four hundred men, and asked them: “Shall I go to conquer Ramoth-Gilead, or shall I hold back?” They replied: “Go, for the Lord will deliver the city into your hands.”

Jehoshaphat asked: “Is there no other prophet of the Lord around here whom we might ask?”

The king of Israel answered: “There is still one through whom we may ask for the Lord’s counsel, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good about me but only evil. It is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” Then Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t speak in this manner.”

The king of Israel called an official and told him: “Bring quickly Micaiah, son of Imlah.”

In the meantime, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were seated on their thrones, fully robed. They were both on the threshing floor by the entrance gate of Samaria, where the prophets continued to prophesy before them.

There was Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, who made for himself horns from iron and said: “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these horns, you shall strike the Arameans until they are destroyed.’”

All the prophets said the same: “Go to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph. The Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king.”

The official who went to summon Micaiah said to him: “Look here, all the prophets agree to foretell a happy end to the king. You, too, agree to speak favorably.”

But Micaiah replied: “As the Lord lives, I will speak what the Lord tells me.”

When he had come, the king asked him: “Micaiah, shall we go to conquer Ramoth-Gilead, or shall we hold back?” Then Micaiah answered: “Go and triumph! The Lord will give the city into the hands of the king!”

But the king asked him: “How many times shall I ask you to speak seriously to me and tell me the truth in the name of the Lord?”

Then Micaiah said: “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. Then the Lord said: ‘These have no master; so let each return to his home in peace.’”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good about me, but only evil?”

Micaiah replied: “Listen again to this word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with the entire host of heaven standing beside him on his right and left.

Then the Lord asked: ‘Who will entice Ahab that he may go and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?’ One said one thing, and another, another thing.

Then a spirit stood before the Lord, saying: ‘I will deceive him.’

The Lord then asked him, ‘What will you do?’ To this, he replied: ‘I will go and make myself a lying spirit on the lips of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You shall succeed. Go and do just that.’

You must know that the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours because he willed to bring evil on you.”

Then Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, approached Micaiah, struck him, and said: “Has the spirit of the Lord left me to speak to you?”

Micaiah replied: “You shall discover for yourself on the day you flee from house to house to hide.”

The king of Israel ordered: “Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon, the city governor, and Joash, the king’s son.

Give them this order: ‘Throw this man in prison and feed him with a scant fare of bread and water until I come in peace.’”

Then Micaiah said: “If you return in peace, then the Lord has not spoken through me.”

So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth-Gilead, together with the king of Judah.

The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat: “I will disguise myself before the battle, but you wear your robes.” So, the king of Israel disguised himself before the battle.

The king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots: “Attack no one, big or small, but only the king of Israel.”

When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they thought: “That surely is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat shouted his war cry,

the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, and they no longer pursued him.

In the meantime, one of the Arameans drew his bow, without knowing at whom he aimed, and hit the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. The king then ordered the driver of his chariot: “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

The battle raged fiercely on that day. Meanwhile, the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Arameans, until the evening, when he died. The blood from his wound flowed down to the bottom of the chariot.

At about sunset, a cry went through the camp: “Everyone to his city, and everyone to his country!

The king has died!”The king was brought to Samaria and was buried there.

But they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria. So the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed in it, following the word spoken by the Lord.

The rest of the acts of Ahab, his deeds, the ivory house he built, and the cities he restored are all written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

So Ahab rested with his ancestors, and his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.

Jehoshaphat, King of Judah (870-848)

Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Ahab, king of Israel.

He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign and reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah, Shilhi’s daughter.

He conducted himself like his father, Asa, and did what pleased the Lord without hesitation.

Yet, he did not remove the high places where the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense.

Jehoshaphat had peace with the king of Israel.

The rest of Jehoshaphat’s acts, bravery, and war exploits are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

He also removed from the land the remaining male cult prostitutes, completing the work of his father Asa.

There was no king in Edom, but a governor ruled over it.

Jehoshaphat had Tarshish ships go to Ophir for gold, but the venture failed when the ships were wrecked at Ezion-Geber.

Then Ahaziah, son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat: “Let my servants go in the ships with your servants.” Jehoshaphat, however, refused.

When Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, he was buried with them in the city of his ancestor David, and his son Jehoram reigned in his place.

Ahaziah, King of Israel (853-852)

Ahaziah, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria during the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He reigned over Israel for two years.

He did what displeased the Lord by copying the actions of his father and mother and of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. He served Baal and worshiped him, offending the Lord, the God of Israel, in the same way his father had done.