2 Chronicles 20:20-21

English Standard Version

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out into ^(A)the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! ^(B)Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him ^(C)in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

²² And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ^(E)an ambush against the men of ^(F)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. ²³ For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, ^(G)they all helped to destroy one another.

The Lord Delivers Judah

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there^[a] were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. ²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah,^[b] for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, ^(H)for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ^29 (I)And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, ^(J)for his God gave him rest all around.

^31 (K)Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ^33 (L)The high places, however, were not taken away; ^(M)the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of ^(N)Jehu the son of Hanani, ^(O)which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign

^35 (P)After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. ³⁶ He joined him in building ships to go to ^(Q)Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ^(R)“Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

21 ^(S)Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of ^(T)Israel.^{[c] 3} Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ^(U)fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. ⁴ When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of ^(V)Israel. ^5 (W)Jehoram was ^(X)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (Y)And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(Z)the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ^(AA)a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

⁸ In his days Edom revolted from the ^(AB)rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from ^(AC)the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(AD)into whoredom and made Judah go astray. ¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^(AE)‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^(AF)in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ^13 (AG)but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(AH)into whoredom, ^(AI)as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^(AJ)have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^(AK)with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

^16 (AL)And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger^[d] of the Philistines and of ^(AM)the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^(AN)Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him ^(AO)in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^(AP)like the fires made for his fathers. ^20 (AQ)He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^(AR)with no one's regret. ^(AS)They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.