1 There was no war between Aram and Israel for
three years.
2 But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came down to the king
of Israel.
3 The king of Israel then talked to his officers, ¡°Have you forgotten that
Ramoth-gilead belongs to us? Yet we do nothing to take it back from the
Arameans.¡±
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, ¡°Will you come with me to conquer Ramoth-gilead?¡±
Jeho shaphat answered the king of Israel, ¡°I am with you, my people are with
your people, and my horses with yours.¡±
Micaiah and the false prophets
5 Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, said to the king of Israel, ¡°Let us con sult
Yahweh before setting out for war.¡±
6 So the king of Israel gathered all the prophets, numbering about four
hundred men, and asked them, ¡°Shall I go to conquer Ra moth- gilead, or
shall I hold back?¡± They replied, ¡°Go, for Yahweh will deliver the city into
your hands.¡±
7 Jehoshaphat asked, ¡°Is there no other prophet of Yahweh around here whom
we might ask?¡±
8 The king of Israel answered, ¡°There is still one through whom we may ask
for Yah weh¡¯s coun sel; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good about
me but only evil. It is Micaiah, son of Imlah.¡± Then Jehosha phat said,
¡°Don¡¯t speak in this manner.¡±
9 So the king of Israel called an official and told him, ¡°Bring quickly
Micaiah, son of Imlah.¡±
10 Meantime, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were seated
on their thrones, fully robed. They were both at the threshing floor by the
entrance gate of Samaria where the prophets continued to prophesy before
them.
11 There was Zedekiah, son of Che na anah who made for himself horns from
iron and said, ¡°Thus says Yah weh: ¡®With these horns you shall strike the
Arameans until they are destroyed.¡±
12 All the prophets said the same, ¡°Go to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. Yahweh
will deliver it into the hands of the king.¡±
13 The official who went to summon Micaiah said to him, ¡°Look here, all the
prophets agree to foretell a happy end to the king. You too agree to speak
favorably.¡±
14 But Micaiah replied, ¡°As Yahweh lives, I will speak what Yahweh tells me
to.¡±
15 When he had come, the king asked him, ¡°Micaiah, shall we go to conquer
Ramoth-gilead or shall we hold back?¡± Then Micaiah answered, ¡°Go and
triumph! Yahweh will give the city into the hands of the king!¡±
16 But the king said to him, ¡°How many times shall I ask you to speak
seriously to me and tell me the truth in the name of Yah weh?¡±
17 Then Micaiah said, ¡°I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like
sheep with out a shepherd. Then Yahweh said: These have no master; so let
each return to his home in peace.¡±
18 So the king of Israel said to Jeho shaphat, ¡°Did I not tell you that he
would not prophesy good about me, but only evil?¡±
19 Micaiah replied, ¡°Listen again to this word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh
sitting on his throne with the entire host of heaven standing beside him on
his right and on his left.
20 Then Yahweh asked: ¡®Who will deceive the king of Israel that he may go
and fall at Ramoth-gilead?¡¯ One said one thing and another, another thing.
21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh, saying: ¡®I will
deceive him.¡¯
22 Yah weh then asked him, ¡®What will you do?¡¯ To this he replied: ¡®I will
go and make myself a lying spirit on the lips of all his prophets.¡¯ Then
Yahweh said, ¡®You shall succeed. Go and do just that.¡¯
23 You must know that Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all
these prophets of yours because he willed to bring evil on you.¡±
24 Then Zedekiah, son of Chena-anah, approached Micaiah, struck him, and
said, ¡°Has the Spirit of Yahweh left me to speak to you?¡±
25 Micaiah replied, ¡°You shall discover for yourself on the day you flee
from house to house to hide.¡±
26 Then the king of Israel ordered, ¡°Seize Micaiah and take him back to
Amon, governor of the city, and to Joash, the king¡¯s son.
27 Give them this order: ¡®Throw this man in prison and feed him with scant
fare of bread and water until I come in peace.¡±
28 Then Micaiah said, ¡°If you return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken
through me.¡±
Death of the king of Israel
29 So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth-gilead together with the king of
Judah.
30 The king of Israel told Jeho shaphat, ¡°I will disguise my self be fore
the battle, but you wear your robes.¡± So the king of Israel disguised
himself before the battle.
31 Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his
chariots, ¡°Attack no one, big or small, but only the king of Israel.¡±
32 When the captains of the chariots saw Jeho sha phat, they thought, ¡°That
surely is the king of Israel.¡± So they turned to attack him. But when
Jehoshaphat shout ed his cry of war,
33 the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel and
they no longer pursued him.
34 In the meantime one of the Arameans drew his bow, without knowing at whom
he aimed, and hit the king of Israel between the scale armor and the
breastplate. The king then ordered the driver of his chariot, ¡°Turn around
and carry me out of the battle for I am wounded.¡±
35 The battle raged fiercely on that day. Meanwhile, the king was propped up
in his chariot, facing the Arameans, until the evening when he died. The
blood from his wound flowed down into the bottom of the chariot.
36 At about sunset, a cry went through the camp, ¡°Everyone to his city, and
everyone to his country!
37 The king has died!¡±
The king was brought to Samaria and was buried there.
38 But they washed the chariot by the pool of Sa maria. So the dogs licked
up his blood, while the harlots bathed in it in accordance with the word
spoken by Yahweh.
39 The rest of the acts of Ahab, his deeds, the ivory house he built, and
the cities he restored are all written in the Book of the Chronicles of the
Kings of Israel.
40 So Ahab rested with his ancestors and his son Ahaziah reigned in his
place.
41 Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of
Ahab, king of Israel.
42 He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for
twenty-five years in Jerusa lem. His mother was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
43 He conducted himself like his father Asa, and did what pleased Yahweh
without hesitation.
44 Yet, he did not remove the high places where the people con tinued to
sacrifice and burn incense.
45 Jeho sha phat had peace with the king of Israel.
46 The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, his bravery and his war exploits are
written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
47 He also removed from the land the remaining male cult prostitutes,
completing the work of his father Asa.
48 There was no king in Edom but a governor ruled over it.
49 Jehoshaphat had Tarshish ships go to Ophir for gold, but the venture
failed when the ships were wrecked at Eziongeber.
50 Then Ahaziah, son of Ahab, said to Jeho shaphat, ¡°Let my servants go in
the ships with your servants.¡± Jehoshaphat, however, re fused.
51 When Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, he was buried with them in the
city of his ancestor David and his son Jehoram reigned in his place.
52 Ahaziah, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the
seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He reigned over Israel for
two years.
53 He did what displeased Yahweh, imitating the conduct of both his father
and mother, as well as of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who dragged Israel into
sin. He served Baal and worshiped him, offending Yahweh, the God of Israel,
in the same way his father had done.
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Comments , Chapter 22
• 22.1 In those times, war was something of a routine. A people could not
exist without continually fighting with others. To fight, to kill and to die
were but signs of life (see 2 S 11:1).
For once, the kings of Israel and Judah are united, but the writer speaks
very differently about the two.
• 5. This Micaiah is not to be confused with the other prophet Micah of
Moresheth (see Mic 1:1). The kings were seated by the entrance gate. In
those days, the entrance to the city was very often the gate of the wall
surrounding the town. It was the place where people gathered, as they do
today in the plaza. There, the tribunal executed judgment and cases were
heard; there, the elders spent hours conversing in their seats.
The present text aims to teach two things:
¨C God¡¯s word condemning Ahab¡¯s family is realized infallibly: the lies of
the prophets, the strategy of the king and unforseen events come together to
accomplish what had been announced: the king will die and the dogs will lick
up his blood;
¨C the contradiction between true and false prophets.
False prophets are fellows who live at the king¡¯s expense and claim to be
inspired. Actually they only think of pleasing the king in order to retain
their livelihood and their privileges. The true prophets instead are
servants of the Word of God whatever the trials they have to endure. This is
why Micah will say: I will speak what Yahweh tells me to.
I saw Yahweh (v. 19). The vision of Micaiah tells us clearly that one should
not trust in dreams and imaginings that come from one¡¯s own spirit.
Neither should one believe blindly those who pretend to be inspired, such as
politicians, theorists, business people and all who promise to make us
happy.
• 39. This remark referring to Ahab makes one think that he died a natural
death. One notes that all previous passages spoke only about the king of
Israel, and mentioned Ahab only once in 22:20. Surely, this account referred
in the beginning to Joram, son of Ahab (2 K 9:14-16), and in him Elijah¡¯s
prophecy in 1 K 21:21 was fulfilled.