2 Chronicles 21
Amplified Bible
Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat in Judah
21 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with them 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, [a]Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuable things, in addition to fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
4 When Jehoram had ascended over the kingdom of his father and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword [to eliminate any rivals], and some of the leaders of Israel as well. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years of age when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done (for he married the daughter of Ahab), and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and because He had promised to give a [b]lamp to him and to his sons forever.(A)
Revolt against Judah
8 In the days of Jehoram Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king over themselves. 9 Then Jehoram crossed over [the Jordan River] with his commanders and all his chariots, and rose up by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots. 10 So Edom revolted against the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time against Jehoram’s rule, because he had abandoned (turned away from) the Lord God of his fathers. 11 Moreover, he made [idolatrous] high places in the hill country of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God], and he led Judah astray [compelling the people’s cooperation].
12 Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of David your father (ancestor): ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God] as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also murdered your brothers, your father’s house (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 disaster; 15 and you will suffer a severe illness, an intestinal disease, until your intestines come out because of the sickness, day after day.’”
16 Then the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit (anger) of the Philistines and of the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians. 17 They came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house (palace), together with his sons and his wives; so there was not a son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
18 After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease. 19 Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his disease and he died in excruciating pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire to honor him, like the fire for his fathers. 20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret (sorrow). They buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 21:2 Or Azariah.
- 2 Chronicles 21:7 I.e. a descendant on the throne.
2 Chronicles 21
EasyEnglish Bible
Jehoram becomes king of Judah
21 Jehoshaphat died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram became king after him. 2 Jehoram had brothers who were also sons of Jehoshaphat. They were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these men were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.[a] 3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold and other valuable things. He gave them authority over the strong cities of Judah. But Jehoshaphat chose Jehoram be the next king because he was his oldest son.
4 Jehoram made himself a strong king to rule over his father's kingdom. Then he killed all his brothers, as well as some of the Israelite leaders. 5 He was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.
6 He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He did what the family of Ahab had done. He married a daughter of King Ahab and he became as wicked as King Ahab's family was. He did things that the Lord said were evil. 7 But the Lord did not want to destroy all David's descendants, because of his promise to David. He had promised that King David would always have descendants who would rule the nation.
Edom fights against Judah
8 While Jehoram was king, Edom's people turned against Judah. They would no longer accept the king of Judah's authority over them. They decided to have their own king. 9 So King Jehoram travelled to Zair with his army officers and all his chariots.[b] The Edomite army came and they were all around him. But that night, Jehoram and his officers attacked the Edomites and they escaped. 10 Even today, Edom's people do not obey the rulers of Judah. The people of Libnah city also turned against Judah at the same time. That happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord, the God of his ancestors.
11 He also built altars on the hills of Judah. He caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn away from the Lord and worship false gods.[c]
Elijah gives a message to King Jehoram
12 The prophet Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram. This is what it said:
‘The Lord, the God of your ancestor David says, “You have not lived in a good way as your father Jehoshaphat did and as King Asa of Judah did. 13 Instead, you have lived in the way that the kings of Israel live. You have caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn away from the Lord and worship false gods. That is the same as King Ahab's family has done in Israel. You have also killed your own brothers, your father's sons. They were better men than you are. 14 So now the Lord will send terrible trouble on your people, including your children, your wives and everything that belongs to you. 15 You will have a bad disease. You will have terrible pain in your stomach that becomes worse and worse. Finally, your inside parts will come out of your body.” ’
16 There were some Philistines and Arabs who lived near people from Ethiopia. The Lord caused them to be angry with Jehoram. 17 They attacked Judah and they took power over the land. They took away all the valuable things in the king's palace. They took his sons and his wives as their prisoners. The only son of Jehoram that remained was his youngest son, Ahaziah.[d]
Jehoram dies
18 After all this happened, the Lord caused Jehoram to have a bad disease in his stomach. He could not become well again. 19 He was very ill for two years, and then his inside parts came out because of the illness. So he had a lot of pain until he died. His people did not make a big fire to give him honour, as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was 32 years old when he started to rule. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. When he died, nobody was sad. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the place where they had buried the other kings.
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