2 Chronicles 18:1-11

International Standard Version

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab^(A)

18 After Jehoshaphat had become wealthy and was enjoying abundant honor, he allied himself to Ahab. ² After a few years, he visited Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered lots of sheep and oxen for him, and the people who were with him persuaded Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth-gilead. ³ King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “Will you join me in attacking Ramoth-gilead?”

“I’m with you,” Jehoshaphat^[a] replied. “and my army is with you. We’ll join you in the battle.” ⁴ But then Jehoshaphat asked the king of Israel, “Please ask for a message from the Lord, first.”

⁵ So the king of Israel gathered together 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we go attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I call off the attack?”^[b]

“Go attack them,” they all said, “because God will drop them right in the king’s hand.”

⁶ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord left here that we could talk to?”

⁷ “There is still one man left by whom we could ask the Lord what to do,” the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he won’t prophesy anything good about me. Instead, he always prophesies evil. He is Imla’s son Micaiah.”

But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, “Kings^[c] should never talk like that.”

⁸ Nevertheless, the king of Israel called an officer and ordered him, “Bring me Imla’s son Micaiah quickly.”

⁹ Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were each sitting on their own thrones, arrayed in their robes, and sitting on the threshing floor at the entrance to the city gate of Samaria, and all of the prophets were prophesying in front of them. ¹⁰ Chenaanah’s son Zedekiah made iron horns for himself and told them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘With these horns you are to gore the Arameans until they are eliminated!’”

¹¹ All the other prophets were saying similar things, like “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and you will be successful, because the Lord will hand it over to the king!”