So the king went to the city gate. When the news spread that the king was at the gate, everyone came to see him. All the Israelites who had followed Absalom had run away to their homes.
When all the Israelites saw that the new king refused to listen to them, they said to the king, “We have no share in David! We have no part in the son of Jesse! People of Israel, let’s go to our own homes! Let David’s son rule his own people!” So the Israelites went home.
‘The Lord says you must not go to war against your brothers, the Israelites. Every one of you should go home, because I made all these things happen.’ ” So they obeyed the Lord’s command and went home as the Lord had commanded.
So Micaiah answered, “I saw the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘They have no leaders. They should go home and not fight.’ ”
The battle continued all day. King Ahab was held up in his chariot and faced the Arameans. His blood flowed down to the bottom of the chariot. That evening he died.
So the Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, and every Israelite soldier ran away to his own home. It was a great defeat for Israel, because thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed.