And he said … And he said …: The first occurrence of the pronoun he refers to the spirit, which Good News Translation makes explicit. Its second occurrence refers to the LORD, which many modern versions make explicit (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).

I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets: This literal rendering is not recommended in most languages. A possible model is “I will go and cause all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies” (similarly Good News Translation). His prophets refers to the four hundred prophets on whom Ahab called to give him guidance.

You are to entice him, and you shall succeed: The Hebrew verbs rendered entice and succeed may both be translated in the future tense. But in this context they may also both be translated as imperatives. Most translations treat the first of these two verbs as a command and the second verb as a statement of what will happen (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). If both verbs are treated as commands, a possible model is “Deceive him and overpower him.” If both verbs are taken in the future tense sense, they may be rendered “You will entice him and be successful.”

It is possible to avoid the embedded quotations in this verse by saying:

• The spirit replied that he would go to Ahab’s prophets and cause them to tell lies. So the LORD gave the spirit permission to go ahead and do it, telling the spirit that he would succeed in tricking Ahab.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .