Ahab Dies in Battle^(A)

²⁹ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel ^(B)disguised himself and went into battle.

³¹ Now the ^(C)king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two ^(D)captains of his chariots, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³² So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat ^(E)cried out. ³³ And it happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. ³⁴ Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

³⁵ The battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. ³⁶ Then, as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his own country!”

Jehoshaphat’s Additional Reforms

19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. ² And Jehu the son of Hanani ^(A)the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and ^(B)love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the ^(C)wrath of the Lord is upon you. ³ Nevertheless ^(D)good things are found in you, in that you have removed the ^[a]wooden images from the land, and have ^(E)prepared your heart to seek God.”

³⁷ So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ Then someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while ^[a]the harlots bathed, according ^(A)to the word of the Lord which He had spoken.

³⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, ^(B)the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ So Ahab ^[b]rested with his fathers. Then ^(C)Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.

⁵² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(A)walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; ⁵³ for ^(B)he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, ^(C)according^[a] to all that his father had done.

⁴ Now ^(A)the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(B)for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (C)At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(D)in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

The Reforms of Jehoshaphat

⁴ So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their ^(A)fathers. ⁵ Then he set ^(B)judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶ and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for ^(C)you do not judge for man but for the Lord, ^(D)who is with you ^[a]in the judgment. ⁷ Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for ^(E)there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no ^(F)partiality, nor taking of bribes.”

⁸ Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat ^(G)appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, ^[b]when they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹ And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act ^(H)in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart: ^10 (I)Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and ^(J)wrath come upon ^(K)you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. ¹¹ And take notice: ^(L)Amariah the chief priest is over you ^(M)in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be ^(N)with the good.”

Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir Defeated

20 It happened after this that the people of ^(A)Moab with the people of ^(B)Ammon, and others with them besides the ^(C)Ammonites,^[a] came to battle against Jehoshaphat. ² Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from ^[b]Syria; and they are ^(D)in Hazazon Tamar” (which is ^(E)En Gedi). ³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set ^[c]himself to ^(F)seek the Lord, and ^(G)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ask ^(H)help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶ and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not ^(I)God in heaven, and ^(J)do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(K)in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? ⁷ Are You not ^(L)our God, who ^(M)drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham ^(N)Your friend forever? ⁸ And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ^9 (O)‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your ^(P)name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You ^(Q)would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but ^(R)they turned from them and did not destroy them— ¹¹ here they are, rewarding us ^(S)by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will You not ^(T)judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but ^(U)our eyes are upon You.”

¹³ Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

¹⁴ Then ^(V)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ^(W)‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, ^(X)for the battle is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the ^[d]brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. ^17 (Y)You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, ^(Z)for the Lord is with you.”

¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat ^(AA)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

²⁰ So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: ^(AB)Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” ²¹ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, ^(AC)and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

²² Now when they began to sing and to praise, ^(AF)the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. ²³ For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they ^[e]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, ^(AG)they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.

²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the ^[f]dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. ²⁶ And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of ^[g]Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had ^(AH)made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹ And ^(AI)the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his ^(AJ)God gave him rest all around.

³⁵ After this ^(A)Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, ^(B)who acted very ^(C)wickedly. ³⁶ And he allied himself with him ^(D)to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. ³⁷ But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” ^(E)Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go ^(F)to Tarshish.

^48 (A)Jehoshaphat ^(B)made ^[a]merchant ships to go to ^(C)Ophir for gold; ^(D)but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at ^(E)Ezion Geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat would not.