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2 Chronicles 20
Legacy Standard Bible

War Against Judah

20 Now it happened after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the [a](A)Ammonites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of [b]Aram and behold, they are in (B)Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” 3 And Jehoshaphat was afraid and [c](C)set his face to seek Yahweh, and (D)called for a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to (E)seek help from Yahweh; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.

Jehoshaphat Before the Assembly

5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh before the new court, 6 and he said, “O Yahweh, the 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 take their stand against You. 7 Did You not, O our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and (H)give it to the seed of (I)Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, 9 ‘(J)Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for (K)Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ 10 So now, behold, (L)the sons of Ammon and Moab and [d]Mount Seir, (M)whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), 11 and behold, they are rewarding us by (N)coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have caused us to possess. 12 O our God, (O)will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; and we do not know what we should do, but (P)our eyes are on You.”

13 Now all Judah was standing before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Yahweh’s Spirit Comes upon Jahaziel

14 Then in the midst of the assembly (Q)the Spirit of Yahweh 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, “Pay attention, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says Yahweh 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 stand—(T)stand and see the salvation of Yahweh on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, (U)for Yahweh is with you.”

18 So Jehoshaphat (V)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh. 19 Then the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, rose up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Yahweh Eradicates the Multitude

20 And 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, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, (W)establish your faith in Yahweh your God and you will be established. Establish your faith in His prophets and succeed.” 21 When he had taken counsel with the people, he caused those who sang to Yahweh and those who (X)praised Him to stand in holy attire, as they went out before the army, saying, “(Y)Give thanks to Yahweh, for His lovingkindness endures forever.” 22 When they began singing for joy and praising, Yahweh (Z)set ambushes against the sons of (AA)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were [e]defeated. 23 Indeed, the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to devote them to destruction and to utterly eradicate them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, (AB)they helped to bring one another to ruin.

24 Now Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, and they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses fallen on the ground, and no one had escaped. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil and found much among them, including goods, [f]garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

26 Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of [g]Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of [h]Beracah” until today. 27 And every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with gladness, (AC)for Yahweh had made them glad over their enemies. 28 And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. 29 And (AD)the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, (AE)for his God gave him rest all around.

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

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

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahaziah

35 (AJ)Afterwards, Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly [k]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, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 20:1 Gr Meunites
  2. 2 Chronicles 20:2 Or Edom
  3. 2 Chronicles 20:3 Lit gave
  4. 2 Chronicles 20:10 Edom
  5. 2 Chronicles 20:22 Lit smitten
  6. 2 Chronicles 20:25 As in several ancient mss; others corpses
  7. 2 Chronicles 20:26 Lit blessing
  8. 2 Chronicles 20:26 Lit blessing
  9. 2 Chronicles 20:34 Lit and
  10. 2 Chronicles 20:34 Lit taken up
  11. 2 Chronicles 20:35 Lit to do
Close NLT

2 Chronicles 20
New Living Translation

War with Surrounding Nations

20 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[a] declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[b] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.[c] They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)

3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. 4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.

5 Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord. 6 He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war,[d] plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’

10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

13 As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, 14 the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.

15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”

18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.

20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”

21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the Lord;
    his faithful love endures forever!”

22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,[e] and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,[f] which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.

27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies. 28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the Lord.

29 When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. 30 So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

31 So Jehoshaphat ruled over the land of Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

32 Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the ways of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. 33 During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people never fully committed themselves to follow the God of their ancestors.

34 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Jehu Son of Hanani, which is included in The Book of the Kings of Israel.

35 Some time later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was very wicked.[g] 36 Together they built a fleet of trading ships[h] at the port of Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your work.” So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.[i]

Footnotes

  1. 20:1 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 26:7); Hebrew repeats Ammonites.
  2. 20:2a As in one Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions read Aram.
  3. 20:2b Hebrew the sea.
  4. 20:9 Or sword of judgment; or sword, judgment.
  5. 20:25 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Latin Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts read corpses.
  6. 20:26 Hebrew valley of Beracah.
  7. 20:35 Or who made him do what was wicked.
  8. 20:36 Hebrew fleet of ships that could go to Tarshish.
  9. 20:37 Hebrew never set sail for Tarshish.
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