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1 Kings 22: Ahab Consults False Prophets – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | The Battle against Syria, Jehoshaphat’s Alliance, and Micaiah’s Prophecy
Immerse yourself in the vivid events of 1 Kings 22 with this clear and engaging audio recording. The chapter recounts how Ahab, the king of Israel, consults false prophets regarding a battle against Syria, how Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, joins the alliance with Israel, and Micaiah prophesies God’s true message amid the lies of the false prophets. Perfect for study, reflection, or meditation, let the Scriptures come alive with this powerful chapter.
1 KINGS 22 (NIV)
1 For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel.
2 But in the
third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel.
3
The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth
Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king
of Aram?”
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth
Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your
people, my horses as your horses.”
5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of
Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”
6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred
men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I
refrain?”
“Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom
we can inquire of?”
8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through
whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies
anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
“The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.
9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah
son of Imlah at once.”
10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of
Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of
the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.
11 Now
Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, “This is what
the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are
destroyed.’”
12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth
Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the
king’s hand.”
13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other
prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word
agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”
14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what
the Lord tells me.”
15 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against
Ramoth Gilead, or not?”
“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the
king’s hand.”
16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me
nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
17 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep
without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each
one go home in peace.’”
18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never
prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”
19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord
sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on
his right and on his left.
20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into
attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
“One suggested this, and another that.
21 Finally, a spirit came forward,
stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’
22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.
“‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’
he said.
“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these
prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face.
“Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to
you?” he asked.
25 Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner
room.”
26 The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon
the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son
27 and say, ‘This is what
the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and
water until I return safely.’”
28 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken
through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth
Gilead.
30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in
disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised
himself and went into battle.
31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not
fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
32 When the
chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “Surely this is the king of
Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out,
33 the
chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing
him.
34 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the
sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get
me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.”
35 All day long the battle raged,
and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from
his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died.
36 As
the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: “Every man to his town.
Every man to his land!”
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there.
38
They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed),
and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the Lord had declared.
39 As for the other events of Ahab’s reign, including all he did, the palace
he built and adorned with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not
written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
40 Ahab rested with
his ancestors. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king
of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and
he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah
daughter of Shilhi.
43 In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa
and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer
sacrifices and burn incense there.
44 Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the
king of Israel.
45 As for the other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, the things he achieved and
his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the
kings of Judah?
46 He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes
who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.
47 There was then
no king in Edom; a provincial governor ruled.
48 Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but
they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.
49 At that time Ahaziah
son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with yours,” but Jehoshaphat
refused.
50 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the
city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king.
51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth
year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
52 He
did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he followed the ways of his father
and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
53 He
served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of
Israel, just as his father had done.