Chronological

19 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem.

² Jehu son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord.

³ But there are good things found in you, for you have destroyed the Asherim out of the land and have set your heart to seek God [with all your soul’s desire].

⁴ Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

⁵ He appointed judges throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

⁶ And said to the judges, Be careful what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord, and He is with you in the matter of judgment.

⁷ So now let the reverence and fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking of bribes.

⁸ Also in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat set certain Levites, priests, and heads of families of Israel to give judgment for the Lord and decide controversies. When they [of the commission] returned to Jerusalem,

⁹ The king charged them, Do this in the fear of the Lord, faithfully, with integrity and a blameless heart.

¹⁰ Whenever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, you shall warn and instruct them that they may not be guilty before the Lord; otherwise wrath will come upon you and your brethren. Do this and you will not be guilty.

¹¹ And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters; also the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously [be strong and do], and may the Lord be with the good!

20 After this, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

² It was told Jehoshaphat, A great multitude has come against you from beyond the [Dead] Sea, from Edom; and behold they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

³ Then Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord; he proclaimed a fast in all Judah.

⁴ And Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord [yearning for Him with all their desire].

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 God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You.

⁷ Did not You, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?

⁸ They dwelt in it and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying,

⁹ If evil comes upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You—for Your Name [and the symbol of Your presence] is in this house—and cry to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.

¹⁰ And now behold, the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they turned from and did not destroy—^(A)

¹¹ Behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

¹² O our God, will You not exercise judgment upon them? For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.

¹³ And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their children and their wives.

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

¹⁵ He said, Hearken, all Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

¹⁶ Tomorrow go down to them. Behold, they will come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the ravine before the Wilderness of Jeruel.

¹⁷ You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.

¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping Him.

¹⁹ And some Levites of the Kohathites and 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 the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established; believe and remain steadfast to His prophets and you shall prosper.

²¹ When he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise Him in their holy [priestly] garments as they went out before the army, saying, Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!

²² And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were [self-] slaughtered;

²³ For [suspecting betrayal] the men of Ammon and Moab rose against those of Mount Seir, utterly destroying them. And when they had made an end of the men of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ And when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked at the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped!

²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil, they found among them much cattle, goods, garments, and precious things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry away, so much they were three days in gathering the spoil.

²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah. There they blessed the Lord. So the name of the place is still called the Valley of Beracah [blessing].

²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat leading them, to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of the Lord.

²⁹ And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.

³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about.

³¹ Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began his twenty-five-year reign in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.

³² And he walked in the ways of Asa his father and departed not from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.

³³ But the high places [of idolatry] were not taken away, for the people had not yet set their hearts on their fathers’ God.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, they are written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly.

³⁶ He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber.

³⁷ Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have joined Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your works. So the ships were wrecked and unable to go to Tarshish.

21 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with [them] in the City of David. Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

² He had brothers: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah, all the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

³ Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, together with fortified cities in Judah, but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, the firstborn.

⁴ When Jehoram had ascended to the kingship of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with the sword and also some of Israel’s princes.

⁵ Jehoram at thirty-two years of age began his eight-year reign in Jerusalem.

⁶ He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for he married the daughter of Ahab and did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

⁷ But the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because He had made a covenant with David and promised to give a light to him and to his sons forever.

⁸ In Jehoram’s days, the Edomites revolted from the rule of Judah and set up for themselves a king.

⁹ Then Jehoram passed over [the Jordan] with his captains and all his chariots, and rose up by night and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot captains.

¹⁰ So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah also revolted from Jehoram’s rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

¹¹ Moreover, he made idolatrous high places in the hill country of Judah and debauched spiritually the inhabitants of Jerusalem and led Judah astray [compelling the people’s cooperation].

¹² And there came a letter to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father [forefather]: Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

¹³ But have walked in the ways of Israel’s kings, and made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem play the harlot like the [spiritual] harlotry of Ahab’s house, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than you,

¹⁴ Behold, the Lord will smite your people, and your children, your wives, and all your possessions with a great plague.

¹⁵ And you yourself shall have a severe illness because of an intestinal disease, until your bowels fall out because of the sickness, day after day.

¹⁶ And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabs who were near the Ethiopians.

¹⁷ They came against Judah, invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in and around the king’s house, together with his sons and his wives; so there was not a son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest.

¹⁸ And after all this, the Lord smote [Jehoram] with an incurable intestinal disease.

¹⁹ In process of time, after two years, his bowels fell out because of his disease. So he died in severe distress. And his people made no funeral fire to honor him, like the fires for his fathers.

²⁰ Thirty-two years old was Jehoram when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being wanted. Yet they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

22 The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his stead, for the troop that came with the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

² Forty-two years old was Ahaziah when he began his one-year reign in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.^(B)

³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly.

⁴ So he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after his father’s death, to his destruction.

⁵ He followed their counsel and even went with ^[a]Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram;^(C)

⁶ And he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds given him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Azariah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.

⁷ But the destruction of Ahaziah was ordained of God in his coming to visit Joram. For when he got there he went out with Joram against Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

⁸ And when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s slain brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he slew them.

⁹ And [Jehu] sought Ahaziah, who was hiding in Samaria; he was captured, brought to Jehu, and slain. They buried him, for they said, After all, he is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no one left able to rule the kingdom.

¹⁰ But when Athaliah mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of Judah.

¹¹ But Jehosheba, the daughter of the king, took Joash [infant] son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehosheba daughter of King Jehoram, sister of Ahaziah, and wife of Jehoiada the priest, hid [Joash] from [his grandmother] Athaliah, so that she did not slay him.

¹² And Joash was with them hidden in the house of God six years, and Athaliah reigned over the land.

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada [the priest] took strength and courage and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

² And they went about in Judah and gathered the Levites out of all the cities, and the chiefs of the fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³ And all the assembly made a covenant in the house of God with the king [little Joash, to suddenly proclaim his sovereignty and overthrow Athaliah’s tyranny]. And Jehoiada the priest said to them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has said of the offspring of David.

⁴ This is what you shall do: a third of you priests and Levites who are resuming service on the Sabbath shall be doorkeepers,

⁵ A [second] third shall be at the king’s house, and [the final] third at the Foundation Gate; and all the people shall be in the courts [only] of the house of the Lord.

⁶ But let none come into the [main] house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who minister; they may go in, for they are holy, but let all the rest of the people carefully observe the law against entering the holy place of the Lord.

⁷ And the Levites shall surround the young king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house [breaking through the ranks of the guard to get near Joash] shall be put to death. But you be with the king when he comes in [from the temple chamber where he is hiding] and when he goes out.

⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest had commanded; and took every man his men who were to resume duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions [of priests and Levites].

⁹ Also Jehoiada the priest gave the captains of hundreds spears, bucklers, and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God.

¹⁰ And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man having his weapon (missile) in his hand, from the right side to the left side of the temple, around the altar and the temple.

¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony or law and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, Long live the king!

¹² When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the Lord’s house to the people.

¹³ And behold, there the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, the captains and the trumpeters beside him; and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with musical instruments led in singing of praise. Athaliah rent her clothes and cried, Treason! Treason!

¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were over the army, Bring her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Do not slay her in the Lord’s house.

¹⁵ So they made way for Athaliah, and she went into the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king’s house; there they slew her.

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people.

¹⁷ Then all the people went to the house of Baal, tore it down, and broke its altars and its images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

¹⁸ Also Jehoiada appointed the offices and officers [for the care] of the house of the Lord under the direction of the Levitical priests, whom David had distributed [in his day] in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as ordered by David.

¹⁹ Jehoiada set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean.

²⁰ And he took the captains of hundreds and the nobles and governors of the people and all the people of the land and brought down the king from the house of the Lord; and they came through the Upper Gate to the king’s house and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

²¹ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been slain with the sword.