2 Chronicles 21
New American Standard Bible
Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat in Judah
21 (A)Then Jehoshaphat [a]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, [b]Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king (B)of Israel. 3 Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, (C)with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
4 Now when Jehoram had [c]taken over the kingdom of his father and gathered courage, he (D)killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the leaders of Israel as well. 5 (E)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 6 (F)He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, (G)for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, (H)and because He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.
Revolt against Judah
8 In his days (I)Edom broke away [d]from the rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. 9 Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck and killed the Edomites who were surrounding him, and the commanders of the chariots. 10 So Edom revolted [e]against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time [f]against his rule because he had abandoned the Lord God of his fathers. 11 Furthermore, (J)he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem (K)to be unfaithful, and led Judah astray.
12 Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: ‘Because (L)you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat (M)and the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but (N)have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful (O)as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you (P)have also killed your brothers, [g]your own family, who were better than you, 14 behold, the Lord is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great plague; 15 and (Q)you will suffer [h]severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”
16 Then (R)the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and (S)the Arabs who [i]bordered the Ethiopians; 17 and they came 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 [j](T)Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
18 So after all this the Lord struck him (U)in his intestines with an incurable sickness. 19 Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness, and he died in great pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire for him like (V)the fire for his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years; and he departed [k](W)with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, (X)but not in the tombs of the kings.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 21:1 I.e., died
- 2 Chronicles 21:2 Or Azariah
- 2 Chronicles 21:4 Lit risen
- 2 Chronicles 21:8 Lit from under the hand of
- 2 Chronicles 21:10 Lit from under the hand of
- 2 Chronicles 21:10 Lit from under his hand
- 2 Chronicles 21:13 Lit your father’s house
- 2 Chronicles 21:15 Lit in many sicknesses
- 2 Chronicles 21:16 Lit were at the hand of
- 2 Chronicles 21:17 In 2 Chr 22:1, Ahaziah
- 2 Chronicles 21:20 Lit without desire
2 Chronicles 21
New Living Translation
Jehoram Rules in Judah
21 When Jehoshaphat died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Jehoram became the next king.
2 Jehoram’s brothers—the other sons of Jehoshaphat—were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.[a] 3 Their father had given each of them valuable gifts of silver, gold, and costly items, and also some of Judah’s fortified towns. However, he designated Jehoram as the next king because he was the oldest. 4 But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah.
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 7 But the Lord did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.
8 During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king. 9 So Jehoram went out with his full army and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he went out at night and attacked them[b] under cover of darkness. 10 Even so, Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time. All this happened because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had built pagan shrines in the hill country of Judah and had led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to give themselves to pagan gods and to go astray.
12 Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter:
“This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: You have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or your grandfather King Asa of Judah. 13 Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you. 14 So now the Lord is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives, and all that is yours with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will suffer with a severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels come out.”
16 Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and the Arabs, who lived near the Ethiopians,[c] to attack Jehoram. 17 They marched against Judah, broke down its defenses, and carried away everything of value in the royal palace, including the king’s sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Ahaziah,[d] was spared.
18 After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease. 19 The disease grew worse and worse, and at the end of two years it caused his bowels to come out, and he died in agony. His people did not build a great funeral fire to honor him as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
Footnotes
- 21:2 Masoretic Text reads of Israel; also in 21:4. The author of Chronicles sees Judah as representative of the true Israel. (Some Hebrew manuscripts, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate read of Judah.)
- 21:9 Or he went out and escaped. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 21:16 Hebrew the Cushites.
- 21:17 Hebrew Jehoahaz, a variant spelling of Ahaziah; compare 22:1.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
