Profeten Mika advarer kong Ahab
1.Kong. 22,1-28
1Som sagt var Joshafat både rig og højt agtet. Han besluttede nu at indgå en alliance med kong Ahab af Israel ved at lade sin søn gifte sig med Ahabs datter.
2Nogle år senere rejste han til Samaria for at besøge Ahab. Til ære for Joshafat og hans ledsagere arrangerede Israels konge en fest og slagtede i den anledning et stort antal småkvæg og hornkvæg. Under festen søgte han at overtale Joshafat til at hjælpe sig med at erobre byen Ramot-Gilead. 3„Vil du hjælpe mig med at befri Ramot-Gilead?” spurgte han Joshafat. „Selvfølgelig!” svarede Joshafat. „Vi er jo forbundsfæller, du og jeg. Mine folk vil kæmpe sammen med dine.” 4Men så tilføjede han: „Vi bør dog først spørge Herren til råds.”
5Derpå tilkaldte kong Ahab sine 400 profeter og spurgte dem: „Skal jeg gå til angreb på Ramot-Gilead eller ej?” „Du skal gå til angreb,” svarede de. „Gud vil give dig sejr!”
6Men kong Joshafat var ikke tilfreds. „Er der ikke en af Herrens profeter, vi kan spørge til råds?” spurgte han. 7„Jo, en enkelt,” svarede Ahab, „men jeg bryder mig ikke om ham, for han profeterer altid ulykke for mig, aldrig noget godt. Manden hedder Mika, søn af Jimla.” „Sådan bør du ikke tale!” indvendte Joshafat. 8Kong Ahab gav derefter ordre til, at Mika straks skulle hentes.
9I mellemtiden fortsatte Ahabs profeter med at profetere for de to konger, der sad klædt i deres kongekåber på hver sin trone på tærskepladsen nær ved byporten. 10En af profeterne ved navn Zidkija, søn af Kena’ana, lavede nogle horn af jern og erklærede: „Herren siger: Du skal stange den aramæiske hær sønder og sammen med disse horn og udrydde den totalt!” 11De andre profeter sagde det samme. „Gå kun til angreb på Ramot-Gilead. Herren vil give dig sejr!”
12Kongens tjener, som var blevet sendt for at hente Mika, fortalte ham, hvad de andre profeter havde sagt, og opfordrede ham til at sige det samme. 13Men Mika svarede: „Så sandt Herren lever: Jeg kan ikke sige andet, end det min Gud fortæller mig!”
14Da Mika ankom, spurgte kong Ahab: „Mika, skal vi angribe Ramot-Gilead eller ej?” „Ja, tag endelig af sted!” svarede Mika. „Lykken er med dig. Herren vil give dig sejr!” 15„Hør nu her,” sagde Ahab. „Hvor mange gange skal jeg få dig til at sværge på, at du kun siger sandheden, når du taler i Herrens navn?”
16Så sagde Mika: „Jeg så Israels folk spredt ud over bjergene som får, der ingen hyrde har! Og Herren sagde: Kongen er død! Send folket hjem!” 17Kongen vendte sig beklagende til Joshafat. „Sagde jeg det ikke nok! Aldrig profeterer han noget godt. Evigt og altid kun dårlige budskaber.”
18„Så hør da Herrens ord!” afbrød Mika. „Jeg så Herren sidde på sin trone, og en hær af engle var samlet omkring ham. 19Så sagde Herren: ‚Hvem vil lokke Ahab i fælden, så han dør i Ramot-Gilead?’ Og efter at adskillige planer var blevet foreslået, 20trådte en af ånderne frem og sagde: ‚Det vil jeg gøre!’ ‚Men hvordan?’ spurgte Herren. 21Ånden svarede: ‚Jeg vil være en løgneånd i alle hans profeters mund!’ ‚Du kan klare opgaven,’ sagde Herren. ‚Gå bare i gang!’ ”
22Mika fortsatte: „Kong Ahab, kan du ikke gennemskue dine profeter? Herren har jo fyldt dem alle med en løgnens ånd, og i virkeligheden har han planer om at få ram på dig.”
23Ved de ord gik profeten Zidkija hen til Mika og gav ham en lussing. „Vil du måske påstå, at Herrens Ånd kun taler gennem dig og ikke gennem mig?” snerrede han. 24Mika svarede: „Svaret på det spørgsmål får du, den dag du rædselsslagen prøver at gemme dig i et baglokale i et hus.”
25Efter det ordskifte gav kong Ahab ordre til at arrestere Mika. „Før ham til Amon, byens borgmester, og til min søn Joash,” sagde han. 26„Giv dem besked om at kaste ham i fængsel og sætte ham på vand og brød, til jeg kommer uskadt tilbage fra slaget.” 27„Hvis du kommer tilbage, har Herren ikke talt gennem mig!” sagde Mika. „Har I hørt det alle sammen?”
Kong Ahabs død
1.Kong. 22,29-35
28Derefter førte kong Ahab af Israel og kong Joshafat af Juda deres hære mod Ramot-Gilead, 29men Ahab sagde til Joshafat: „Før jeg kaster mig ud i kampen, vil jeg forklæde mig som en menig soldat. Men behold du bare din kongelige rustning på.” Så forklædte kong Ahab sig og slaget begyndte.
30Den aramæiske konge havde imidlertid givet sine vognstyrere ordre til at være på udkig efter kong Ahab og koncentrere sig om at fælde ham. 31-32Da de fik øje på kong Joshafat, tænkte de: „Dér er han!” og vendte om for at få fat i ham. Men Joshafat råbte til Herren om hjælp, og Herren hjalp ham. Gud sørgede for, at de lod ham være, for da de forstod, at han ikke var Israels konge, trak de sig tilbage. 33Men en af bueskytterne skød en tilfældig pil af sted, og pilen borede sig ind mellem remmene i kong Ahabs brynje.
„Lad os komme væk fra fronten!” stønnede Ahab til sin vognstyrer. „Jeg er alvorligt såret.”
34Kampen trak i langdrag og blev mere og mere intens. Kong Ahab holdt øje med kampen på afstand, men kunne dårligt holde sig oprejst i vognen. Ved solnedgang døde han.
Micaiah prophesies against Ahab
1Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. 2Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. 3Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?’
Jehoshaphat replied, ‘I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.’ 4But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the Lord.’
5So the king of Israel brought together the prophets – four hundred men – and asked them, ‘Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?’
‘Go,’ they answered, ‘for God will give it into the king’s hand.’
6But Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can enquire of?’
7The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one prophet through whom we can enquire 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.
8So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, ‘Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.’
9Dressed 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. 10Now 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.” ’
11All 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.’
12The 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 favourably.’
13But Micaiah said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.’
14When he arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?’
‘Attack and be victorious,’ he answered, ‘for they will be given into your hand.’
15The 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?’
16Then 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.” ’
17The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?’
18Micaiah continued, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19And the Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?”
‘One suggested this, and another that. 20Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, “I will entice him.”
‘ “By what means?” the Lord asked.
21‘ “I will go 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.”
22‘So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.’
23Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. ‘Which way did the spirit from18:23 Or Spirit of the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?’ he asked.
24Micaiah replied, ‘You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.’
25The 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, 26and say, “This is what the king says: put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.” ’
27Micaiah declared, ‘If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.’ Then he added, ‘Mark my words, all you people!’
Ahab killed at Ramoth Gilead
28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29The 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.
30Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, ‘Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.’ 31When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, ‘This is the king of Israel.’ So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, 32for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.
33But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armour. The king told the chariot driver, ‘Wheel round and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.’ 34All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.
