The Prophet Micaiah Warns Ahab

¹There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years,

²but in the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel.

³Ahab asked his officials, “Why is it that we have not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It belongs to us!”

⁴And Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth?” “I am ready when you are,” Jehoshaphat answered, “and so are my soldiers and my cavalry.

⁵But first let's consult the Lord.”

⁶So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them, “Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not?” “Attack it,” they answered. “The Lord will give you victory.”

⁷But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there another prophet through whom we can consult the Lord?”

⁸Ahab answered, “There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it's always something bad.” “You shouldn't say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁹Then Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once.

¹⁰The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

¹¹One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.’”

¹²All the other prophets said the same thing. “March against Ramoth and you will win,” they said. “The Lord will give you victory.”

¹³Meanwhile, the official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king, and you had better do the same.”

¹⁴But Micaiah answered, “By the living Lord I promise that I will say what he tells me to!”

¹⁵When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not?” “Attack!” Micaiah answered. “Of course you'll win. The Lord will give you victory.”

¹⁶But Ahab replied, “When you speak to me in the name of the Lord, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that?”

¹⁷Micaiah answered, “I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.’”

¹⁸Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good for me? It's always something bad!”

¹⁹Micaiah went on: “Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him.

²⁰The Lord asked, ‘Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth?’ Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else,

²¹until a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, ‘I will deceive him.’

²²‘How?’ the Lord asked. The spirit replied, ‘I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies.’ The Lord said, ‘Go and deceive him. You will succeed.’”

²³And Micaiah concluded: “This is what has happened. The Lord has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!”

²⁴Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, “Since when did the Lord's spirit leave me and speak to you?”

²⁵“You will find out when you go into some back room to hide,” Micaiah replied.

²⁶Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash.

²⁷Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely.”

²⁸“If you return safely,” Micaiah exclaimed, “then the Lord has not spoken through me!” And he added, “Listen, everyone, to what I have said!”

The Death of Ahab

²⁹Then King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead.

³⁰Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself, but you wear your royal garments.” So the king of Israel went into battle in disguise.

³¹The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel.

³²So when they saw King Jehoshaphat, they all thought that he was the king of Israel, and they turned to attack him. But when he cried out,

³³they realized that he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped their attack.

³⁴By chance, however, a Syrian soldier shot an arrow which struck King Ahab between the joints of his armor. “I'm wounded!” he cried out to his chariot driver. “Turn around and pull out of the battle!”

³⁵While the battle raged on, King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood from his wound ran down and covered the bottom of the chariot, and at evening he died.

³⁶Near sunset the order went out through the Israelite ranks: “Each of you go back to your own country and city!”

³⁷So died King Ahab. His body was taken to Samaria and buried.

³⁸His chariot was cleaned up at the pool of Samaria, where dogs licked up his blood and prostitutes washed themselves, as the Lord had said would happen.

³⁹Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

⁴⁰At his death his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah

⁴¹In the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah

⁴²at the age of thirty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

⁴³Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; but the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁴⁴Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

⁴⁶He got rid of all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan altars who were still left from the days of his father Asa.

⁴⁷The land of Edom had no king; it was ruled by a deputy appointed by the king of Judah.

⁴⁸King Jehoshaphat had ocean-going ships built to sail to the land of Ophir for gold; but they were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed.

⁴⁹Then King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men, but Jehoshaphat refused the offer.

⁵⁰Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.

King Ahaziah of Israel

⁵¹In the seventeenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years.

⁵²He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin.

⁵³He worshiped and served Baal, and like his father before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.

The Revolt against Athaliah

¹After waiting six years Jehoiada the priest decided that it was time to take action. He made a pact with five army officers: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

²They traveled to all the cities of Judah and brought back with them to Jerusalem the Levites and all the heads of the clans.

³They all gathered in the Temple, and there they made a covenant with Joash, the king's son. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the son of the late king. He is now to be king, as the Lord promised that King David's descendants would be.

⁴This is what we will do. When the priests and Levites come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of them will guard the Temple gates,

⁵another third will guard the royal palace, and the rest will be stationed at the Foundation Gate. All the people will assemble in the Temple courtyard.

⁶No one is to enter the Temple buildings except the priests and the Levites who are on duty. They may enter, because they are consecrated, but the rest of the people must obey the Lord's instructions and stay outside.

⁷The Levites are to stand guard around the king, with their swords drawn, and are to stay with the king wherever he goes. Anyone who tries to enter the Temple is to be killed.”

⁸The Levites and the people of Judah carried out Jehoiada's instructions. The men were not dismissed when they went off duty on the Sabbath, so the commanders had available both those coming on duty and those going off.

⁹Jehoiada gave the officers the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple.

¹⁰He stationed the men with drawn swords all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king.

¹¹Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. And so he was made king. Jehoiada the priest and his sons anointed Joash, and everyone shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹²Athaliah heard the people cheering for the king, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered.

¹³There she saw the new king at the Temple entrance, standing by the column reserved for kings and surrounded by the army officers and the trumpeters. All the people were shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets, and the Temple musicians with their instruments were leading the celebration. She tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area, so he called out the army officers and said, “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.”

¹⁵They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.

Jehoiada's Reforms

¹⁶The priest Jehoiada had King Joash and the people join him in making a covenant that they would be the Lord's people.

¹⁷Then they all went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols there and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

¹⁸Jehoiada put the priests and Levites in charge of the work of the Temple. They were to carry out the duties assigned to them by King David and to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses. They were also in charge of the music and the celebrations.

¹⁹Jehoiada also put guards on duty at the Temple gates to keep out anyone who was ritually unclean.

²⁰The army officers, the leading citizens, the officials, and all the rest of the people joined Jehoiada in a procession that brought the king from the Temple to the palace. They entered by the main gate, and the king took his place on the throne.

²¹All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed.

¹I wish that you were my brother, that my mother had nursed you at her breast. Then, if I met you in the street, I could kiss you and no one would mind.

²I would take you to my mother's house, where you could teach me love. I would give you spiced wine, my pomegranate wine to drink.

³Your left hand is under my head, and your right hand caresses me.

⁴Promise me, women of Jerusalem, that you will not interrupt our love.

The Woman

⁵Who is this coming from the desert, arm in arm with her lover? Under the apple tree I woke you, in the place where you were born.

⁶Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire.

⁷Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, contempt is all they would get.

The Woman's Brothers

⁸We have a young sister, and her breasts are still small. What will we do for her when a young man comes courting?

⁹If she is a wall, we will build her a silver tower. But if she is a gate, we will protect her with panels of cedar.

The Woman

¹⁰I am a wall, and my breasts are its towers. My lover knows that with him I find contentment and peace.

The Man

¹¹Solomon has a vineyard in a place called Baal Hamon. There are farmers who rent it from him; each one pays a thousand silver coins.

¹²Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins, and the farmers to two hundred as their share; I have a vineyard of my own!

¹³Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love; my companions are waiting to hear you speak.

The Woman

¹⁴Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle, like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.