1 Josafá tinha grande riqueza e honra, e aliou-se a Acabe mediante casamento.
2 Alguns anos depois, ele foi visitar Acabe em Samaria. Acabe abateu muitas ovelhas e bois para receber a ele e à sua comitiva, e insistiu que atacasse Ramote-Gileade.
3 Acabe, rei de Israel, perguntou a Josafá, rei de Judá: "Irás comigo lutar contra Ramote-Gileade? " Josafá respondeu: "Sou como tu, e meu povo é como o teu povo; estaremos contigo na guerra".
4 Mas acrescentou: "Peço-te que busques primeiro o conselho do Senhor".
5 Então o rei de Israel reuniu quatrocentos profetas, e lhes perguntou: "Devemos ir à guerra contra Ramote-Gileade, ou não? " Eles responderam: "Sim, pois Deus a entregará nas mãos do rei".
6 Josafá, porém, perguntou: "Não existe aqui mais nenhum profeta do Senhor, a quem possamos consultar? "
7 O rei de Israel respondeu a Josafá: "Ainda há um homem por meio de quem podemos consultar o Senhor, mas eu o odeio, porque nunca profetiza coisas boas a meu respeito, mas sempre coisas ruins. É Micaías, filho de Inlá". "O rei não deveria dizer isso", Josafá respondeu.
8 Então o rei de Israel chamou um dos seus oficiais e disse: "Traga Micaías, filho de Inlá, imediatamente".
9 Usando vestes reais, o rei de Israel e Josafá, rei de Judá, estavam sentados em seus tronos, na eira, junto à porta de Samaria, e todos os profetas estavam profetizando em transe diante deles.
10 E Zedequias, filho de Quenaaná, tinha feito chifres de ferro, e declarou: "Assim diz o Senhor: ‘Com estes chifres tu ferirás os arameus até que sejam destruídos’ ".
11 Todos os outros profetas estavam profetizando a mesma coisa, dizendo: "Ataca Ramote-Gileade, e serás vitorioso, pois o Senhor a entregará nas mãos do rei".
12 O mensageiro que tinha ido chamar Micaías lhe disse: "Veja, todos os outros profetas estão predizendo que o rei terá sucesso. Sua palavra também deve ser favorável".
13 Micaías, porém, disse: "Juro pelo nome do Senhor, que direi o que o meu Deus mandar".
14 Quando ele chegou, o rei lhe perguntou: "Micaías, devemos ir à guerra contra Ramote-Gileade, ou não? " Ele respondeu: "Atacai, e sereis vitoriosos, pois eles serão entregues em vossas mãos".
15 O rei lhe disse: "Quantas vezes devo fazer você jurar que me irá dizer somente a verdade em nome do Senhor? "
16 Então Micaías respondeu: "Vi todo o Israel espalhado pelas colinas, como ovelhas sem pastor, e o Senhor dizer: ‘Estes não têm dono. Cada um volte para casa em paz’ ".
17 O rei de Israel disse a Josafá: "Não lhe disse que ele nunca profetiza nada de bom a meu respeito, mas apenas coisas ruins? "
18 Micaías prosseguiu: "Ouçam a palavra do Senhor: Vi o Senhor assentado em seu trono, com todo o exército dos céus à sua direita e à sua esquerda.
19 E o Senhor disse: ‘Quem enganará Acabe, rei de Israel, para que ataque Ramote-Gileade e morra lá? ’ "E um sugeria uma coisa, outro sugeria outra, até que,
20 finalmente, um espírito colocou-se diante do Senhor e disse: ‘Eu o enganarei’. " ‘De que maneira? ’, perguntou o Senhor.
21 "Ele respondeu: ‘Irei e serei um espírito mentiroso na boca de todos os profetas do rei’. "Disse o Senhor: ‘Você conseguirá enganá-lo; vá e engane-o’.
22 "E o Senhor pôs um espírito mentiroso na boca destes seus profetas. O Senhor decretou a sua desgraça".
23 Então Zedequias, filho de Quenaaná, aproximou-se, deu um tapa no rosto de Micaías e perguntou: "Por qual caminho foi o espírito da parte do Senhor, quando saiu de mim para falar a você? "
24 Micaías respondeu: "Você descobrirá no dia em que estiver se escondendo de quarto em quarto".
25 O rei de Israel então ordenou: "Enviem Micaías de volta a Amom, o governador da cidade, e a Joás, filho do rei,
26 e digam: Assim diz o rei: Ponham este homem na prisão a pão e água, até que eu volte em segurança".
27 Micaías declarou: "Se você de fato voltar em segurança, o Senhor não falou por meu intermédio". E acrescentou: "Ouçam o que estou dizendo, todos vocês! "
28 Então o rei de Israel e Josafá, rei de Judá, foram atacar Ramote-Gileade.
29 E o rei de Israel disse a Josafá: "Entrarei disfarçado em combate, mas tu, usa as tuas vestes reais". O rei de Israel disfarçou-se, e ambos foram para o combate.
30 O rei da Síria havia ordenado a seus chefes dos carros de guerra: "Não lutem contra ninguém, seja soldado seja oficial, senão contra o rei de Israel".
31 Quando os chefes dos carros viram Josafá, pensaram: "É o rei de Israel", e o cercaram para atacá-lo, mas Josafá clamou, e o Senhor o ajudou. Deus os afastou dele,
32 pois, quando os comandantes dos carros viram que não era o rei de Israel, deixaram de persegui-lo.
33 De repente, um soldado disparou seu arco ao acaso, e atingiu o rei de Israel entre os encaixes da sua armadura. Então o rei disse ao condutor do seu carro: "Tire-me do combate. Fui ferido! "
34 A batalha foi violenta durante todo o dia, e assim, o rei de Israel teve que enfrentar os arameus em pé no seu carro, até à tarde. E, ao pôr-do-sol, ele morreu.
1 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and his son was married to Ahab's daughter.
2 And after some years he went down to Samaria to see Ahab. And Ahab made a feast for him and the people who were with him, putting to death great numbers of sheep and oxen; and he got Jehoshaphat to go with him to Ramoth-gilead.
3 For Ahab, king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he said, I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.
4 Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord.
5 So the king of Israel got together all the prophets, 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 God will give it into the hands of the king.
6 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions?
7 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, but I have no love for him, because he has never been a prophet of good to me, but only of evil: he is Micaiah, the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
8 Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imla.
9 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.
10 And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself iron horns and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say.
14 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 he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and they will be given up into your hands.
15 And 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?
16 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.
17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good to me, but of evil?
18 Then he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, and all the army of heaven in their places, at his right hand and at his left.
19 And the Lord said, How may Ahab, king of Israel, be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another.
20 Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said to him, How?
21 And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so.
22 And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of these prophets of yours; and the Lord has said evil against you.
23 Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of his face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you?
24 And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe.
25 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;
26 And say, By the king's order this man is to be put in prison, and given prison food till I come back in peace.
27 And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me.
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.
29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress, and they went to the fight.
30 Now the king of Aram had given orders to the captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel.
31 So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is the king of Israel. And turning about, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry, and the Lord came to his help, and God sent them away from him.
32 Now when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him.
33 And a certain man sent an arrow from his bow without thought of its direction, and gave the king of Israel a wound where his breastplate was joined to his clothing; so he said to the driver of his war-carriage, Go to one side and take me away out of the army, for I am badly wounded.
34 But the fight became more violent while the day went on; and the king of Israel was supported in his war-carriage facing the Aramaeans till the evening; and by sundown he was dead.