1 For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel.3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?"4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the LORD."6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets —about four hundred men —and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?"8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king should not say such a thing," Jehoshaphat replied.9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.11 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'"12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably."14 But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me."15 When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?" "Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."16 The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"17 Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'"18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"19 Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that.21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'22 "'By what means?' the LORD asked. "'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. "'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.'23 "So now the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you."24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from "the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked.25 Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room."26 The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son27 and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'"28 Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!"29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel."32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out,33 the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him.34 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded."35 All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.36 As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town. Every man to his land!"37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there.38 They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), "and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared.39 As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and adorned with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?40 Ahab rested with his ancestors. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.43 In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. [^3]44 Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.45 As for the other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?46 He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.47 There was then no king in Edom; a provincial governor ruled.48 Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships "to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail —they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.49 At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my men sail with yours," but Jehoshaphat refused.50 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king.51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.52 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.53 He served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.

1 Transierunt igitur tres anni absque bello inter Syriam et Israël. 2 In anno autem tertio, descendit Josaphat rex Juda ad regem Israël. 3 (Dixitque rex Israël ad servos suos : Ignoratis quod nostra sit Ramoth Galaad, et negligimus tollere eam de manu regis Syriæ ?) 4 Et ait ad Josaphat : Veniesne mecum ad præliandum in Ramoth Galaad ? 5 Dixitque Josaphat ad regem Israël : Sicut ego sum, ita et tu : populus meus et populus tuus unum sunt : et equites mei, equites tui. Dixitque Josaphat ad regem Israël : Quære, oro te, hodie sermonem Domini. 6 Congregavit ergo rex Israël prophetas, quadringentos circiter viros, et ait ad eos : Ire debeo in Ramoth Galaad ad bellandum, an quiescere ? Qui responderunt : Ascende, et dabit eam Dominus in manu regis. 7 Dixit autem Josaphat : Non est hic propheta Domini quispiam, ut interrogemus per eum ? 8 Et ait rex Israël ad Josaphat : Remansit vir unus per quem possumus interrogare Dominum : sed ego odi eum, quia non prophetat mihi bonum, sed malum : Michæas filius Jemla. Cui Josaphat ait : Ne loquaris ita, rex. 9 Vocavit ergo rex Israël eunuchum quemdam, et dixit ei : Festina adducere Michæam filium Jemla.10 Rex autem Israël, et Josaphat rex Juda, sedebant unusquisque in solio suo, vestiti cultu regio, in area juxta ostium portæ Samariæ : et universi prophetæ prophetabant in conspectu eorum. 11 Fecit quoque sibi Sedecias filius Chanaana cornua ferrea, et ait : Hæc dicit Dominus : His ventilabis Syriam, donec deleas eam. 12 Omnesque prophetæ similiter prophetabant, dicentes : Ascende in Ramoth Galaad, et vade prospere, et tradet Dominus in manus regis. 13 Nuntius vero qui ierat ut vocaret Michæam, locutus est ad eum, dicens : Ecce sermones prophetarum ore uno regi bona prædicant : sit ergo sermo tuus similis eorum, et loquere bona. 14 Cui Michæas ait : Vivit Dominus, quia quodcumque dixerit mihi Dominus, hoc loquar. 15 Venit itaque ad regem, et ait illi rex : Michæa, ire debemus in Ramoth Galaad ad præliandum, an cessare ? Cui ille respondit : Ascende, et vade prospere, et tradet eam Dominus in manus regis. 16 Dixit autem rex ad eum : Iterum atque iterum adjuro te, ut non loquaris mihi nisi quod verum est, in nomine Domini. 17 Et ille ait : Vidi cunctum Israël dispersum in montibus, quasi oves non habentes pastorem. Et ait Dominus : Non habent isti dominum : revertatur unusquisque in domum suam in pace. 18 (Dixit ergo rex Israël ad Josaphat : Numquid non dixi tibi, quia non prophetat mihi bonum, sed semper malum ?) 19 Ille vero addens, ait : Propterea audi sermonem Domini : vidi Dominum sedentem super solium suum, et omnem exercitum cæli assistentem ei a dextris et a sinistris : 20 et ait Dominus : Quis decipiet Achab regem Israël, ut ascendat, et cadat in Ramoth Galaad ? Et dixit unus verba hujuscemodi, et alius aliter. 21 Egressus est autem spiritus, et stetit coram Domino, et ait : Ego decipiam illum. Cui locutus est Dominus : In quo ? 22 Et ille ait : Egrediar, et ero spiritus mendax in ore omnium prophetarum ejus. Et dixit Dominus : Decipies, et prævalebis : egredere, et fac ita. 23 Nunc igitur ecce dedit Dominus spiritum mendacii in ore omnium prophetarum tuorum, qui hic sunt, et Dominus locutus est contra te malum. 24 Accessit autem Sedecias filius Chanaana, et percussit Michæam in maxillam, et dixit : Mene ergo dimisit spiritus Domini, et locutus est tibi ? 25 Et ait Michæas : Visurus es in die illa quando ingredieris cubiculum intra cubiculum ut abscondaris. 26 Et ait rex Israël : Tollite Michæam, et maneat apud Amon principem civitatis, et apud Joas filium Amelech, 27 et dicite eis : Hæc dicit rex : Mittite virum istum in carcerem, et sustentate eum pane tribulationis, et aqua angustiæ, donec revertar in pace. 28 Dixitque Michæas : Si reversus fueris in pace, non est locutus in me Dominus. Et ait : Audite, populi omnes. 29 Ascendit itaque rex Israël, et Josaphat rex Juda, in Ramoth Galaad. 30 Dixit itaque rex Israël ad Josaphat : Sume arma, et ingredere prælium, et induere vestibus tuis. Porro rex Israël mutavit habitum suum, et ingressus est bellum. 31 Rex autem Syriæ præceperat principibus curruum triginta duobus, dicens : Non pugnabitis contra minorem et majorem quempiam, nisi contra regem Israël solum. 32 Cum ergo vidissent principes curruum Josaphat, suspicati sunt quod ipse esset rex Israël, et impetu facto pugnabant contra eum : et exclamavit Josaphat. 33 Intellexeruntque principes curruum quod non esset rex Israël, et cessaverunt ab eo. 34 Vir autem quidam tetendit arcum, in incertum sagittam dirigens, et casu percussit regem Israël inter pulmonem et stomachum. At ille dixit aurigæ suo : Verte manum tuam, et ejice me de exercitu, quia graviter vulneratus sum. 35 Commissum est ergo prælium in die illa, et rex Israël stabat in curru suo contra Syros, et mortuus est vespere : fluebat autem sanguis plagæ in sinum currus, 36 et præco insonuit in universo exercitu antequam sol occumberet, dicens : Unusquisque revertatur in civitatem, et in terram suam. 37 Mortuus est autem rex, et perlatus est in Samariam : sepelieruntque regem in Samaria, 38 et laverunt currum ejus in piscina Samariæ : et linxerunt canes sanguinem ejus, et habenas laverunt, juxta verbum Domini quod locutus fuerat. 39 Reliqua autem sermonum Achab, et universa quæ fecit, et domus eburnea quam ædificavit, cunctarumque urbium quas exstruxit, nonne hæc scripta sunt in libro sermonum dierum regum Israël ? 40 Dormivit ergo Achab cum patribus suis, et regnavit Ochozias filius ejus pro eo.41 Josaphat vero filius Asa regnare cœperat super Judam anno quarto Achab regis Israël. 42 Triginta quinque annorum erat cum regnare cœpisset, et viginti quinque annis regnavit in Jerusalem : nomen matris ejus Azuba filia Salai. 43 Et ambulavit in omni via Asa patris sui, et non declinavit ex ea : fecitque quod rectum erat in conspectu Domini. 44 Verumtamen excelsa non abstulit : adhuc enim populus sacrificabat, et adolebat incensum in excelsis. 45 Pacemque habuit Josaphat cum rege Israël. 46 Reliqua autem verborum Josaphat, et opera ejus quæ gessit, et prælia, nonne hæc scripta sunt in libro verborum dierum regum Juda ? 47 Sed et reliquias effeminatorum qui remanserant in diebus Asa patris ejus, abstulit de terra. 48 Nec erat tunc rex constitutus in Edom. 49 Rex vero Josaphat fecerat classes in mari, quæ navigarent in Ophir propter aurum : et ire non potuerunt, quia confractæ sunt in Asiongaber. 50 Tunc ait Ochozias filius Achab ad Josaphat : Vadant servi mei cum servis tuis in navibus. Et noluit Josaphat. 51 Dormivitque Josaphat cum patribus suis, et sepultus est cum eis in civitate David patris sui : regnavitque Joram filius ejus pro eo.52 Ochozias autem filius Achab regnare cœperat super Israël in Samaria, anno septimo Josaphat regis Juda : regnavitque super Israël duobus annis. 53 Et fecit malum in conspectu Domini, et ambulavit in via patris sui et matris suæ, et in via Jeroboam filii Nabat, qui peccare fecit Israël. 54 Servivit quoque Baal, et adoravit eum, et irritavit Dominum Deum Israël, juxta omnia quæ fecerat pater ejus.