Chronological
19 Then Jehoshaphat returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. 2 When he arrived, Jehu (the son of Hanani the seer whom Asa imprisoned for predicting wars against Judah) greeted the king.
Jehu: Should you aid the wicked and align yourself with those who hate the Eternal? If you do, you will bring the wrath of the Eternal upon yourself. 3 In spite of helping God’s enemies, there is still some good in you—you did remove the Asherah idols from Judah and seek the True God.
4 Unlike his father Asa, Jehoshaphat did not punish the seer for his message. Instead, the king dedicated himself to drawing his nation closer to the Eternal One, the True God of their ancestors. He lived in Jerusalem, but he traveled among his people from Beersheba in the South to the hill country of Ephraim in the North. 5 Jehoshaphat, whose name means “the Lord judges,” appointed judges throughout the land—in the fortified cities of Judah, one at a time.
Jehoshaphat (to the judges): 6 When you are rendering your judgments, consider them carefully. When you judge, you are representing the Eternal, who is with you when you render a verdict, not man or any institution. 7 Be guided by your fear of Him. Act carefully because the Eternal One, our True God, is never associated with unrighteousness, partiality, or bribery.
8 In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat appointed judges from three specific groups: the Levites, the priests, and the tribal leaders of Israel. They enacted the Eternal’s judgments and presided over the daily disputes among the citizens of Jerusalem.
Jehoshaphat (commissioning his judges): 9 You will faithfully and wholeheartedly perform these duties in the fear of the Eternal: 10 instruct your brothers about the various laws (so they and you will be innocent before the Eternal and all of you will avoid His anger) whenever any city dweller brings you subjective cases where the right decisions are not apparent, cases where you must choose who is justified in bloodshed or how to interpret the laws and commandments. 11 Amariah, the chief priest, will be in charge of all that pertains to the Eternal; Zebadiah, the son of Ishmael and leader of the Judahites, will be in charge of all that pertains to governance; and the Levites will be your officers. If you act decisively, then the Eternal is a part of your good actions.
20 After Jehoshaphat had solidified his throne by fortifying the nation and appointing regional judges, the Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites[a] decided to attack him. 2 Jehoshaphat heard about their plans.
Messengers: A huge army is quickly approaching Jerusalem. They are coming from Edom[b] beyond the Dead Sea, but they have already reached Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi on the shore of the Dead Sea, about two days southwest of Jerusalem).
3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he sought the Eternal and required all Judah’s citizens to fast. 4-5 Everyone gathered together in Jerusalem from cities all over Judah to seek help from the Eternal. Jehoshaphat joined the assembly in the newly restored court at the Eternal’s house and 6 prayed before the people.
Jehoshaphat: O Eternal One, the True God of our ancestors, You are the True God in the heavens and the ruler over all the kingdoms and nations! You are so strong that none can survive when they oppose You. 7 O our True God, You demonstrated that power when You exiled inhabitants of this land for Your people, Israel, and gave it to Your friend Abraham’s children forever. Please demonstrate it again, now, as we are attacked. 8 We have lived here and built a sacred house honoring Your reputation. Now we will remind You of Solomon’s words: 9 “If we encounter disaster or disease from wars, judgment, pestilence, or famine, then we will come to this house where You are and where your reputation is honored and beg for Your help. You will hear our cries and rescue us.”
10 Now is the time to ask for Your help. Men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir (the region in Edom which You stopped Israel from destroying when they left Egypt) 11 are rewarding our ancestors’ mercy by coming to steal our inheritance, which is Your land and which You gave to us. 12 Our True God, won’t You judge them? We can do nothing to stop this huge army from attacking us; we don’t know what to do, so we are asking for Your help.
13 All Judah (men and women, children, and infants) were waiting in front of the Eternal’s temple when Jehoshaphat asked this. 14 There, the Spirit of the Eternal descended on a Levitical singer, Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite son of Asaph).
Jahaziel: 15 Listen to me, all Judah, citizens of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Eternal has responded to your pleading: “Do not fear or worry about this army. The battle is not yours to fight; it is the True God’s. 16 Tomorrow, they will travel through the ascent of Ziz. Meet them at the end of valley before the wilderness of Jeruel. There, I will be watching. 17 Stand and watch, but do not fight the battle. There, you will watch the Eternal save you, Judah and Jerusalem.”
Do not fear or worry. Tomorrow, face the army and trust that the Eternal is with you.
18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head low, and all the assembly fell prostrate before the Eternal and worshiped Him with reverence. They trusted the Lord completely. 19 Meanwhile, the Levite families of the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the Eternal One, True God of Israel, with very loud voices.
20 Early the next morning they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. There Jehoshaphat’s message to Judah was not about courage in battle.
Jehoshaphat: Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Trust in the Eternal One, your True God, not in your own abilities, and you will be supported. Put your trust in His words that you heard through the prophets, and we will succeed.
21 Having addressed his people, Jehoshaphat asked those who sang to the Eternal to lead the army and praise His magnificence and holiness.
Chorus (singing): Give thanks to the Eternal because His loyal love is forever!
22 As they sang and praised, the Eternal was ready to cause great confusion in battle for the men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir (in Edom) who had come to attack Judah. They were utterly defeated, turning on one another. 23 The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir, destroying them completely. Then, the Ammonites and Moabites turned on each other. 24 When all was quiet, Judah looked out of the watchtower in the wilderness and saw a great army of corpses fallen on the battlefield. No one had escaped. 25 Then Jehoshaphat and his people took various goods, clothing, and valuables off the dead bodies and seized the abundant livestock. There was so much that it took three days to recover it all. 26 On the fourth day, they assembled in the valley of Beracah, where they had blessed the Eternal and where He had blessed them with a victory, and named the place, “The Valley of Beracah,” as it is still known today.
27 Every man of Judah and citizen of Jerusalem followed Jehoshaphat back to Jerusalem, joyous because the Eternal defeated their enemies. 28 They paraded into Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets and up to the Eternal’s house.
29-30 For the rest of his reign, Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was peaceful because the Eternal had fought the Southern Kingdom’s enemies, making all the surrounding kingdoms fear the True God.
Although Jehoshaphat is fully committed to God, his reign is not without trials. He fights many battles against his neighbors and is successful because of his reliance on God. God uses these battles to give him greater power and more territory in the region.
35 But Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, acted wickedly, making a trade alliance with Ahaziah, king of Israel. 36 They decided to build ships to go to Tarshish, constructing them in Ezion-geber. 37 Eliezer (son of Dodavahu of Mareshah) interpreted Jehoshaphat’s actions and predicted the future.
Eliezer: Because you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Eternal will destroy your works.
Jehoshaphat found that the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish as they had intended.[c]
31 This is an account of Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah. He was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem 25 years. His mother was Azubah (daughter of Shilhi). 32 Jehoshaphat did as his father Asa had done, obeying the Eternal. 33 In spite of his intentions, the high places remained and the people had not yet looked to the True God of their ancestors. 34 The other actions of Jehoshaphat, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the annals of Jehu (son of Hanani) in the book of the kings of Israel.
21 When Jehoshaphat joined his ancestors in death and was laid to rest with his fathers in the city of David, Jerusalem, his son Jehoram succeeded him to the throne. 2 Jehoshaphat, king of the true Israel,[d] had a number of sons in addition to Jehoram: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. 3 Jehoshaphat made each one a wealthy governor with silver, gold, and costly gifts over his own fortified cities in Judah and appointed Jehoram as the future king since he was the firstborn. 4 Once Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had established himself, he killed all his brothers and some rulers of Israel so they could not challenge his right to rule.
5 Jehoram was 32 years old when he ascended to the throne, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 But he was not a righteous king as his father was before him. He married Ahab’s daughter and was tempted to worship her pagan gods as the kings of the Northern Kingdom did. He did evil instead of following the Eternal; 7 now despite this the Eternal upheld His promise to David. In His covenant with David, He promised David’s family would guide Israel forever, so He would not destroy Jehoram or his government. But God punished him with revolts by Edom and Libnah.
8 Instead of following Jehoram’s rule, the people of Edom revolted and elected their own king. 9 Jehoram responded to their disobedience by attacking the Edomites with all of his officers and chariots. But the Edomites surrounded Jehoram with his army of commanders and chariots. Then Jehoram went out in the dark of night and struck down the Edomite rebellion. 10 Edom has continually rebelled against the rule of Judah until this day. Likewise, Libnah (a Levitical city in southwestern Judah) revolted against Jehoram’s rule at the same time because Jehoram had abandoned the Eternal One, the True God of his ancestors, in favor of worshiping foreign gods. 11 He even built high places in the mountains of Judah to honor those gods, leading the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah to prostitute themselves spiritually to other gods.
This is a particularly bloody time for Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Each king—or queen in the case of Athaliah in Judah—has to watch his or her back constantly for international threats from Aram north of Israel, Egypt south of Judah, or Ammon, Moab, and Edom on the other side of the Jordan River and Dead Sea. As well, there is political and familial intrigue and deception in the palace households of some of these kings. Being a monarch is a very dangerous position, and some do not fare well.
In just a few years, King Jehu from Israel carries out a bloody campaign against anyone associated with the House of Ahab in order to eradicate idolatry and rebellion from the land. But this move by Jehu only buys Israel another century before the Neo-Assyrians move in and exile the people.
12 Having heard about Jehoram’s actions, Elijah the prophet sent a letter to the king.
Elijah’s Letter: I received this message from the Eternal One, True God of your ancestor David: “You have not followed Me as Jehoshaphat, your father, and as Asa, your grandfather, did during their reigns 13 but have instead followed the gods of the kings of Israel. You have caused the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves spiritually as Ahab and his family did. You have murdered your brothers, your own family, who were better men than you. 14 Because of your evil actions, the Eternal will severely punish your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions. 15 And you will suffer with an intestinal disease until your bowels come out, ending your life.”
16 Fulfilling His promise, the Eternal incited the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Cushites to attack Jehoram 17 and Judah. They invaded the nation and plundered the palace, taking all the possessions including the king’s children and wives. When they had finished, all that remained was Jehoahaz,[e] Jehoram’s youngest son. 18 Then the Eternal infected the king with a terminal intestinal illness. 19 He died painfully two years later with the prolapse of his intestines. After he died, the people did not honor his memory by lighting a fire for him as they had done for his ancestors. 20 He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the city of David, Jerusalem, but not in the tombs with the other kings and his ancestors.
22 Since the Philistines and Arabs had killed all of Jehoram’s older sons when they plundered the palace, the citizens of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king. 2 Ahaziah was 22 years old[f] when he became king, and he ruled for only one year in Jerusalem.
Ahaziah was the son of Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri and daughter of Ahab. 3-4 Since his mother and her relatives were his counselors during his reign, Ahaziah followed the gods worshiped by the Northern Kingdom, and performed evil deeds before the Eternal as the house of Ahab did. By following this bad advice, Ahaziah ensured his destruction. 5-6 He repeated the mistake of Jehoshaphat and followed Jehoram, the son of Ahab king of the Northern Kingdom, to fight Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans wounded Joram, he returned to Jezreel to heal his wounds and Ahaziah went to visit him there.
7 Ahaziah’s destruction by the True God was decided when he visited Joram because his visit coincided with the attack Jehu, the son of Nimshi, executed on Jezreel. (The Eternal had incited Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab.) 8 During his assault, Jehu found Ahaziah’s sons and nephews who served him and killed them. 9 Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah and found him cowering in Samaria. Jehu’s forces brought Ahaziah to Jehu, killed him, and buried him.[g] He was given a burial only because of his descent from Jehoshaphat, who looked for the Eternal and followed His commands. Because of Jehu’s slaughter, no one from Ahaziah’s immediate family lived to inherit the kingdom.
10 When Athaliah realized that her son Ahaziah had died along with all of the royal line, she decided to kill her opponents—the remaining royal offspring of the Southern Kingdom.
She decides to fill the power vacuum herself and become queen as her husband, Jehoram, did years before.
11 But little did she know that Jehoshabeath, King Jehoram’s daughter, had stolen Ahaziah’s son Joash from among the king’s sons when Jehu’s soldiers were killing them. She hid Joash and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the sister of King Ahaziah, saved the Davidic line by protecting him from Athaliah’s murderous rage. Since she was the wife of Jehoiada the priest, Jehoshabeath 12 was able to hide Joash and his nurse in the temple of the True God during the six years of Athaliah’s reign.
23 During the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest prepared to revolt and conferred with the commanders over divisions of warriors: Azariah (son of Jeroham), Ishmael (son of Johanan), Azariah (son of Obed), Maaseiah (son of Adaiah), and Elishaphat (son of Zichri). These men made an agreement with Jehoiada, promising to fight against Athaliah’s illegitimate government. 2 They traveled through Judah telling the people about the coming revolt. Then all the Levites and all the Israelite tribal leaders came to Jerusalem 3 to make another contract with the rightful king, Joash, in the house of God.
Jehoiada: Remember when the Eternal promised David that his sons would be king? Athaliah’s reign has disrupted that promise. Look now on the son of the king! 4 This is what you will do: One-third of you priests and Levites who work on the Sabbath will guard the gates to the temple, 5-7 one-third will guard Joash’s house, and one-third will guard the gate of the foundation. Those posted at the king’s house will surround him with drawn weapons. If anyone enters Joash’s house, kill him. If Joash leaves his house, kill anyone who approaches him.
All the people will wait in the courts of the Eternal’s house and guard His temple. Kill anyone who comes into the Eternal’s house (except, of course, for the priests and ministering Levites who are consecrated).
8 The Levites and the people did as they were told by Jehoiada the priest. Everyone worked that day, even those who were typically off duty on Sabbath, because Jehoiada reenlisted them all in the rebellion. 9 He armed the divisions under the commanders of hundreds with King David’s spears and large and small shields which were offerings to the house of the True God, 10 and he stationed all the people, who were armed with their own weapons, to surround both the temple and Joash. 11 Once everyone was in place, they publicly made Joash king: the people crowned him and gave him a copy of the covenant laws; Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “Long live the king!”
12 Hearing the commotion of her people running and praising a different monarch, Athaliah entered the Eternal’s house where all the people were stationed. 13 There she saw King Joash standing by his pillar at the entrance, flanked by the commanders and the trumpeters. All the people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets as the singers led the people in songs of praise with their musical instruments.
Athaliah (tearing her clothes in sorrow): Treason! Treason!
Jehoiada (to the commanders of divisions in response to Athaliah and her violation of the temple): 14 Take her and her followers out between the ranks, and kill them with the sword. Do not kill her in the Eternal’s house.
15 So they took her to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the palace and executed her.
16 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, promising to follow the Eternal. 17 Because of this covenant, all the people demolished Baal’s temple, destroyed the altars and icons there, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. 18 Then Jehoiada restored the organization of the temple as David had intended: He appointed the Levitical priests[h] to the offices of the Eternal’s temple, where they gave the burnt offerings to the Eternal (as Moses’ law required) with rejoicing and singing. 19 He preserved the sanctity of the Eternal’s temple by stationing gatekeepers there so ritually unclean people could not enter.
Having restored the temple, Jehoiada properly restores the Davidic monarchy.
20 He and the commanders of the divisions, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land took the king from the Eternal’s temple through the upper gate to the palace. There, they put Joash on his royal throne. 21 Since their rightful king was restored and Athaliah had been killed, all the people of the land rejoiced and were at peace.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.