Scriptures

1 Kings chapter .xxij.

¶ And they continued three years without war between Siria and Israel. And the third year Iehosaphat king of Iuda came to the king of Israel. Then said the king of Israel unto his servants, know ye not that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we sit still and take it not out of the hands of the king of Siria? And he said unto Iehosaphat: wilt thou go with me to battle, to Ramoth in Gilead? And Iehosaphat said unto the king of Israel: I will be as thou art, and my people shall be as thine, and my horses as thine. And Iehosaphat said unto the king of Israel: ask counsel, I pray thee, of the LORD today. And then the king of Israel gathered of the Prophets together, upon a four hundredth men, and said unto them: shall I go to Ramoth in Gilead to battle, or be still? And they said, go: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hands of the king. And Iehosaphat said: is there never a Prophet of the LORD's here more, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said to Iehosaphat: there is yet one, by whom we may ask counsel of the LORD, one Micheah the son of Iemlah. But I hate him: for he never prophesieth good unto me, but evil. And Iehosaphat said: let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called unto one of his chamberlains and said: fetch Micheah the son of Iemlah hither at once. And the king of Israel and Iehosaphat the king of Iuda sat either in his seat and their apparel on them, in a void place beside the entering of the gate of Samaria, and all the Prophets prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Canaanah made horns of iron and said, thus sayeth the LORD: with these horns thou shalt winnow the Sirians until thou have made an end of them. And all the Prophets prophesied even so, saying: go to Ramoth in Gilead and prosper, for the LORD shall deliver it into the hands of the king. And the messenger that was gone to call Micheah, said unto him: see, the words of the Prophets speak good unto the king with one voice: let thy words I pray thee be like the words of one of them, and speak that is good. And Micheah said: as surely as the LORD liveth, what the LORD putteth in my mouth, that will I speak.
¶ And when he was come to the king, the king said to him: Micheah, shall we go to Ramoth in Gilead to battle, or shall we be still? And he said unto him: go and prosper, the LORD deliver it unto the hands of the king. And the king said unto him, how often shall I adjure thee, that thou tell me nothing but truth, in the name of the LORD? Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have no shepherds. And the LORD said: those have no master, let them return, every man to his house in peace. Then said the king of Israel to Iehosaphat: did I not tell thee, that he would prophesy no good unto me, but evil? And Micheah said: hear therefore the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sit on his seat and all his company of heaven stonding about him, on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said: who shall deceive Ahab that he may go and be slain at Ramoth in Gilead? and one said on this manner and another on that. Then came forth a spirit and stood before the LORD and said: I will deceive him. And the LORD said: wherewith? And he said: I will go out and be a false spirit in the mouths of all Prophets. And the LORD said, thou shalt deceive him and also prevail, go forth and do even so. Now therefore behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy Prophets: when in very deed the LORD hath spoken evil toward thee. Then Zedechiah the son of Canaanah went and smote Micheah on the cheek, and said: how is the spirit of the LORD gone from me, to speak in thee? And Michaeah said: behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber to hide thee. And the king of Israel said: take Micheah and carry him back again into Amon the governor of the city, and unto Ioab the king's son, and say: thus sayeth the king. Put ye this fellow in the prison house and feed him with bread and water straightly, until I return in peace. Then Micheah said, if thou come safe again, the LORD hath not spoken in me. And he said moreover, hearken to the people every one of you.
¶ And so the king of Israel and Iehosaphat the king of Iuda went up to Ramoth in Gilead. And the king of Israel said to Iehosaphat change thee and get thee to war: but put on thine own apparel. And the king of Israel changed himself, and went to battle also. But the king of Siria had commanded the captains of his chariots of which he had thirty two saying: fight neither with small nor great, save with the king of Israel onely. And when the captains of the chariots saw Iehosaphat, they thought he had been the king of Israel, and therefore turned to him to fight. But Iehosaphat cried out. And when the captains of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from him. And a certain man drew a bow ignorantly and smote the king of Israel between the ribs of his harness. Wherefore the king said unto the driver of his chariot, turn thy hand and carry me out of the host, for I am hurt. And the battle increased that day, and the king continued in his chariot before the Sirians, and died at evening. And the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. And there went a proclamation thorowout the host after the son was down, saying: every man to his city and to his own country. And when the king of Israel was dead, they came to Samaria and buried him there. And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the word of the LORD which he spake. The rest of the deeds of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and the cities that he built, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And when Ahab was laid to rest with his fathers, Ohoziah his son reigned in his stead.
¶ Iehosaphat the son of Asa began to reign upon Iuda, the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel, and was thirty five years old when he began to reign and reigned twenty five years in Ierusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Salahi. And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father and bowed not therefrom. But did that was right in the eyes of the LORD. Only he did not put the hillaltars out of the way: for the people offered and burnt their sacrifices yet, in the hillaltars. And he had peace with the king of Israel. And the rest of the deeds of Iehosaphat, and the might that he used, and how he warred, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Iuda. And the remnant of the stews of the males, which remained in the days of his father, he put clean out of the land. There was then no king in Edom, the king was but a debite. And Iehosaphat made ships in the sea to go to Ophir for gold, but they went not: for the ships brake at Azion Gaber. Then said Ohoziah the son of Ahab unto Iehosaphat: let my servants go with thine in the ships. But Iehosaphat would not. And Iehosaphat laid him to sleep with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Iehoram his son reigned in his room. Ohoziah the son of Ahab began to reign upon Israel in Samaria, the seventeenth year of Iehosaphat king of Iuda, and was king over Israel two years, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Ieroboam the son of Nabat which made Israel sin. And he served Baal and bowed himself to him and angered the LORD God of Israel, in all things, as did his father.

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