Chronological
19 4 After Jehoshaphat was rebuked by the Prophet, he called again the people to the honoring of the Lord. 5 He appointed Judges and minsters, 9 and exhorteth them to fear God.
1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned [a]safe to his house in Jerusalem.
2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the Seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, [b]Wouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore for this thing the wrath [c]of the Lord is upon thee.
3 Nevertheless good things are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
4 ¶ So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem, and returned and went [d]through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them again unto the Lord God of their fathers.
5 And he set judges in the land throughout all the strong cities of Judah, city by city,
6 And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye execute not the judgments of man, but of the Lord, and he will be [e]with you in the cause and judgment.
7 Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you: take heed, and do it: for there is no [f]iniquity with the Lord our God, neither (A)respect of persons, nor receiving of reward.
8 Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the Priests and of the chief of the families of Israel, for the judgment and cause of the Lord: and they [g]returned to Jerusalem.
9 And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and with a perfect heart.
10 And in every cause that shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in your cities, between [h]blood and blood, between law and precept, statutes and judgments, ye shall judge them and admonish them that they trespass not against the Lord, that [i]wrath come not upon you and upon your brethren. This shall ye do and trespass not.
11 And behold, Amariah the Priest shall be the chief over you in all matters of the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, a ruler of the house of Judah, shall be for all the [j]King’s affairs, and the Levites shall be officers [k]before you. Be of courage, and do it, and the Lord shall be with the [l]good.
20 3 Jehoshaphat and the people pray unto the Lord. 22 The marvelous victory that the Lord gave him against his enemies. 30 His reign and acts.
1 After this also came the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them of the [m]Ammonites against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the [n]Sea, out of Aram: and behold, they be in Hazazon Tamar, which is En Gedi.
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself [o]to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask counsel of the Lord: they came even out of all the cities of Judah to inquire of the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the Congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court,
6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and reignest not thou on all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is power and might, and none is able to withstand thee.
7 Didst not thou our God cast out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and [p]gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a Sanctuary therein for thy Name, saying,
9 (B)If evil come upon us, as the [q]sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and in thy presence (for thy name [r]is in this house) and will cry unto thee in our tribulation, and thou wilt hear and help.
10 And now, behold, the children of (C)Ammon and Moab, and mount Seir, by whom thou wouldest not let Israel go, when they came out of the land of Egypt: but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not:
11 Behold, I say, they reward us, in coming to cast us out of thine inheritance, which thou hast caused us to inherit:
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for there is no strength in us to stand before this great multitude that cometh against us, neither do we know what to do: but our eyes [s]are toward thee.
13 And all Judah stood [t]before the Lord with their young ones, their wives, and their children.
14 And Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom came [u]the Spirit of the Lord, in the midst of the Congregation.
15 And he said, Hearken ye all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou, King Jehoshaphat: thus saith the Lord unto you, Fear you not, neither be afraid for this great multitude: for the [v]battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cleft of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: (D)stand still, move not, and behold the [w]salvation of the Lord towards you: O Judah, and Jerusalem, fear ye not, neither be afraid: tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.
18 ¶ Then Jehoshaphat [x]bowed down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
19 ¶ And the Levites of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And when they arose early in the morning, they went forth to the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they departed, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear ye me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: put your trust in the Lord your God, and ye shall be assured: believe his [y]Prophets, and ye shall prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, and appointed singers unto the Lord, and them that should praise him that is in the beautiful Sanctuary, in going forth before the men of arms, and saying, [z]Praise ye the Lord, for his mercy lasteth forever.
22 And when they began to shout, and to praise, the Lord laid ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and [aa]mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they slew one another.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to slay and to destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to [ab]destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward Mizpah in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude: and behold, the carcasses were fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both of substance and also of bodies laden with precious jewels, which they took for themselves, till they could carry no more: they were three days in gathering of the spoil: for it was much.
26 And in the fourth day they [ac]assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah: for there they blessed the Lord: therefore they called the name of that place, The valley of Berachah unto this day.
27 Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat their head to go again to Jerusalem with joy: for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with viols, and with harps, and with trumpets, even unto the house of the Lord.
29 And the [ad]fear of God was upon all the kingdoms of the earth, when they had heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave him rest on every side.
31 ¶ And (E)Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, and was five and thirty years old, when he began to reign: and reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of [ae]Asa his father, and departed not there from, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
33 Howbeit the high places were [af]not taken away: for the people had not yet prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
34 Concerning the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which (F)is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 ¶ Yet after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was given to do evil.
36 And he joined with him, to (G)make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.
37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast [ag]joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works: and the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
21 1 Jehoshaphat died. 3 Jehoram succeedeth him, 4 which killeth his brethren. 6 He was brought to idolatry, 11 and succeedeth the people. 16 He is oppressed of the Philistines. 18 His miserable end.
1 Jehoshaphat then slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
2 And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of [ah]Israel.
3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver and of gold, and of precious things, with strong cities in Judah, but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram: for he was the eldest.
4 (H)And Jehoram rose up upon the kingdom of his father, and made himself strong, and [ai]slew all his brethren with the sword, and also of the princes of [aj]Israel.
5 Jehoram was two and thirty years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done: for he had the daughter of Ahab to [ak]wife, and he wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord.
7 Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the (I)covenant that he had made with David, and because he had promised to give a light to him, and to his sons forever.
8 ¶ In his days Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over them.
9 And Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote Edom, which had compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots.
10 But Edom rebelled from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then did [al]Libnah rebel at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.
11 ¶ Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit [am]fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
12 And there came a writing to him from [an]Elijah the Prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, as the house of Ahab went a whoring, and hast also slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thou.
14 Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance,
15 And thou shalt be in great diseases in the disease of thy bowels, until [ao]thy bowels fall out for the disease, day by day.
16 ¶ So the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and the Arabians that were beside the [ap]Ethiopians.
17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives, so that there was not a son left him, save [aq]Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.
18 And after all this, the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
19 And in process of time, even after the end of two years, his guts fell out with his disease: so he died of sore diseases: and his people made no burning for him like the burning of his fathers.
20 When he began to reign, he was two and thirty years old, and reigned in Jerusalem eight years, [ar]and lived without being desired: yet they buried him in the city of David, but not among the sepulchers of the Kings.
22 Ahaziah reigneth after Jehoram. 9 Jehu king of Israel killeth Ahaziah. 10 Athaliah putteth to death all the King’s lineage. 11 Joash escapeth.
1 And (J)the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son King in his stead: for the army that came with [as]the Arabians to the camp, had slain all the eldest: therefore Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.
2 Two and [at]forty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned [au]one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter [av]of Omri.
3 He walked also in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother counseled him to do wickedly.
4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab: for they were his [aw]counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.
5 And he walked after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead: and the Aramites smote Joram.
6 ¶ And he returned to be healed in Jezreel, because of the wounds wherewith they had wounded him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. Now Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was diseased.
7 And the destruction of Ahaziah [ax]came of God, in that he went to Joram: for when he was come, he went forth with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, (K)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
8 Therefore when Jehu [ay]executed judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah that waited on Ahaziah, he slew them also.
9 And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him where he was hid in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu, and slew him and buried him, because said they, he is the son of [az]Jehoshaphat, which sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah was not able to retain the kingdom.
10 ¶ (L)Therefore when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and [ba]destroyed all the king’s seed of the house of Judah.
11 But Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons, that should be slain, and put him and his nurse in the bed chamber: so Jehoshabeath the daughter of king Jehoram the wife of Jehoiada the Priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah) hid him from Athaliah: so she slew him not.
12 And he was with them hid in the [bb]house of God six years, while Athaliah reigned over the [bc]land.
23 Joash the son of Ahaziah is made king. 15 Athaliah is put to death. 17 The temple of Baal is destroyed. 16 Jehoiada appointeth ministers in the Temple.
1 And (M)[bd]in the seventh year Jehoiada waxed bold, and took the captains of hundreds, to wit, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri in covenant with him.
2 And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the [be]chief fathers of Israel: and they came to Jerusalem.
3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the King in the house of God: and he said unto them, Behold, the King’s son must reign, (N)as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.
4 This is it that ye shall do, The third part of you that come on the Sabbath of the Priests, and the Levites, shall be porters of the doors.
5 And another third part toward the King’s house, and another third part at the (O)gate of the [bf]foundation, and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.
6 But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the Priests, and the Levites that minister, they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord.
7 And the Levites shall compass the King round about, and every man with his weapon in his hand, and he that entereth [bg]into the house, shall be slain, and be you with the king, when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.
8 ¶ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the Priest had commanded, and took every man his men that came on the Sabbath, with them that [bh]went out on the Sabbath: for Jehoiada the Priest did not discharge the courses.
9 And Jehoiada the Priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and shields, and bucklers which had been King David’s, and were in the house of God.
10 And he caused all the people to stand (every man with his weapon in his hand) from the right side of the house, to the left side of the house by the altar and by the [bi]house round about the king.
11 Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown and gave him the [bj]testimony, and made him King. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.
12 ¶ But when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the King, she came to the people into the house of the Lord.
13 And when she [bk]looked, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the King, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew the trumpets, and the singers were with instruments of music, and they that could sing praise: then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, [bl]Treason, treason.
14 Then Jehoiada the Priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were governors of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges, and he that [bm]followeth her, let him die by the sword: for the Priest had said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord.
15 So they laid hands on her: and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, they slew her there.
16 ¶ And Jehoiada made a [bn]covenant between him and all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people.
17 And all the people went to the house of Baal, and [bo]destroyed, and brake his altars and his images, and slew [bp]Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
18 And Jehoiada appointed officers for the house of the Lord, under the [bq]hands of the Priests and Levites, whom David had distributed for the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord, (P)as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing by the appointment of David.
19 And he set porters by the gates of the house of the Lord, that none that was unclean in anything, should enter in.
20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the noble men, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and he caused the king to come down out of the house of the Lord, and they went through the [br]high gate of the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.
21 Then all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet [bs]after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
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