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1 Kings 22:3-15
New American Standard Bible
1 Kings 22:3-15
New American Standard Bible
3 Now the king of Israel said to his servants, “Are you aware that (A)Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, yet we are hesitant to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?” 4 So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go to battle with me at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “[a](B)Consider me yours, my people yours, and my horses yours!”
5 However, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please request the word of the Lord [b]first.” 6 So (C)the king of Israel assembled the [c]prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead or should I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 7 But (D)Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him?” 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy anything good regarding me, but only bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “May the king not say so.” 9 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah quickly.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and (E)all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made (F)horns of iron for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘(G)With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed!’” 12 All the prophets were prophesying this as well, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king.”
Micaiah Predicts Defeat
13 Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets are [d]unanimously favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said, “(H)As the Lord lives, whatever (I)the Lord says to me, I shall speak it.”
15 When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” And he said, “(J)Go up and succeed, for the Lord will hand it over to the king!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 22:4 Lit As me as you, as my people...as my horses, as your horses, an ancient idiom
- 1 Kings 22:5 Lit today
- 1 Kings 22:6 I.e., official prophets who at that time were false
- 1 Kings 22:13 Lit of one mouth
1 Kings 22:3-15
New International Version
1 Kings 22:3-15
New International Version
3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead(A) 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(B) 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(C) 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,”(D) they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”(E)
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet(F) of the Lord here whom we can inquire(G) of?”
8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate(H) him because he never prophesies anything good(I) 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(J) by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 11 Now Zedekiah(K) son of Kenaanah had made iron horns(L) 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.”(M)
14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.”(N)
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.”
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