Jehoshaphat's Reforms

19 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. ² But ^(A)Jehu the son of ^(B)Hanani ^(C)the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you ^(D)help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, ^(E)wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. ³ Nevertheless, ^(F)some good is found in you, for ^(G)you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have ^(H)set your heart to seek God.”

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to ^(I)the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ⁵ He appointed ^(J)judges in the land in all ^(K)the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶ and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, ^(L)for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. ⁷ Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for ^(M)there is no injustice with the Lord our God, ^(N)or partiality or taking bribes.”

⁸ Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat ^(O)appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, ^(P)to give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. ⁹ And he charged them: ^(Q)“Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, ^(R)and with your whole heart: ^10 (S)whenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or rules, then you shall warn them, that they may not incur guilt before the Lord and ^(T)wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. ¹¹ And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you ^(U)in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. ^(V)Deal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright!”^[a]

Jehoshaphat's Prayer

20 After this ^(W)the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites,^[b] came against Jehoshaphat for battle. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom,^[c] from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in ^(X)Hazazon-tamar” (that is, ^(Y)Engedi). ³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face ^(Z)to seek the Lord, and ^(AA)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵ And 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 ^(AB)God in heaven? You ^(AC)rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. ^(AD)In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷ Did you not, our God, ^(AE)drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of ^(AF)Abraham your friend? ⁸ And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ^9 (AG)‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,^[d] or pestilence, or famine, ^(AH)we will stand before this house and before you—^(AI)for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now behold, the men of ^(AJ)Ammon and Moab and ^(AK)Mount Seir, whom ^(AL)you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, ^(AM)and whom they avoided and did not destroy— ¹¹ behold, they reward us ^(AN)by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will you not ^(AO)execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but ^(AP)our eyes are on you.”

¹³ Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ And ^(AQ)the Spirit of the Lord came^[e] upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ^(AR)‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, ^(AS)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. You will find them at the end of ^(AT)the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. ^17 (AU)You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ ^(AV)Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, ^(AW)and the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat ^(AX)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Levites, of the ^(AY)Kohathites and the ^(AZ)Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out into ^(BA)the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! ^(BB)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 ^(BC)in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

²² And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ^(BE)an ambush against the men of ^(BF)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, ^(BG)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^[f] 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,^[g] 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, ^(BH)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 (BI)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, ^(BJ)for his God gave him rest all around.

^31 (BK)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 (BL)The high places, however, were not taken away; ^(BM)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 ^(BN)Jehu the son of Hanani, ^(BO)which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign

^35 (BP)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 ^(BQ)Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ^(BR)“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.

³² And ^(A)we are witnesses to these things, and ^(B)so is the Holy Spirit, ^(C)whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³ When they heard this, they ^(D)were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named ^(E)Gamaliel, ^(F)a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For ^(G)before these days Theudas rose up, ^(H)claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^(I)the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for ^(J)if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; ³⁹ but ^(K)if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You ^(L)might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, ⁴⁰ and ^(M)when they had called in the apostles, ^(N)they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ Then they left the presence of the council, ^(O)rejoicing that they were counted worthy ^(P)to suffer dishonor for ^(Q)the name. ⁴² And every day, ^(R)in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ^(S)preaching ^(T)that the Christ is Jesus.

Seven Chosen to Serve

6 Now in these days ^(U)when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists^[a] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in ^(V)the daily distribution. ² And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. ^3 (W)Therefore, brothers,^[b] pick out from among you seven men ^(X)of good repute, ^(Y)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ⁴ But ^(Z)we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” ⁵ And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, ^(AA)a man full of faith and ^(AB)of the Holy Spirit, and ^(AC)Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, ^(AD)a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ These they set before the apostles, and ^(AE)they prayed and ^(AF)laid their hands on them.

⁷ And ^(AG)the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests ^(AH)became obedient to ^(AI)the faith.

Stephen Is Seized

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and ^(AJ)power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. ¹⁰ But ^(AK)they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. ¹¹ Then ^(AL)they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, ¹³ and they ^(AM)set up false ^(AN)witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^(AO)this holy place and the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth ^(AP)will destroy this place and will ^(AQ)change ^(AR)the customs that Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵ And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ^(AS)was like the face of an angel.