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.

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

^26 (A)Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus^[b] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house ^(B)but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he ^(C)cried out and fell down before him and said ^(D)with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(E)Son of ^(F)the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon ^(G)into the desert.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, ^(H)“Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to command them to depart into ^(I)the abyss. ³² Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into ^(J)the lake and drowned.

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting ^(K)at the feet of Jesus, ^(L)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed^[c] man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes ^(M)asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and ^(N)declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

⁴⁰ Now when Jesus returned, the crowd ^(O)welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. ^41 (P)And there came a man named Jairus, who was ^(Q)a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, ⁴² for he had ^(R)an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

As Jesus went, the people ^(S)pressed around him. ⁴³ And there was a woman ^(T)who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her ^(U)living on physicians,^[d] she could not be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched ^(V)the fringe of his garment, and ^(W)immediately her discharge of blood ceased. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter^[e] said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that ^(X)power has gone out from me.” ⁴⁷ And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ And he said to her, “Daughter, ^(Y)your faith has made you well; ^(Z)go in peace.”

⁴⁹ While he was still speaking, someone from ^(AA)the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; ^(AB)do not trouble ^(AC)the Teacher any more.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” ⁵¹ And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except ^(AD)Peter and ^(AE)John and James, and the father and mother of the child. ⁵² And all were weeping and ^(AF)mourning for her, but he ^(AG)said, “Do not weep, for ^(AH)she is not dead but ^(AI)sleeping.” ⁵³ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. ⁵⁴ But ^(AJ)taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, ^(AK)arise.” ⁵⁵ And ^(AL)her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. ⁵⁶ And her parents were amazed, but ^(AM)he charged them to tell no one what had happened.