The Scriptures (ISR 1998) 1And they continued three years without fighting between Aram and Yisra’ĕl. 2And it came to be, in the third year, that Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah came down to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl. 3And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gil‛aḏ is ours, and we are keeping silent from taking it out of the hand of the sovereign of Aram!” 4And he said to Yehoshaphat, “Do you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gil‛aḏ?” And Yehoshaphat said to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 5And Yehoshaphat said to the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, “Please, first inquire for the word of יהוה.” 6And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl gathered the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Do I go against Ramoth Gil‛aḏ to battle, or do I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for יהוה does give it into the hand of the sovereign.” 7And Yehoshaphat said, “Is there not here a prophet of יהוה besides, that we might inquire of him?” 8And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said to Yehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Miḵayehu son of Yimlah, to inquire of יהוה by him. But I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Yehoshaphat said, “Let not the sovereign say so!” 9So the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl called an officer and said, “Bring Miḵayehu son of Yimlah at once!” 10And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl and Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in their robes, at a threshing-floor at the entrance of the gate of Shomeron. And all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11And Tsiḏqiyah son of Kena‛anah had made horns of iron for himself, and said, “Thus said יהוה, ‘With these you push the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ” 12And all the prophets were prophesying so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gil‛aḏ and prosper, for יהוה shall give it into the hand of the sovereign.” 13And the messenger who had gone to call Miḵayehu spoke to him, saying, “See now, the words of the prophets with one mouth are good towards the sovereign. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and you shall speak good.” 14And Miḵayehu said, “As יהוה lives, whatever יהוה says to me, that I speak.” 15And he came to the sovereign, and the sovereign said to him, “Miḵayehu, do we go against Ramoth Gil‛aḏ to battle, or do we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go and prosper, for יהוה shall give it into the hand of the sovereign!” 16And the sovereign said to him, “How many times have I made you swear that you do not speak to me, except the truth, in the Name of יהוה?” 17So he said, “I saw all Yisra’ĕl scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And יהוה said, ‘These have no master. Let everyone return to his house in peace.’ ” 18And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said to Yehoshaphat, “Have I not said to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 19Then he said, “Therefore hear the word of יהוה: I saw יהוה sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing by Him, on His right and on His left. 20“And יהוה said, ‘Who shall entice Aḥaḇ to go up and fall at Ramoth Gil‛aḏ?’ And this one said this, and another said that. 21“And a spirit came forward and stood before יהוה, and said, ‘Let me entice him.’ 22“And יהוה said to him, ‘In what way?’ And he said, ‘I shall go out and be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And He said, ‘Entice him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ 23“And now, see, יהוה has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and יהוה has spoken evil concerning you.” 24And Tsiḏqiyahu son of Kena‛anah came near and smote Miḵayehu on the cheek, and said, “Where did the spirit of יהוה pass over from me to speak to you?” 25And Miḵayehu said, “Look, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner room to hide!” 26And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said, “Take Miḵayehu, and return him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Yo’ash son of the sovereign, 27and say, ‘Thus said the sovereign, “Put this one in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I come in peace.” ’ ” 28And Miḵayehu said, “If you ever return in peace, יהוה has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you people!” 29And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl and Yehoshaphat the sovereign of Yehuḏah went up to Ramoth Gil‛aḏ. 30And the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl said to Yehoshaphat, “Let me disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your robes.” So the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl disguised himself and went into battle. 31And the sovereign of Aram had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl.” 32And it came to be, when the commanders of the chariots saw Yehoshaphat, that they said, “Indeed, it is the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl!” So they turned aside to fight against him, and Yehoshaphat cried out. 33And it came to be, when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, that they turned back from pursuing him. 34And a man drew a bow in his simplicity, and smote the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl between the joints of his armour. And he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35And the battle increased that day. And the sovereign was propped up in his chariot, facing the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. 36And as the sun was going down, a shout passed through the camp, saying, “Each to his city, and each to his land!” 37So the sovereign died and was brought to Shomeron, and they buried the sovereign in Shomeron. 38And when the chariot was washed at a pool in Shomeron, the dogs licked up his blood, where the whores bathed, according to the word of יהוה which He had spoken. 39And the rest of the acts of Aḥaḇ and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl? 40So Aḥaḇ slept with his fathers, and Aḥazyahu his son reigned in his place. 41And Yehoshaphat son of Asa began to reign over Yehuḏah in the fourth year of Aḥaḇ sovereign of Yisra’ĕl. 42Yehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became sovereign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Azuḇah the daughter of Shilḥi. 43And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of יהוה. Only, the high places were not taken away, for the people slaughtered and burned incense on the high places. 44And Yehoshaphat made peace with the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl. 45And the rest of the acts of Yehoshaphat, and the might that he showed, and how he fought, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah? 46And the rest of the cult prostitutes, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he cleared out from the land. 47And there was then no sovereign in Eḏom, a deputy was sovereign. 48Yehoshaphat made Tarshish ships to go to Ophir for gold. However, they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Etsyon Geḇer. 49Then Aḥazyahu son of Aḥaḇ said to Yehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Yehoshaphat would not. 50So Yehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ his father. And Yehoram his son reigned in his place. 51Aḥazyahu son of Aḥaḇ began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron in the seventeenth year of Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah, and reigned two years over Yisra’ĕl, 52and did evil in the eyes of יהוה, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat, who had made Yisra’ĕl sin, 53and served Ba‛al and bowed himself to it, and provoked יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, according to all that his father had done. |