1 Kings 22:15–23

¹⁵When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?”

“Go up and triumph,” Micaiah replied, “for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

¹⁶But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?”

¹⁷So Micaiah declared:

“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 return home in peace.’”

¹⁸Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for me, but only bad?”

¹⁹Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.

²⁰And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’

And one suggested this, and another that.

²¹Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’^a

‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.

²²And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’

‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

²³So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.”