17 So Micaiah said:“I see all Israelscattered on the mountains,like sheep without a shepherd,And the Lord saying,These have no master!Let each of them go back home in peace.”
18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you, he does not prophesy good about me, but only evil?”
19 Micaiah continued: “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his throne, with the whole host of heaven standing to his right and to his left.
20 The Lord asked: Who will deceive Ahab, so that he will go up and fall on Ramoth-gilead? And one said this, another that,
21 until this spirit came forth and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked: How?
22 He answered, ‘I will go forth and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord replied: You shall succeed in deceiving him. Go forth and do this.
23 So now, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; the Lord himself has decreed evil against you.”