Jehu Rebukes Jehoshaphat

19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. ^2 (A)And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “^(B)Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord, and ^[a](C)by doing so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord? ³ But ^[b](D)there is some good in you, for ^(E)you have removed the ^[c]Asheroth from the land and you ^(F)have set your heart to seek God.”

⁴ So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and ^(G)brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Reforms Instituted

⁵ He appointed ^(H)judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city. ⁶ He said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for ^(I)you do not judge for mankind but for the Lord who is with you ^[d]when you render judgment. ⁷ Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; be careful ^[e]about what you do, for ^[f]the Lord our God will ^(J)have no part in injustice ^(K)or partiality, or in the taking of a bribe.”

⁸ In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat also appointed some ^(L)of the Levites and priests, and some of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and ^[g]to judge disputes among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then he commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and wholeheartedly. ^10 (M)Whenever any dispute comes to you from your countrymen who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them so that they will not be guilty before the Lord, and ^(N)wrath will not come on you and your countrymen. This you shall do and you will not be guilty. ¹¹ Behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in ^(O)every matter ^[h]that pertains to the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all that pertains to the king. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. ^[i](P)Act resolutely, and may the Lord be with the upright.”

Judah Invaded

20 Now it came about after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the ^[a](A)Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ² Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from ^[b]Aram; and behold, they are in ^(B)Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid and ^[c](C)turned his attention to seek the Lord; and he ^(D)proclaimed a period of fasting throughout Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ^(E)seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new courtyard; ⁶ and he said, “Lord, God of our fathers, ^(F)are You not God in the heavens? And ^(G)are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You. ⁷ Did You not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land from Your people Israel, and ^(H)give it to the descendants of ^(I)Your friend Abraham forever? ⁸ They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘^(J)If disaster comes upon us, the sword, or judgment, or plague, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for ^(K)Your name is in this house), and cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰ Now behold, ^(L)the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^[d]Mount Seir, ^(M)whom You did not allow Israel to invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (for they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), ¹¹ see how they are rewarding us by ^(N)coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance. ¹² Our God, ^(O)will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but ^(P)our eyes are on You.”

¹³ All Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives, and their children.

Jahaziel Answers the Prayer

¹⁴ Then in the midst of the assembly ^(Q)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; ¹⁵ and he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: This is what the Lord says to you: ‘^(R)Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for ^(S)the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow, go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You need not fight in this battle; take your position, ^(T)stand and watch the salvation of the Lord in your behalf, Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow, go out to face them, ^(U)for the Lord is with you.”

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat ^(V)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 The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and from the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Enemies Destroy Themselves

²⁰ They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: ^(W)Put your trust in the Lord your God and you will endure. Put your trust in His prophets, and succeed.” ²¹ When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who ^(X)praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “^(Y)Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithfulness is everlasting.” ²² When they began singing and praising, the Lord ^(Z)set ambushes against the sons of ^(AA)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were struck down. ²³ For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, completely destroying them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, ^(AB)they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and there was no survivor. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoils, they found much among them, including goods, ^[e]garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were taking the spoils for three days because there was so much.

Triumphant Return to Jerusalem

²⁶ Then on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for they blessed the Lord there. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of ^[f]Beracah” until today. ²⁷ Every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, ^(AC)for the Lord had helped them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹ And ^(AD)the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, ^(AE)for his God gave him rest on all sides.

^31 (AF)Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not deviate from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. ^33 (AG)The high places, however, were not removed; ^(AH)the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first ^[g]to last, behold, they are written in the annals of ^(AI)Jehu the son of Hanani, which is ^[h]recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Alliance Displeases God

^35 (AJ)After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly ^[i]in so doing. ³⁶ So he allied himself with him to make ships to go ^(AK)to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat in Judah

21 ^(A)Then Jehoshaphat ^[a]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, ^[b]Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king ^(B)of Israel. ³ Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, ^(C)with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴ Now when Jehoram had ^[c]taken over the kingdom of his father and gathered courage, he ^(D)killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the leaders of Israel as well. ^5 (E)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (F)He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, ^(G)for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, ^(H)and because He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

Revolt against Judah

⁸ In his days ^(I)Edom broke away ^[d]from the rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. ⁹ Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck and killed the Edomites who were surrounding him, and the commanders of the chariots. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted ^[e]against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time ^[f]against his rule because he had abandoned the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹ Furthermore, ^(J)he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(K)to be unfaithful, and led Judah astray.

¹² Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: ‘Because ^(L)you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat ^(M)and the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³ but ^(N)have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful ^(O)as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you ^(P)have also killed your brothers, ^[g]your own family, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great plague; ¹⁵ and ^(Q)you will suffer ^[h]severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”

¹⁶ Then ^(R)the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and ^(S)the Arabs who ^[i]bordered the Ethiopians; ¹⁷ and they came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^[j](T)Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸ So after all this the Lord struck him ^(U)in his intestines with an incurable sickness. ¹⁹ Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness, and he died in great pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire for him like ^(V)the fire for his fathers. ²⁰ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years; and he departed ^[k](W)with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, ^(X)but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah

22 ^(A)Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^[a]Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with ^(B)the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ² Ahaziah was ^[b]twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the ^[c]granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to act wickedly. ⁴ So he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to ^(C)his own destruction.

Ahaziah Allies with Jehoram of Israel

⁵ He also walked by their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the ^(D)Arameans ^[d]wounded ^[e]Joram. ⁶ So he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds ^[f]which they had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And ^[g]Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ Now ^(E)the destruction of Ahaziah was from God, in that ^[h]he went to Joram. For when he arrived, ^(F)he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(G)whom the Lord had anointed to eliminate the house of Ahab.

Jehu Murders Princes of Judah

^8 (H)And it came about, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers attending to Ahaziah, and killed them. ^9 (I)He also searched for Ahaziah, and they caught him while he was hiding in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death, ^(J)and buried him. For they said, “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, ^(K)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain the power of the kingdom.

^10 (L)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and eliminated all the royal ^[i]children of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death. ¹² He kept himself hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.