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2 Chronicles 18:4–7

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”

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2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — The New International Version (NIV)

But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”

So 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.”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”

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.

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day. Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.”

So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, 400 of them, and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?”

They all replied, “Yes, go right ahead! God will give the king victory.”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here? We should ask him the same question.”

The king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man who could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but trouble for me! His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Jehoshaphat replied, “That’s not the way a king should talk! Let’s hear what he has to say.”

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”

So they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.”

And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — New Century Version (NCV)

Jehoshaphat also said to Ahab, “But first we should ask if this is the Lord’s will.”

So King Ahab called four hundred prophets together and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?”

They answered, “Go, because God will hand them over to you.”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? Let’s ask him what we should do.”

Then King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “There is one other prophet. We could ask the Lord through him, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me, but always something bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Jehoshaphat said, “King Ahab, you shouldn’t say that!”

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire first, I pray thee, for the word of Jehovah. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the hand of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we may inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah: but I hate him; for he never prophesieth good concerning me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, this day of the word of Jehovah. And the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God will give it into the king’s hand. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, for he prophesies no good concerning me, but always evil: it is Micah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first, find out what the Lord’s word is ⸤in this matter⸥.” 

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

“Go,” they said. “God will hand over Ramoth to you.” 

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord whom we could ask?” 

The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “We can ask the Lord through Micaiah, son of Imla, but I hate him. Nothing he prophesies about me is good; it’s always evil.” 

Jehoshaphat answered, “The king must not say that.” 

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “First, please ask what the Lord’s will is.”

So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, 400 men, and asked them, “Should we go to Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?”

They replied, “March up, and God will hand it over to the king.”

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh here anymore? Let’s ask him.”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man who can ask Yahweh, but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king shouldn’t say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred of them, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” They said, “Go up; for God will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no other prophet of the Lord here of whom we may inquire?” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one other by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything favorable about me, but only disaster.” Jehoshaphat said, “Let the king not say such a thing.”

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Seek first of all the word of Yahweh.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, “Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we cease?” And they said, “Go up, since God will give it into the hand of the king.” Then Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of Yahweh that we might inquire of him?” Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom to seek Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always disaster. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” Then Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say thus.”

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

He continued, “First ask the Lord for advice.”

So the king of Israel brought 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or should I stay here?”

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

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? If there is, ask him what we should do.”

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat. He said, “There is still one other man 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.

2 Chronicles 18:4–7 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord.”

Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?”

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil. He is Micaiah, son of Imla.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”


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