Micaiah son of Imlah מיכיהו בן ימלה

Ahab summons Jehoshaphat to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead. Four hundred prophets promise victory with one voice; one of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, has even made himself iron horns: with these you will gore Aram. Jehoshaphat still asks: is there not another prophet of the LORD here? There is, says Ahab — Micaiah son of Imlah, "but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, only evil."

The messenger sent for him urges: everyone is telling the king good things; say the same. Micaiah answers: what the LORD says to me, that I will speak. Brought in, he first repeats what the others said — "go up and prosper" — with such open mockery that the king himself demands the truth. And then the truth is spoken: "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd."

Then comes the most unusual passage: Micaiah describes what he saw in the heavenly council, where a spirit volunteers to become "a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." That is, he explains to the king's face why four hundred men are saying the same thing.

Zedekiah struck him on the cheek. Ahab ordered him imprisoned and fed "scant bread and scant water" until he should return in peace. Micaiah's answer is his last word in Scripture: "if you return in peace at all, the LORD has not spoken through me."

Ahab went into battle in disguise and was killed by a random arrow.