2 Chronicles 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21
1 [a]Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king. 2 Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. 3 Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and other valuable possessions, as well as fortified cities in Judah. However, he bestowed the kingship upon Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
The Evil Deeds of Jehoram. 4 When Jehoram had firmly established himself on his father’s throne, he put all of his brothers to the sword as well as some of the princes of Israel. 5 He was thirty-two years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.
6 Jehoram followed the practices of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7 However, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he had made with David and because of his promise to give him and his descendants a lamp forever.
8 During the reign of Jehoram, Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and appointed its own king. 9 Therefore, Jehoram crossed over into Edom with his commanders and all his chariots. He set out during the night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.
10 However, Edom has remained in rebellion against the sovereignty of Judah to the present day. Libnah revolted against the rule of Jehoram at the same time because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers, 11 and because he had established shrines in the hill country of Judah, leading the inhabitants of Jerusalem into idolatry and the people of Judah into apostasy.
12 Retribution. A letter came to Jehoram from the prophet Elijah with this message: “Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: ‘You have not followed the example of your father Jehoshaphat, nor of Asa, king of Judah,[b] 13 but have instead followed the example of the kings of Israel and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into apostasy, just as the house of Ahab did. Also, you have murdered your brothers, members of your father’s house, who were far more worthy than you.
14 “ ‘Because of all this, the Lord will cause a great affliction to affect your people, your children, your wives, and all your property. 15 Moreover, you yourself will suffer greatly from a severe disease afflicting your bowels that will eventually cause them to protrude.’ ”
16 Then the Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who dwelt near the Ethiopians.[c] 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it, and carried away all the wealth that was found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and his wives. Not a son was left to him except the youngest, Jehoahaz.
18 After all this the Lord struck down Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, after two years had gone by, his bowels came forth as a result of his disease, and he died in unbearable agony. His people did not bother to make a funeral pyre for him as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He passed away with none of the people exhibiting any sign of regret, and he was buried in the City of David, although not in the tombs of the kings.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 21:1 In less than a century after the separation of the two kingdoms, the faith had grown weak in Judah, and there was a relaxation of morals. Under the influence of the powerful neighbor to the north, pagan practices gradually infiltrated the land and Jerusalem, its capital. The temple and the priesthood were bastions that resisted and saved the “house” of David for a time. But in about 745 B.C., the Assyrians came to power; they would threaten the Lord even in his sanctuary. In telling this entire story, the pessimistic Chronicler emphasizes the special responsibility of the kings in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 21:12 Either Elijah was still alive, or he had already disappeared (his end in 2 Ki 2:1-11 precedes the story of Joram, but this is not a decisive argument). In the second case, Elijah may have had prophetic foresight of the future and have written his vision down with orders to make it known at the proper time.
- 2 Chronicles 21:16 These are the same people who paid tribute to his father (2 Chr 17:11); with the changed conduct of the sovereign, these relationships also changed.
2 Chronicles 21
EasyEnglish Bible
Jehoram becomes king of Judah
21 Jehoshaphat died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram became king after him. 2 Jehoram had brothers who were also sons of Jehoshaphat. They were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these men were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.[a] 3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold and other valuable things. He gave them authority over the strong cities of Judah. But Jehoshaphat chose Jehoram be the next king because he was his oldest son.
4 Jehoram made himself a strong king to rule over his father's kingdom. Then he killed all his brothers, as well as some of the Israelite leaders. 5 He was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.
6 He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He did what the family of Ahab had done. He married a daughter of King Ahab and he became as wicked as King Ahab's family was. He did things that the Lord said were evil. 7 But the Lord did not want to destroy all David's descendants, because of his promise to David. He had promised that King David would always have descendants who would rule the nation.
Edom fights against Judah
8 While Jehoram was king, Edom's people turned against Judah. They would no longer accept the king of Judah's authority over them. They decided to have their own king. 9 So King Jehoram travelled to Zair with his army officers and all his chariots.[b] The Edomite army came and they were all around him. But that night, Jehoram and his officers attacked the Edomites and they escaped. 10 Even today, Edom's people do not obey the rulers of Judah. The people of Libnah city also turned against Judah at the same time. That happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord, the God of his ancestors.
11 He also built altars on the hills of Judah. He caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn away from the Lord and worship false gods.[c]
Elijah gives a message to King Jehoram
12 The prophet Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram. This is what it said:
‘The Lord, the God of your ancestor David says, “You have not lived in a good way as your father Jehoshaphat did and as King Asa of Judah did. 13 Instead, you have lived in the way that the kings of Israel live. You have caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn away from the Lord and worship false gods. That is the same as King Ahab's family has done in Israel. You have also killed your own brothers, your father's sons. They were better men than you are. 14 So now the Lord will send terrible trouble on your people, including your children, your wives and everything that belongs to you. 15 You will have a bad disease. You will have terrible pain in your stomach that becomes worse and worse. Finally, your inside parts will come out of your body.” ’
16 There were some Philistines and Arabs who lived near people from Ethiopia. The Lord caused them to be angry with Jehoram. 17 They attacked Judah and they took power over the land. They took away all the valuable things in the king's palace. They took his sons and his wives as their prisoners. The only son of Jehoram that remained was his youngest son, Ahaziah.[d]
Jehoram dies
18 After all this happened, the Lord caused Jehoram to have a bad disease in his stomach. He could not become well again. 19 He was very ill for two years, and then his inside parts came out because of the illness. So he had a lot of pain until he died. His people did not make a big fire to give him honour, as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was 32 years old when he started to rule. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. When he died, nobody was sad. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the place where they had buried the other kings.
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