Chapter 10: The Death of the King

Three years later, Ahab decided to recapture Ramoth Gilead, an Israelite city that had been taken by the neighboring kingdom of Aram to the north. He invited Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to join him in battle.

Before they marched, Ahab gathered four hundred prophets, and every one of them said the same thing: go to war, the Lord will give you victory.

But Jehoshaphat was not convinced.

JEHOSHAPHAT“Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”

There was one. Micaiah son of Imlah.

AHAB“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.”

They sent for Micaiah. When he arrived, he stood before the two kings and spoke.

MICAIAH“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 go home in peace.”

Ahab had Micaiah thrown in prison. Then both kings went to war. But Ahab took a precaution. He told Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes, while Ahab himself removed his and entered the battle in disguise.

It made no difference. During the fighting, an Aramean soldier drew his bow at random. The arrow found the one gap in Ahab's armor, striking him between the joints of his breastplate. He was propped up in his chariot facing the enemy lines, bleeding slowly through the day. By evening, Ahab was dead. (1 Kings 22:34-38)

They brought his chariot back to Samaria and washed it at the pool. Dogs came and licked up his blood from the ground, exactly as Elijah had spoken in Naboth's vineyard.