The Daily Audio Bible
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Micaiah Speaks to Ahab
22 Three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. 2 In the third year, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 The king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramothgilead belongs to us? We are still doing nothing to take it from the king of Syria.” 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are. My people are as your people. My horses are as your horses.”
5 Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Ask first for the word of the Lord.” 6 Then the king of Israel gathered together the men who spoke for God, 400 men. He said to them, “Should I go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or should I not?” And they said, “Go. For the Lord will give it to the king.” 7 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not another man who speaks for the Lord here, that we may ask him?” 8 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is only one other man whom we may ask of the Lord, but I hate him. He does not speak anything good about me, only bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say that.” 9 Then the king of Israel called a soldier and said, “Be quick to bring Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, dressed in their king’s clothing. They sat at the grain-floor at the gate of Samaria. All the men who speak for God were speaking in front of them. 11 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “The Lord says, ‘With these you will fight the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 12 And all the men who spoke for God said so. They said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and do well. For the Lord will give it to the king.”
13 The man who went to call Micaiah said to him, “See, the words of those who speak for God are all in the king’s favor. Let your words be like theirs and speak in favor of the king.” 14 But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I will say what the Lord says to me.” 15 Micaiah came to the king. And the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or should we not?” He answered, “Go up and do well. The Lord will give it to the king.” 16 Then the king said to him, “How many times must I tell you to speak nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 17 So Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel spread upon the mountains like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no owner. Let each of them return to his house in peace.’” 18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not speak good of me, but bad?” 19 Micaiah said, “So hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne. All those in heaven were standing by Him on His right and on His left. 20 The Lord said, ‘Who will lead Ahab to go up and die at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another thing. 21 Then a spirit came and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will lead him.’ 22 The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all those who will tell what will happen in the future.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are to lead him, and do well. Go and do so.’ 23 Now see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these who tell what will happen in the future. The Lord has said bad things against you.”
24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came and hit Micaiah on the face and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” 25 Micaiah said, “See, you will see on that day when you go into a room to hide yourself.” 26 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the leader of the city and to Joash the king’s son. 27 Tell them, ‘The king says, “Put this man in prison and feed him with little bread and water, until I return in peace.” ‘ ” 28 Micaiah said, “If you do return in peace, then the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Listen, all you people.”
The Death of Ahab
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 dress so no one will know who I am, and will go to battle. But you put on your king’s clothing.” So the king of Israel dressed so no one would know who he was, and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Syria had told the thirty-two captains of his war-wagons, “Do not fight with the small or strong. But only fight with the king of Israel.” 32 When the captains of the war-wagons saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “For sure this is the king of Israel.” And they turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 Then the captains of the war-wagons saw that it was not the king of Israel. So they returned from going after him.
34 But a certain man happened to shoot an arrow and hit the king of Israel between the parts of his battle-clothes. So Ahab said to the driver of his war-wagon, “Turn around and take me out of the battle. For I am hurt.” 35 The battle was hard that day, and the king was set up in his war-wagon in front of the Syrians. At evening he died. The blood from the cut flowed to the bottom of the war-wagon. 36 Then a cry went through to his country!
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria. They buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed the war-wagon by the pool of Samaria. The dogs drank up his blood. (The women who sold the use of their bodies washed themselves there.) It happened as the word of the Lord said it would. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all he did, the ivory house and cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 Ahab died and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.
Jehoshaphat Rules Judah
41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became the 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 ruled twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. 44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the strength he showed and how he fought, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 46 He destroyed from the land those who were left of the men who sold the use of their bodies in their religion during the days of his father Asa.
47 Now there was no king in Edom. A leader was acting as king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold. But they did not go. For the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahab’s son Ahaziah said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 And Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. Jehoram his son became king in his place.
Ahaziah Rules Israel
51 Ahab’s son Ahaziah became the king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. And he ruled Israel for two years. 52 He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the way of his father and mother, and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 53 He served the false god Baal and worshiped him. He made the Lord God of Israel angry in every way his father had done.
16 Paul got up. He raised his hand and said, “Jewish men and you who honor God, listen! 17 The God of the Jews chose our early fathers and made them a great people during the time they lived in the land of Egypt. With a strong hand He took them out from there. 18 For about forty years He took care of them in the desert. 19 He destroyed the people of seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then He divided the land and gave it to them as their own. 20 For about 450 years He let them have special leaders. They had these leaders until the time of Samuel.
21 “Then they wanted a king. God gave them Saul who was the son of Kish from the family group of Benjamin. He was king forty years. 22 When God took Saul as king from them, He made David to be their king. He said, ‘David, Jesse’s son, will please My heart. He will do all I want done.’
23 “From this man’s family, God gave to the Jews the One Who saves from the punishment of sin as He had promised. He is Jesus. 24 Before Jesus came, John had preached to all the Jews that they should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and turned from them. 25 When John was near the end of his work, he asked, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. No, but He is coming later and I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes!’
26 “Men and brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and all of you who honor God, listen! This news of being able to be saved from the punishment of sin has been sent to you. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their leaders did not know Him. They did not understand the words from the early preachers. These words were read to them every Day of Rest. But they did the very thing the early preachers had said they would do by handing Him over to die. 28 They could find no reason that He should die, but they asked Pilate to have Him killed. 29 When everything was done that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a grave. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 For many days He was seen by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are the ones who tell the people about Him.
32 “We bring you the Good News about the promise made to our early fathers. 33 God has finished this for us who are their children. He did this by raising Jesus from the dead. It is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father.’ (A) 34 God proved that Jesus was His Son by raising Him from the dead. He will never die again. He has said, ‘I will complete the promises made to David.’ (B)
35 “In another Psalm He says, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to go back to dust!’ (C) 36 David was a good leader for the people of his day. He did what God wanted. Then he died and was put into a grave close to his father’s grave. His body went back to dust. 37 But God raised this One (Christ) to life. He did not go back to dust.
38 “Men and brothers, listen to this. You may be forgiven of your sins by this One I am telling you about. 39 Everyone who puts his trust in Christ will be made right with God. You will be made free from those things the Law of Moses could not make you free from. 40 But look out! The writings of the early preachers tell of many things that you do not want to happen to you. 41 ‘Listen, you who doubt and laugh at the truth will die. I will do a work during your days. It will be a work that you will not believe even if someone tells you about it.’” (D)
A Song of Praise
138 I will give You thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to You in front of the gods. 2 I will bow down toward Your holy house. And I will give thanks to Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth. For You have honored Your Word because of what Your name is. 3 You answered me on the day I called. You gave me strength in my soul.
4 O Lord, all the kings of the earth will give thanks to You when they have heard the words of Your mouth. 5 And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For the shining beauty of the Lord is great. 6 For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride. But He knows the proud from far away. 7 Even if I walk into trouble, You will keep my life safe. You will put out Your hand against the anger of those who hate me. And Your right hand will save me. 8 The Lord will finish the work He started for me. O Lord, Your loving-kindness lasts forever. Do not turn away from the works of Your hands.
17 A friend loves at all times. A brother is born to share troubles.
18 A man without good thinking makes promises, and becomes a trust for what another man owes his neighbor.
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