³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat. That’s because he lived the way King David had lived. He didn’t ask for advice from the gods that were named Baal. ⁴ Instead, Jehoshaphat obeyed the God of his father. He obeyed the Lord’s commands instead of the practices of Israel. ⁵ The Lord made the kingdom secure under Jehoshaphat’s control. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. So he had great wealth and honor. ⁶ His heart was committed to living the way the Lord wanted him to. He removed the high places from Judah. He also removed the poles used to worship the female god named Asherah.

⁷ In the third year of his rule, he sent his officials to teach in the towns of Judah. The officials were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah. ⁸ Some Levites were with them. Their names were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah. Elishama and Jehoram, the priests, were also with them. ⁹ They taught people all through Judah. They took the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went around to all the towns of Judah. And they taught the people.

¹⁰ All the kingdoms of the lands around Judah became afraid of the Lord. So they didn’t go to war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some Philistines brought to Jehoshaphat the gifts and silver he required of them. The Arabs brought him their flocks. They brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.

¹² Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built forts in Judah. He also built cities in Judah where he could store things. ¹³ He had large supplies in the towns of Judah. In Jerusalem he kept men who knew how to fight well.

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

18 Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor. He joined forces with Ahab by marrying Ahab’s daughter.

21 Jehoshaphat joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became the next king after him. ² Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All of them were sons of Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel. ³ Their father had given them many gifts. He had given them silver, gold and other things of value. He had also given them cities in Judah that had high walls around them. But he had made Jehoram king. That’s because Jehoram was his oldest son.

Jehoram King of Judah

⁴ Jehoram made his position secure over his father’s kingdom. Then he killed all his brothers with his sword. He also killed some of the officials of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. ⁶ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the royal family of Ahab had done. In fact, he married a daughter of Ahab. Jehoram did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Ahaziah King of Judah

22 The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah king in place of Jehoram. Ahaziah was Jehoram’s youngest son. Robbers had come with the Arabs into Jehoram’s camp. The robbers had killed all his older sons. So Ahaziah, the king of Judah, began to rule. He was the son of Jehoram.

² Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri.

³ Ahaziah also followed the ways of the royal family of Ahab. That’s because Ahaziah’s mother gave him bad advice. She told him to do what was wrong. ⁴ So he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did what the family of Ahab had done. After Ahaziah’s father died, the members of Ahab’s family became his advisers. That’s what destroyed him. ⁵ He also followed their advice when he joined forces with Joram, the king of Israel. They went to war against Hazael at Ramoth Gilead. Joram was the son of Ahab. Hazael was king of Aram. The soldiers of Aram wounded Joram. ⁶ So he returned to Jezreel to give his wounds time to heal. His enemies had wounded him at Ramoth in his battle against Hazael, the king of Aram.

Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, went down to Jezreel. He went there to see Joram. That’s because Joram had been wounded. Ahaziah was king of Judah. Joram was the son of Ahab.

⁷ Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God caused Ahaziah to fall from power. When Ahaziah arrived, he rode out with Joram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi. The Lord had anointed Jehu to destroy the royal family of Ahab. ⁸ So Jehu punished Ahab’s family, just as the Lord had told him to. While he was doing it, he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives. They had been serving Ahaziah. So Jehu killed them. ⁹ Then he went to look for Ahaziah. Jehu’s men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. People buried him, because they said, “He was a grandson of Jehoshaphat, who followed the Lord with all his heart.” So no one in the royal family of Ahaziah was powerful enough to keep the kingdom.

Athaliah and Joash

¹⁰ Athaliah was Ahaziah’s mother. She saw that her son was dead. So she began to wipe out the whole royal family of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehosheba went and got Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Jehosheba was the daughter of King Jehoram. She stole Joash away from among the royal princes. All of them were about to be murdered. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom. Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, was the wife of Jehoiada the priest. She was also Ahaziah’s sister. So Jehosheba hid the child from Athaliah. That’s why Athaliah couldn’t kill him. ¹² The child remained hidden with the priest and his wife at God’s temple for six years. Athaliah ruled over the land during that time.