2 Chronicles 18 – NIRV & BPH

New International Reader’s Version

2 Chronicles 18:1-34

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

1Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor. He joined forces with Ahab by marrying Ahab’s daughter. 2Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab killed a lot of sheep and cattle for Jehoshaphat and the people with him. Ahab tried to get Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth Gilead. 3Ahab was the king of Israel. He spoke to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. He asked, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes. I’ll go with you. My men will also go with your men. We’ll join you in the war.” 4He continued, “First ask the Lord for advice.”

5So the king of Israel brought 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?”

“Go,” they answered. “God will hand it over to you.”

6But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here? If there is, ask him what we should do.”

7The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat. He said, “There is still one prophet we can go to. We can ask the Lord for advice through him. But I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me. He only prophesies bad things. His name is Micaiah. He’s the son of Imlah.”

“You shouldn’t say bad things about him,” Jehoshaphat replied.

8So the king of Israel called for one of his officials. He told him, “Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, right away.”

9The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were wearing their royal robes. They were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor. It was near the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10Zedekiah was the son of Kenaanah. Zedekiah had made horns out of iron. They looked like animal horns. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘With these horns you will drive back the men of Aram until they are destroyed.’ ”

11All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead,” they said. “Win the battle over it. The Lord will hand it over to you.”

12A messenger went to get Micaiah. He said to him, “Look. The other prophets agree. All of them are saying the king will have success. So agree with them. Say the same thing they do.”

13But Micaiah said, “You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that I can only tell the king what my God says.”

14When Micaiah arrived, the king spoke to him. He asked, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?”

“Attack,” he answered. “You will win. The people of Ramoth Gilead will be handed over to you.”

15The king said to him, “I’ve made you promise to tell the truth many times before. So don’t tell me anything but the truth in the name of the Lord.”

16Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all the Israelites scattered on the hills. They were like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people do not have a master. Let each of them go home in peace.’ ”

17The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies anything good about me? He only prophesies bad things.”

18Micaiah continued, “Listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. Some of the angels of heaven were standing at his right side. The others were standing at his left side. 19The Lord said, ‘Who will get Ahab, the king of Israel, to attack Ramoth Gilead? I want him to die there.’

“One angel suggested one thing. Another suggested something else. 20Finally, a spirit came forward and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, ‘I’ll get Ahab to do it.’

“ ‘How?’ the Lord asked.

21“The spirit said, ‘I’ll go and put lies in the mouths of all his prophets.’

“ ‘You will have success in getting Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

22“So the Lord has put lies in the mouths of your prophets. He has said that great harm will come to you.”

23Then Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. Zedekiah asked Micaiah, “Do you think the spirit sent by the Lord left me? Do you think that spirit went to speak to you?”

24Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inside room to save your life.”

25Then the king of Israel gave an order. He said, “Take Micaiah away. Send him back to Amon. Amon is the ruler of the city of Samaria. And send Micaiah back to Joash. Joash is a member of the royal court. 26Tell them, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in prison. Don’t give him anything but bread and water until I return safely.” ’ ”

27Micaiah announced, “Do you really think you will return safely? If you do, the Lord hasn’t spoken through me.” He continued, “All you people, remember what I’ve said!”

Ahab Is Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went there too. 29The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “I’ll go into battle wearing different clothes. Then people won’t recognize me. But you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel put on different clothes. Then he went into battle.

30The king of Aram had given an order to his chariot commanders. He had said, “Fight only against the king of Israel. Don’t fight against anyone else.” 31The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought, “That’s the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. And the Lord helped him. God drew the commanders away from him. 32They saw he wasn’t the king of Israel after all. So they stopped chasing him.

33But someone shot an arrow without taking aim. The arrow hit the king of Israel between the parts of his armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Turn the chariot around. Get me out of this battle. I’ve been wounded.” 34All day long the battle continued. The king of Israel kept himself standing up by leaning against the inside of his chariot. He kept his face toward the men of Aram until evening. At sunset he died.

Bibelen på hverdagsdansk

2. Krønikebog 18:1-34

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.