^{3 Ref} And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you not see that Ramoth-gilead is ours? and we are doing nothing to get it back from the hands of the king of Aram.

^{4 Ref} And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead to make war? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are: my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

^{5 Ref} Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord.

^{6 Ref} So the king of Israel got all the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Am I to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And they said, Go up: for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

^{7 Ref} But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions?

^{8 Ref} And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

^{9 Ref} Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah.

^{10 Ref} Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them.

^{11 Ref} And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.

^{12 Ref} And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

^{13 Ref} Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things.

^{14 Ref} And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say.

^{15 Ref} When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And in answer he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

^{16 Ref} Then the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord?

^{17 Ref} Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace.

^{18 Ref} And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good but of evil?

^{19 Ref} And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left.

^{20 Ref} And the Lord said, How may Ahab be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another.

^{21 Ref} Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick.

^{22 Ref} And the Lord said, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so.

^{23 Ref} And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has said evil against you.

^{24 Ref} Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you?

^{25 Ref} And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe.

²⁶ And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son;

^{27 Ref} And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace.

^{28 Ref} And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.