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Old Testament Reading - A persecuted prophet

⁶So King Ahab summoned his 400 heathen prophets^a and asked them, “Shall I attack Ramoth-gilead, or not?”

And they all said, “Yes, go ahead, for God will help you conquer it.”

⁷But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? I’d like to ask him too.”

⁸“Well, there’s one,” King Ahab replied, “but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything good. He always has something gloomy to say. His name is Micaiah, the son of Imlah.”

“Oh, come now!” Jehoshaphat replied. “Don’t talk like that!”

⁹So King Ahab called to one of his aides, “Go get Micaiah. Hurry!”

¹⁵When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we attack Ramoth-gilead, or not?”

“Why, of course! Go right ahead!” Micaiah told him. “You will have a great victory, for the Lord will cause you to conquer!”

¹⁶“How many times must I tell you to speak only what the Lord tells you to?” the king demanded.

¹⁷Then Micaiah told him, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘Their king is dead; send them to their homes.’”

¹⁸Turning to Jehoshaphat, Ahab complained, “Didn’t I tell you this would happen? He never tells me anything good. It’s always bad.”

²⁶Then King Ahab ordered Micaiah’s arrest.

“Take him to Amon, the mayor of the city, and to my son Joash. ²⁷Tell them, ‘The king says to put this fellow in jail and feed him with bread and water — and only enough to keep him alive^b—until I return in peace.’”

²⁸“If you return in peace,” Micaiah replied, “it will prove that the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he turned to the people standing nearby and said, “Take note of what I’ve said.”

1. Implied. These were evidently the 400 Asherah priests left alive by Elijah at Carmel, though the 450 prophets of Baal were slain. See 18:19 and 40.
2. Literally, “as though the city were under siege.”