2 Chronicles 20 - 21 - Legacy Standard Bible

2 Chronicles 20 - 21

War Against Judah

Now it happened after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Ammonites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” 3 And Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek Yahweh, and called for a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to seek help from Yahweh; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.

Jehoshaphat Before the Assembly

5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh before the new court, 6 and he said, “O Yahweh, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can take their stand against You. 7 Did You not, O our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the seed of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, 9 ‘Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ 10 So now, behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), 11 and behold, they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have caused us to possess. 12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; and we do not know what we should do, but our eyes are on You.” 13 Now all Judah was standing before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Yahweh’s Spirit Comes upon Jahaziel

14 Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; 15 and he said, “Pay attention, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says Yahweh to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You need not fight in this battle; take your stand—stand and see the salvation of Yahweh on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for Yahweh is with you.” 18 So Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh. 19 Then the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, rose up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Yahweh Eradicates the Multitude

20 And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, establish your faith in Yahweh your God and you will be established. Establish your faith in His prophets and succeed.” 21 When he had taken counsel with the people, he caused those who sang to Yahweh and those who praised Him to stand in holy attire, as they went out before the army, saying, “Give thanks to Yahweh, for His lovingkindness endures forever.” 22 When they began singing for joy and praising, Yahweh set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were defeated. 23 Indeed, the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to devote them to destruction and to utterly eradicate them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to bring one another to ruin. 24 Now Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, and they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses fallen on the ground, and no one had escaped. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil and found much among them, including goods, garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

26 Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of Beracah” until today. 27 And every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with gladness, for Yahweh had made them glad over their enemies. 28 And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. 29 And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around. 31 Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it, doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh. 33 The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts to the God of their fathers. 34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first to last, behold, they are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahaziah

35 Afterwards, Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly in so doing. 36 So he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Reigns over Judah

And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place. 2 Now he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 And their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. 4 So Jehoram arose over the kingdom of his father and strengthened himself, and he killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the commanders of Israel also. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. 7 However, Yahweh was not willing to make the house of David a ruin because of the covenant which He had cut with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

Revolt Against Judah

8 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah and made a king over themselves. 9 Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots. 10 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his fathers. 11 Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot and drove Judah astray. 12 Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of your father David, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you, 14 behold, Yahweh is going to smite your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great calamity; 15 and you will suffer severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’” 16 Then Yahweh stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians; 17 and they went up against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. 18 So after all this Yahweh smote him in his bowels with an incurable sickness. 19 Now it happened in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died with this greatly painful disease. And his people made no fire for him like the fire for his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.