Chronological

19 Jehoshaphat king of Judah came back safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ² Jehu son of Hanani went out to meet him. Jehu was a seer. He said to King Jehoshaphat, “Why did you help evil people? Why do you love those who hate the Lord? That is the reason the Lord is angry with you. ³ But there is some good in you. You took the Asherah idols out of this country. And you have wanted to obey God.”

Jehoshaphat Chooses Judges

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again to be with the people. He went from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim. He brought these people back to the Lord, the God their ancestors followed. ⁵ Jehoshaphat appointed judges in all the land. He appointed judges for each of the strong, walled cities of Judah. ⁶ Jehoshaphat said to them, “Be careful in what you do. This is because you are not judging for people but for the Lord. He will be with you when you make a decision. ⁷ Now let each of you fear the Lord. Be careful in what you do because the Lord our God wants people to be fair. He wants all people to be treated the same. And he doesn’t want people to accept money to change their judgments.”

⁸ And in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests and leaders of Israelite families to be judges. They were to decide cases about the law of the Lord. And they were to settle problems between the people who lived in Jerusalem. ⁹ Jehoshaphat gave them commands. He said, “You must always serve the Lord completely. You must fear him. ¹⁰ You will have cases about killing, about the teachings, commands, rules or some other law. These cases will come from your people living in the cities. In all these cases you must warn the people not to sin against the Lord. If you don’t, the Lord will be angry with you and your people. But if you warn them, you won’t be guilty.

¹¹ “Amariah is the leading priest. He will be over you in all cases about the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ishmael is a leader in the tribe of Judah. He will be over you in all cases about the king. Also, the Levites will serve as officers for you. Have courage. May the Lord be with those who do what is right.”

Jehoshaphat Faces War

20 Later some people came to start a war with Jehoshaphat. They were the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A large army is coming against you from Edom. They are coming from the other side of the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazazon Tamar!” (Hazazon Tamar is also called En Gedi.) ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid. So he decided to ask the Lord what to do. He announced that no one in Judah should eat during this special time of prayer to God. ⁴ The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord for help. They came from every town in Judah to ask for his help.

⁵ The people of Judah and Jerusalem met in front of the new courtyard in the Temple of the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood up before them. ⁶ He said, “Lord, you are the God of our ancestors. You are the God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You have power and strength. No one can stand against you. ⁷ Our God, you forced out the people who lived in this land. You forced them out as your people Israel moved in. And you gave this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham. ⁸ They lived in this land and built a Temple for worshiping you. They said, ⁹ ‘Trouble may come to us. It may be war, punishment, sickness or a time of hunger. If it comes, we will stand before you and before this Temple where you have chosen to be worshiped. We will cry out to you when we are in trouble. Then you will hear and save us.’

¹⁰ “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Edom. You wouldn’t let the Israelites enter their lands when the Israelites came from Egypt. So the Israelites turned away and did not destroy them. ¹¹ But see how they repay us for not destroying them! They have come to force us out of your land. And you gave us this land as our own. ¹² Our God, punish those people. We have no power against this large army that is attacking us. We don’t know what to do. So we look to you for help.”

¹³ All the men of Judah stood before the Lord. Their babies, wives and children were with them. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Jahaziel. (Jahaziel was Zechariah’s son. Zechariah was Benaiah’s son. Benaiah was Jeiel’s son, and Jeiel was Mattaniah’s son.) Jahaziel was a Levite and a descendant of Asaph. He stood up in the meeting. ¹⁵ And he said: “Listen to me, King Jehoshaphat! Listen, all you people living in Judah and Jerusalem! The Lord says this to you: ‘Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of this large army. The battle is not your battle. It is God’s battle. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down there and fight those people. They will come up through the Pass of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine that leads to the Desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You won’t need to fight in this battle. Just stand strong in your places. You will see the Lord save you. Judah and Jerusalem, don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged. The Lord is with you. So go out against those people tomorrow!’”

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed facedown on the ground. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem bowed down before the Lord. And they worshiped him. ¹⁹ Then some Levites from the Kohathite and Korahite people stood up and praised the Lord. They praised the God of Israel with very loud voices.

²⁰ Jehoshaphat’s army went out into the Desert of Tekoa early in the morning. As they were starting out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God. Then you will stand strong. Have faith in the Lord’s prophets. Then you will succeed.” ²¹ Jehoshaphat listened to the people’s advice. Then he chose men to be singers to the Lord. They were to praise the Lord because he is holy and wonderful. They marched in front of the army. They said,

²² As they began to sing and praise God, the Lord set ambushes. He set them for the people of Ammon, Moab and Edom. They were the ones who came to attack Judah. And they were defeated. ²³ The men of Ammon and Moab started to attack the men from Edom. They killed and destroyed them. After they had killed the men from Edom, they killed each other.

²⁴ The men from Judah came to a place where they could see the desert. They looked at the enemy’s large army. But they only saw dead bodies lying on the ground. No one had escaped. ²⁵ Jehoshaphat and his army came to take valuable things from the dead bodies. They found many supplies, much clothing, and other valuable things. There was more than they could carry away. There was so much it took three days to gather it all. ²⁶ On the fourth day Jehoshaphat and his army met in the Valley of Beracah. There they praised the Lord. That is why that place has been called the Valley of Beracah^[a] to this day.

²⁷ Then Jehoshaphat led all the men from Judah and Jerusalem back to Jerusalem. The Lord had made them happy because their enemies were defeated. ²⁸ They entered Jerusalem with lyres, harps and trumpets and went to the Temple of the Lord.

²⁹ All the kingdoms of the lands around them heard how the Lord had fought Israel’s enemies. So they feared the Lord. ³⁰ So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was not at war. His God gave him peace from all the countries around him.

Jehoshaphat’s Rule Ends

³¹ Jehoshaphat ruled over the country of Judah. He was 35 years old when he began to rule. And he ruled 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² Jehoshaphat lived as his father Asa had lived. He followed what Asa had done. He did what the Lord said was right. ³³ But the places where false gods were worshiped were not removed. And the people did not strongly desire to follow the God their ancestors had followed.

³⁴ The other things Jehoshaphat did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written down. They are in the writings of Jehu son of Hanani. These writings are in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an agreement with Ahaziah king of Israel. It was wrong for him to do this. ³⁶ Jehoshaphat agreed with Ahaziah to build trading ships. They built them in the town of Ezion Geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu spoke against Jehoshaphat. Eliezer was from the town of Mareshah. He said, “Jehoshaphat, because you joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked. So Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah could not send them out to trade.

21 Then Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king in his place. ² Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. They were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. ³ Jehoshaphat gave his sons many gifts of silver, gold and valuable things. He also gave them strong, walled cities in Judah. But Jehoshaphat gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the first son.

Jehoram King of Judah

⁴ Jehoram took control of his father’s kingdom. Then he killed all his brothers with a sword. He also killed some of the leaders of Israel. ⁵ He was 32 years old when he began to rule. And he ruled eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He lived as the kings of Israel had lived. He lived as Ahab’s family had lived. This was because he married Ahab’s daughter. Jehoram did what the Lord said was wrong. ⁷ But the Lord would not destroy David’s family. This was because of the agreement he had made with David. The Lord had promised that one of David’s descendants would always rule.

⁸ While Jehoram was king, Edom turned against Judah’s rule. The people of Edom chose their own king. ⁹ So Jehoram went to Edom with all his commanders and chariots. The Edomite army surrounded Jehoram and his chariot commanders. But Jehoram fought his way out at night. ¹⁰ From then until now the country of Edom has fought against Judah.

At the same time the people of Libnah also turned against Jehoram. This happened because Jehoram left the Lord, the God his ancestors followed. ¹¹ Jehoram also had built places to worship false gods on the hills in Judah. He had led the people of Jerusalem into sinning. And he had led the people of Judah away from the Lord. ¹² Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet. The letter said:

¹⁶ The Lord caused the Philistines and the Arabs to be angry with Jehoram. They lived near the Cushites. ¹⁷ So the Philistines and Arabs attacked Judah. They took away all the wealth of Jehoram’s palace, as well as his sons and wives. Only Jehoram’s youngest son, Ahaziah, was left.

¹⁸ After these things happened, the Lord gave Jehoram a disease in his intestines. It could not be cured. ¹⁹ After he was sick for two years, Jehoram’s intestines fell out because of the disease. He died in terrible pain. The people did not make a large fire to honor Jehoram as they had done for his ancestors.

²⁰ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. And he ruled eight years in Jerusalem. No one was sad when he died. He was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the graves for the kings.

Ahaziah King of Judah

22 The people of Jerusalem chose Ahaziah to be king in Jehoram’s place. Ahaziah was Jehoram’s youngest son. The robbers who had come with the Arabs to attack Jehoram’s camp had killed all of Jehoram’s older sons. So Ahaziah began to rule Judah. ² He was 22 years old when he began to rule. And he ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. ³ Ahaziah also lived as Ahab’s family had lived. This was because his mother encouraged him to do wrong things. ⁴ Ahaziah did what the Lord said was wrong. That is what Ahab’s family had done. And they gave advice to Ahaziah after his father died. Their bad advice led to his death. ⁵ Ahaziah followed their advice when he went to fight King Hazael of Aram. King Joram of Israel, Ahab’s son, went with him. They met Hazael at the town of Ramoth in Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram in battle. ⁶ So Joram returned to the town of Jezreel to get well. He was wounded at Ramoth when he fought Hazael king of Aram.

Then King Ahaziah of Judah, son of Jehoram, went to Jezreel. He went there to visit Joram son of Ahab because he was wounded.

⁷ God caused Ahaziah’s death when he went to visit Joram. Ahaziah arrived and went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi. The Lord had appointed Jehu to destroy Ahab’s family. ⁸ While Jehu was punishing Ahab’s family, he found the leaders of Judah. He also found Ahaziah’s relatives who served Ahaziah. Jehu killed them all. ⁹ Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah. Jehu’s men caught him hiding in Samaria. So they brought him to Jehu. Then they killed and buried him. They said, “Ahaziah is a descendant of Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat obeyed the Lord with all his heart.” No one in Ahaziah’s family had the power to take control of the kingdom of Judah.

Athaliah Queen of Judah

¹⁰ Now Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, saw that her son was dead. Then she killed all the royal family in Judah. ¹¹ But Jehosheba took Joash, Ahaziah’s son. She stole him from among the other sons of the king. Those sons were going to be murdered. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom. Jehosheba was King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister. She was also the wife of Jehoiada the priest. She hid Joash so Athaliah could not kill him. ¹² Joash was hidden with them in the Temple of God for six years. During that time Athaliah ruled the land.

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada decided to do something. He made an agreement with the commanders of the groups of 100 men. These were the commanders: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. ² They went around in Judah and gathered the Levites from all the towns. They also gathered the leaders of the families of Israel. Then they went to Jerusalem. ³ All the people together made an agreement with the king in the Temple of God.

Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son will rule. That is what the Lord promised about David’s descendants. ⁴ Now this is what you must do: You priests and Levites go on duty on the Sabbath. A third of you will guard the doors. ⁵ A third of you will be at the king’s palace. And a third of you will be at the Foundation Gate. All the other people will stay in the courtyards of the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ Don’t let anyone come into the Temple of the Lord. Only the priests and Levites who serve may come in. They may come because they have been made ready to serve the Lord. But all the other men must do the job the Lord has given them. ⁷ The Levites must stay near the king. Every man must have his sword with him. If anyone tries to enter the Temple, kill him. You must stay with the king everywhere he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all the people of Judah obeyed everything Jehoiada the priest had commanded. He did not excuse anyone from the groups of the priests. So each commander took the men who came on duty on the Sabbath with those who went off duty on the Sabbath. ⁹ Jehoiada gave the commanders of the groups of 100 men the spears and the large and small shields. They had belonged to King David. They were kept in the Temple of God. ¹⁰ Then Jehoiada told the men where to stand. Every man had his weapon in his hand. They stood around the king, near the altar and the Temple. They stood from the south side of the Temple to the north side.

¹¹ Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son. And they put the crown on him. They gave him a copy of the law. Then they appointed him king and poured olive oil on him. Then they shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹² Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king. So she went to them at the Temple of the Lord. ¹³ She looked and saw the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the men who blew trumpets were near him. All the people of the land were happy and blowing trumpets. The singers were playing musical instruments and leading praises. Then Athaliah tore her clothes to show how upset she was. She shouted, “Traitors! Traitors!”

¹⁴ Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of 100 men who led the army. He said to them, “Surround her with soldiers and take her out of the Temple area. Kill with a sword anyone who follows her.” He had said, “Don’t put Athaliah to death in the Temple of the Lord.” ¹⁵ So they caught her when she came to the entrance of the Horse Gate near the palace. And they put her to death there.

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made an agreement with the people and the king. They agreed that they would be the Lord’s special people. ¹⁷ All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols there. And they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada chose the priests to be responsible for the Temple of the Lord. These priests were Levites. David had given them duties in the Temple of the Lord. They were to offer the burnt offerings to the Lord as the Teachings of Moses commanded. They offered the sacrifices with much joy and singing as David had commanded. ¹⁹ Jehoiada put guards at the gates of the Temple of the Lord. Then anyone who was unclean in any way could not enter the Temple.

²⁰ Jehoiada took with him the commanders of 100 men, the important men, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land. They brought the king down from the Temple of the Lord. They went through the Upper Gate into the palace. Then they seated the king on the throne. ²¹ All the people of Judah were very happy. And Jerusalem had peace because Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.