2 Chronicles 18:21-23

New English Translation

²¹He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord^[a] said, ‘Deceive and overpower him.^[b] Go out and do as you have proposed.’ ²²So now, look, the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, but the Lord has decreed disaster for you.” ²³Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the Lord’s Spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?”

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Footnotes

2 Chronicles 18:21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Chronicles 18:21 tn The Hebrew text has two imperfects connected by וְגַם (v^egam). These verbs could be translated as specific futures, “you will deceive and also you will prevail,” in which case the Lord is assuring the spirit of success on his mission. However, in a commissioning context (note the following imperatives) such as this, it is more likely that the imperfects are injunctive, in which case one could translate, “Deceive, and also overpower.”

2 Chronicles 18:21-23

New International Version

²¹“‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit^(A) in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

²²“So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours.^(B) The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

²³Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped^(C) Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from^[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.

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