Reference: Micaiah
American
1. A faithful and fearless prophet, consulted by King Ahab at the demand of Jehoshaphat as to the issue of their proposed campaign against the Syrians. He was imprisoned to abide the event, which coincided with his predictions and probably secured his release, 1Ki 22:8-38. Ahab's conduct in this matter displays the amazing folly of sins against light.
2. A prince of Judah, who seconded the efforts of Jehoshaphat to instruct and reform the people of Judah, 2Ki 17:7-9.
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah. read more. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely. And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things. And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say. When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil? And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace. And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress and went into the fight. Now the king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel. So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Truly, this is the king of Israel; and turning against him, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry. And when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him. And a certain man sent an arrow from his bow without thought of its direction, and gave the king of Israel a wound where his breastplate was joined to his clothing; so he said to the driver of his war-carriage, Go to one side and take me away out of the army, for I am badly wounded. But the fight became more violent while the day went on; and the king was supported in his war-carriage facing the Aramaeans, and the floor of the carriage was covered with the blood from his wound, and by evening he was dead. And about sundown a cry went up from all parts of the army, saying, Let every man go back to his town and his country, for the king is dead. And they came to Samaria, and put the king's body to rest in Samaria. And the war-carriage was washed by the pool of Samaria, which was the bathing-place of the loose women, and the dogs were drinking his blood there, as the Lord had said.
And the wrath of the Lord came on Israel because they had done evil against the Lord their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt from under the yoke of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had become worshippers of other gods, Living by the rules of the nations whom the Lord had sent out from before the children of Israel. read more. And the children of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things which were not right, building high places for themselves in all their towns, from the tower of the watchmen to the walled town.
Easton
who is like Jehovah?, the son of Imlah, a faithful prophet of Samaria (1Ki 22:8-28). Three years after the great battle with Ben-hadad (1Ki 20:29-34), Ahab proposed to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, that they should go up against Ramoth-Gilead to do battle again with Ben-hadad. Jehoshaphat agreed, but suggested that inquiry should be first made "at the word of Jehovah." Ahab's prophets approved of the expedition; but Jehoshaphat, still dissatisfied, asked if there was no other prophet besides the four hundred that had appeared, and was informed of this Micaiah. He was sent for from prison, where he had been confined, probably on account of some prediction disagreeable to Ahab; and he condemned the expedition, and prophesied that it would end, as it did, in disaster. We hear nothing further of this prophet. Some have supposed that he was the unnamed prophet referred to in 1Ki 20:35-42.
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Now the two armies kept their positions facing one another for seven days. And on the seventh day the fight was started; and the children of Israel put to the sword a hundred thousand Aramaean footmen in one day. But the rest went in flight to Aphek, into the town, where a wall came down on the twenty-seven thousand who were still living. And Ben-hadad went in flight into the town, into an inner room. read more. Then his servants said to him, It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel; it may be that he will give you your life. So they put on haircloth, and cords on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, Let me now keep my life. And he said, Is he still living? he is my brother. Now the men took it as a sign, and quickly took up his words; and they said, Ben-hadad is your brother. Then he said, Go and get him. So Ben-hadad came out to him and he made him get up into his carriage. And Ben-hadad said to him, The towns my father took from your father I will give back; and you may make streets for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria. And as for me, at the price of this agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him go. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour by the word of the Lord, Give me a wound. But the man would not. Then he said to him, Because you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, straight away when you have gone from me a lion will put you to death. And when he had gone, straight away a lion came rushing at him and put him to death. Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him. So the prophet went away, and pulling his head-band over his eyes to keep his face covered, took his place by the road waiting for the king. And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment. But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself. Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets. And he said to him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah. read more. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely. And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things. And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say. When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil? And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace. And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.
Fausets
MICAIAH or MICHAIAH. Son of Imlah (1Ki 22:8). Consulted by Ahab at Jehoshaphat's request when undertaking the joint expedition against Ramoth Gilead, which Benhadad had engaged to restore (1Ki 20:34). The 400 prophets whom Ahab gathered together to "inquire the word of Jehovah" (1Ki 22:5) were prophets of Jeroboam's symbolic calf worship of Jehovah not of Baal. (See JEROBOAM.) Jehoshaphat begged for some "prophet of Jehovah besides," unconnected with the calf symbolism forbidden by the second commandment. Ahab mentioned Micaiah, adding "I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me but evil" (compare 1Ki 21:20; Jer 36:28).
Ahab had Micaiah already in prison, as 1Ki 22:26 implies, "carry him back ... prison." Josephus (Ant. 8:15, sec. 6) says that it was Micaiah who predicted ("in the word of Jehovah," Hag 1:13) death by a lion to the neighbor who would not smite him, and who, disguised with ashes, under the parable of one letting go a prisoner entrusted to him made Ahab in his hour of triumph, when the mortification would be the greater, condemn himself out of his own mouth, to lose his life for letting Benhadad escape (1Ki 20:35-43). Zedekiah, one of the 400, at the gate of Samaria where the two kings sat in state, symbolically putting horns or iron spikes on his head, foretold the transfer of Ephraim's blessing (De 33:17) to Ahab; "with the horns of the buffalo (or wild ox, reem) he shall push the people."
So all the rest said, "go up and prosper." Micaiah, though prompted to imitate their prophecies of good, would say only what Jehovah said (Nu 22:38). Ironically and in parody he repeated at first their parrot-like cry, "go and prosper," to show Ahab how easy such prophesying is if worldly interest were one's aim. Then, being adjured in Jehovah's name, Micaiah said "I saw all Israel scattered ... as sheep that have no shepherd (quoted by the Lord Jesus Himself, Mt 9:36, as it is previously the basis of Eze 34:5; Zec 10:2), and Jehovah said, these have no master (Ahab falling), let them return every man to his house." Instead of Moses' blessing on Ephraim awaiting Ahab, as Zedekiah had said, Moses' picture of what Israel would be at his death, "Jehovah's congregation as sheep having no shepherd," if no successor were appointed, would be realized (Nu 27:17). Ahab, though he had asked Micaiah to speak the truth, attributed it when spoken to Micaiah's ill will.
Micaiah therefore revealed the source unseen of the 400 prophets' falsehood; Jehovah, seen in real vision on His throne amidst His hosts, asked, who shall persuade Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? A lying spirit undertook to influence the 400 to Ahab's ruin (Zec 13:2; 1Jo 4:6). The access of Satan to the heavenly court in Old Testament times appears here and Job 1:6; 2:1 (but compare Re 12:7-10 as to the New Testament times). God said to the lying spirit, "go forth and do so." It was no invention of fancy, but a supernatural agency under Satan, by God's overruling appointment, which in righteous retribution gives over to a lie those who love not the truth (Jg 9:23; Job 12:16; Eze 14:9; 2Th 2:11-12).
God does not will or tempt to evil (Jas 1:13); but, as Ahab would not heed the true prophet, gives him over to the false (Ro 1:24-28; 9:17-23; Ex 7:3,13; 14:4,17; 10:20,27). The words "thou shalt persuade and prevail also" show that the human will was left free; God makes one stage in the sinner's downward course the sequel and punishment of the foregoing one; Ahab might have resisted the tempter. Zedekiah, conscious that he had not invented his lying prophecy, smote Micaiah on the cheek, asking "which way went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak unto thee? .... Thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide," namely, from the vengeance of those misled by thee to their defeat.
Ahab commanded, "take Micaiah back unto Amon ... in the prison, feed him with bread and water of affliction (in more severe imprisonment than before) until I come in peace." Micaiah replied: "if thou return at all in peace Jehovah hath not spoken by me; hearken, O nations, every one of you"; appealing not only to Israel but to the Gentile world, to which Ahab had conformed, and which may heed, since Israel will not, so as when the event should come to pass to discern the truth of Jehovah (Mic 1:2).
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And I will make Pharaoh's heart hard, and my signs and wonders will be increased in the land of Egypt.
But Pharaoh's heart was made hard, and he did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.
But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
And I will make Pharaoh's heart hard, and he will come after them and I will be honoured over Pharaoh and all his army, so that the Egyptians may see that I am the Lord. And they did so.
And I will make the heart of the Egyptians hard, and they will go in after them: and I will be honoured over Pharaoh and over his army, his war-carriages, and his horsemen.
Then Balaam said to Balak, Now I have come to you; but have I power to say anything? Only what God puts into my mouth may I say.
To go out and come in before them and be their guide; so that the people of the Lord may not be like sheep without a keeper.
He is a young ox, glory is his; his horns are the horns of the mountain ox, with which all peoples will be wounded, even to the ends of the earth: they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.
So that this may be a sign among you; when your children say to you in time to come, What is the reason for these stones?
And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the townsmen of Shechem; and the townsmen of Shechem were false to Abimelech;
And Ben-hadad said to him, The towns my father took from your father I will give back; and you may make streets for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria. And as for me, at the price of this agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him go. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour by the word of the Lord, Give me a wound. But the man would not. read more. Then he said to him, Because you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, straight away when you have gone from me a lion will put you to death. And when he had gone, straight away a lion came rushing at him and put him to death. Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him. So the prophet went away, and pulling his head-band over his eyes to keep his face covered, took his place by the road waiting for the king. And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment. But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself. Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets. And he said to him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people. Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.
And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you come face to face with me, O my hater? And he said, I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son;
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.
With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands;
Take another book and put down in it all the words which were in the first book, which Jehoiakim, king of Judah, put into the fire.
And if the prophet, tricked by deceit, says anything, it is I the Lord by whom he has been tricked, and I will put out my hand against him, and he will be cut off from among my people Israel.
And they were wandering in every direction because there was no keeper: and they became food for all the beasts of the field.
Give ear, you peoples, all of you; give attention, O earth and everything in it: let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy Temple.
Then Haggai, whom the Lord had sent to give his words to the people, said, I am with you, says the Lord.
For the images have said what is not true, and the readers of signs have seen deceit; they have given accounts of false dreams, they give comfort to no purpose: so they go out of the way like sheep, they are troubled because they have no keeper.
And it will come about on that day, says the Lord of armies, that I will have the names of the images cut off out of the land, and there will be no more memory of them: and I will send all the prophets and the unclean spirit away from the land.
But when he saw all the people he was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper.
For this reason God gave them up to the evil desires of their hearts, working shame in their bodies with one another: Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it. read more. For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is unnatural: And in the same way the men gave up the natural use of the woman and were burning in their desire for one another, men doing shame with men, and getting in their bodies the right reward of their evil-doing. And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right;
For the holy Writings say to Pharaoh, For this same purpose did I put you on high, so that I might make my power seen in you, and that there might be knowledge of my name through all the earth. So then, at his pleasure he has mercy on a man, and at his pleasure he makes the heart hard. read more. But you will say to me, Why does he still make us responsible? who is able to go against his purpose? But, O man, who are you, to make answer against God? May the thing which is made say to him who made it, Why did you make me so? Or has not the potter the right to make out of one part of his earth a vessel for honour, and out of another a vessel for shame? What if God, desiring to let his wrath and his power be seen, for a long time put up with the vessels of wrath which were ready for destruction: And to make clear the wealth of his glory to vessels of mercy, which he had before made ready for glory,
Let no man say when he is tested, I am tested by God; for it is not possible for God to be tested by evil, and he himself puts no man to such a test:
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going out to the fight with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels made war, And they were overcome, and there was no more place for them in heaven. read more. And the great dragon was forced down, the old snake, who is named the Evil One and Satan, by whom all the earth is turned from the right way; he was forced down to the earth, and his angels were forced down with him. And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down.
Hastings
Morish
Micai'ah
Son of Imla. When Ahab was joined by Jehoshaphat, and all Ahab's prophets foretold his success against Ramoth-gilead, Jehoshaphat asked if there was not yet another prophet of Jehovah of whom they could inquire. Then Micaiah was sent for, though Ahab said that he hated him, for he always prophesied evil unto him. At first Micaiah said, "Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand." The way in which this was said apparently convinced Ahab that it was spoken in irony, for he said, "How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord?" Micaiah at once said that he saw all Israel scattered, having no shepherd. Jehovah said they had no master.
Then he relates that he had seen, probably in a vision, Jehovah sitting on His throne, and asking who would persuade Ahab to go to Ramoth-gilead and fall there. A spirit volunteered to accomplish it by being a lying spirit in the mouth of all Ahab's prophets. This had come to pass. Zedekiah, one of Ahab's prophets, struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?" Micaiah replied, "Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself." Ahab disguised himself, but was wounded by an arrow and died. Ahab's four hundred prophets, and Jehovah's one prophet are an instance of the conflict of spirits, which the Christian is now called upon to try. 1Ki 22:8-28; 2Ch 18:7-27.
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah. read more. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely. And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things. And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say. When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil? And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace. And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.
Smith
Mica'iah
(who is like God?). Micahiah, the son of Imlah, was a prophet of Samaria, who in the last year of the reign of Ahab king of Israel predicted his defeat and death, B.C. 897.
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Now for three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. And it came about in the third year, that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. read more. And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you not see that Ramoth-gilead is ours? and we are doing nothing to get it back from the hands of the king of Aram. And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead to make war? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are: my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord. So the king of Israel got all the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Am I to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And they said, Go up: for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions? And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely. And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things. And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say. When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil? And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace. And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress and went into the fight. Now the king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel. So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Truly, this is the king of Israel; and turning against him, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry. And when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him. And a certain man sent an arrow from his bow without thought of its direction, and gave the king of Israel a wound where his breastplate was joined to his clothing; so he said to the driver of his war-carriage, Go to one side and take me away out of the army, for I am badly wounded. But the fight became more violent while the day went on; and the king was supported in his war-carriage facing the Aramaeans, and the floor of the carriage was covered with the blood from his wound, and by evening he was dead.