21 So Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, and Jehoram his son ruled in his place. ² And he had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. ³ And their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and excellent items, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

Jehoram, King of Judah^(A)

⁴ Then Jehoram rose up over the kingdom of his father and he became strong. And he killed all his brothers with the sword and even some of the officials in Israel. ⁵ Now Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began as king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel as those from the house of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was the wife of Jehoram. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ⁷ But the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant that He made with David, and because He said that He would give a lamp to David and his sons for all days.

⁸ In the days of Jehoram, Edom revolted from being under the hand of Judah, and they set a king for themselves. ⁹ So Jehoram passed over to the Edomite territory with his commanders and all his chariots, and it happened that he rose up at night and struck the Edomites, who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from being under the hand of Judah until this day.

At that time Libnah also revolted from being under their rule, because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹ He even made high places in the hill country of Judah and caused those in Jerusalem to be like prostitutes, and he led Judah astray.

¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying,

“Thus says the Lord God of David your father: Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³ but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions; ¹⁵ and you will have great sickness with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out because of the disease, day by day.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord stirred up the spirit of the Philistines against Jehoram and also the Arabians who were near the Cushites. ¹⁷ And they went up against Judah and broke through, and they took every possession found in the palace of the king, even his sons and wives, so that no son was left with him except his youngest Ahaziah.

The Death of Jehoram

¹⁸ And after all this, the Lord struck him in his entrails with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ And it happened after many days, at the end of two years, his entrails came out due to his disease, so he died by a despicable disease. And his people did not make for him a memorial fire like the fire for his fathers.

²⁰ He was thirty-two when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.