2 Chronicles 18:21

He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord ¹  said, ‘Deceive and overpower him. ²  Go out and do as you have proposed.’

"‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. "‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

"He said, ‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.’

"And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’ "‘You will succeed,’ said the LORD. ‘Go ahead and do it.’

"Easy," said the angel, "I'll get all the prophets to lie." "That should do it," said GOD; "On your way--seduce him!"

And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so.

He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the LORD said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.’

"So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’

He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord ¹  said, ‘Deceive and overpower him. ²  Go out and do as you have proposed.’

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The Hebrew text has two imperfects connected by וְגַם (vÿgam). These verbs could be translated as specific futures, “you will deceive and also you will prevail,” in which case the Lord is assuring the spirit of success on his mission. However, in a commissioning context (note the following imperatives) such as this, it is more likely that the imperfects are injunctive, in which case one could translate, “Deceive, and also overpower.”