2 Chronicles 17-19

Common English Bible

Jehoshaphat rules Judah

17 Asa’s son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king. Jehoshaphat strengthened his position against Israel ² by stationing troops in the fortified cities of Judah and placing soldiers throughout the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. ³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the earlier ways of his father^[a] by not seeking Baal. ⁴ Instead, he sought the God of his father, and unlike Israel, he followed God’s commandments. ⁵ The Lord gave him firm control over the kingdom, and all Judah brought Jehoshaphat tribute, so that he had abundant riches and honor. ⁶ Jehoshaphat took pride in the Lord’s ways and again removed the shrines and the sacred poles^[b] from Judah.

⁷ In the third year of his rule, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. ⁸ They were accompanied by the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, and by the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ They taught throughout Judah. They brought with them the Lord’s Instruction scroll as they made their rounds to all the cities of Judah, teaching the people.

¹⁰ All the kingdoms surrounding Judah were afraid of the Lord and didn’t wage war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines brought a load of silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat. The Arabians also brought flocks to Jehoshaphat: seventy-seven hundred rams and seventy-seven hundred goats. ¹² As Jehoshaphat grew increasingly powerful, he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah ¹³ and had many supplies in the cities of Judah. He also had an army of mighty warriors in Jerusalem, ¹⁴ registered by their clans as follows: Judah’s officers over units of a thousand included Commander Adnah with three hundred thousand soldiers; ¹⁵ next to him was Commander Jehohanan with two hundred eighty thousand soldiers; ¹⁶ at his side was Amasiah, Zichri’s son, who volunteered for the Lord with two hundred thousand soldiers. ¹⁷ From Benjamin came a valiant warrior: Eliada, together with two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸ next to him was Jehozabad, together with one hundred eighty thousand soldiers. ¹⁹ These were the individuals who served the king in addition to those the king placed in the fortified cities throughout Judah.

Jehoshaphat and Ahab

18 Even though Jehoshaphat already had great wealth and honor, he allied himself with Ahab through marriage. ² A few years later, while Jehoshaphat was visiting Ahab in Samaria, Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for Jehoshaphat and those who were with him in order to persuade him to attack Ramoth-gilead. ³ “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” Israel’s King Ahab asked Judah’s King Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat replied, “I and my people will be united with you and your people in battle. ⁴ But,” Jehoshaphat said to Israel’s king, “first, let’s see what the Lord has to say.” ⁵ So Israel’s king gathered four hundred prophets and asked them, “Should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”

“Attack!” the prophets answered. “God will hand it over to the king.”

⁶ But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there any other prophet of the Lord around whom we could ask?”

⁷ “There’s one other man who could ask the Lord for us,” Israel’s king told Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad. His name is Micaiah, Imlah’s son.”

“The king shouldn’t speak like that!” Jehoshaphat said.

⁸ So Israel’s king called an officer and ordered, “Bring Micaiah, Imlah’s son, right away.”

⁹ Now Israel’s king and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat were sitting on their thrones dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor beside the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. ¹⁰ Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, made iron horns for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans until there’s nothing left of them!”

¹¹ The other prophets agreed: “Attack Ramoth-gilead and win! The Lord will hand it over to the king!”

¹² Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Listen, the prophets all agree that the king will succeed. You should say the same thing they say and prophesy success.”

¹³ But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what God tells me to say.”^[c]

¹⁴ When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”

“Attack and win!” Micaiah answered. “The Lord will hand it over to the king.”

¹⁵ But the king said, “How many times must I demand that you tell me the truth when you speak in the Lord’s name?”

¹⁶ Then Micaiah replied, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd! And then the Lord said: ‘They have no master. Let them return safely to their own homes.’”

¹⁷ Then Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you? He never prophesies anything good about me, only bad.”

¹⁸ Then Micaiah said, “Listen now to the Lord’s word: I saw the Lord enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed at his right and at his left. ¹⁹ The Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Israel’s King Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth-gilead and dies there?’ There were several suggestions, ²⁰ until one particular spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ ‘How?’ the Lord asked. ²¹ ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. The Lord agreed: ‘You will succeed in persuading him! Go ahead!’ ²² So now, since the Lord placed a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, it is the Lord who has pronounced disaster against you!”

²³ Zedekiah, Chenaanah’s son, approached Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. “Just how did the Lord’s spirit leave me to speak to you?” he asked.

²⁴ Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room.”

²⁵ “Arrest him,” ordered Israel’s king, “and turn him over to Amon the city governor and to Joash the king’s son. ²⁶ Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.’”

²⁷ “If you ever return safely,” Micaiah replied, “then the Lord wasn’t speaking through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, every last one of you!”

²⁸ So Israel’s king and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat attacked Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ Israel’s king said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself when we go into battle, but you should wear your royal attire.” When the king of Israel had disguised himself, they entered the battle.

³⁰ Meanwhile, Aram’s king had commanded his chariot officers, “Don’t bother with anyone big or small. Fight only with Israel’s king.” ³¹ When the chariot officers saw Jehoshaphat, they assumed that he must be Israel’s king, so they turned to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat cried out, the Lord helped him, and God lured them away from him. ³² When the chariot officers realized that he wasn’t Israel’s king, they stopped chasing him.

³³ Someone, however, randomly shot an arrow that struck Israel’s king between the joints in his armor. “Turn around and get me out of the battle,” the king told his chariot driver. “I’ve been hit!” ³⁴ While the battle raged all that day, Israel’s king stood propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. But that evening he died, just as the sun was going down.

19 Upon the safe arrival of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat to his palace in Jerusalem, ² Jehu son of Hanani the seer came out to meet him and said, “Why did you help the wicked? Why have you loved those who hate the Lord? This is why the Lord is angry with you. ³ Nevertheless, there is some good to be found in you, in that you have removed the sacred poles^[d] from the land and set your mind to seek God.”

Jehoshaphat’s reforms

⁴ Though Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, he regularly went out among the people between Beer-sheba and Ephraim’s highlands, and encouraged them to return to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁵ He appointed judges throughout the land in each of the fortified cities of Judah, ⁶ instructing them, “Be careful when you pass judgment. You aren’t dispensing justice by merely human standards but for the Lord, who is with you. ⁷ Therefore, respect the Lord and act accordingly, because there can be no injustice, playing favorites, or taking bribes when it comes to the Lord our God.”

⁸ Jehoshaphat also appointed judges in Jerusalem from among the Levites, the priests, and the family heads of Israel to administer the Lord’s Instruction and to settle disputes among those living^[e] in Jerusalem. ⁹ He instructed them, “You must respect the Lord at all times, in truth, and with complete integrity. ¹⁰ In any case that comes before you from a fellow citizen in an outlying town, whether it involves bloodshed or is an issue of instruction, commandment, regulations, or case laws, you must warn them not to sin against the Lord, consequently making him angry with both you and your fellow citizen. Do this, and you won’t sin. ¹¹ Amariah the chief priest will be in charge of all religious matters, and Zebadiah, Ishmael’s son, the leader of Judah’s house, will be in charge of all civil matters. The Levites will serve as your officers of the court. Carry out your duties with confidence, and may the Lord be with those who do good.”