Chronological

19 King Jehoshaphat of Judah came back safely to his house in Jerusalem. ² The prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, went out to meet the king. Jehu said to him, “Why did you help those who are wicked? Why do you love those who hate the Lord? That’s the reason the Lord is angry with you now. ³ Fortunately, you did some good things in your life. You did remove the Asherah poles from this country, and you did decide to ask God for his advice.”

Jehoshaphat Chooses Judges

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he would go out among the people throughout Judah, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim. He helped the people turn back to the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped. ⁵ Jehoshaphat went from town to town and appointed judges in each of the fortresses of Judah. ⁶ He told the judges, “Be careful in what you are doing, because you are not judging for people, but for the Lord. He will be with you when you make decisions. ⁷ You must fear the Lord. Protect justice and do what is right because the Lord our God is fair. He does not treat some people as if they are more important than others, and he does not accept bribes to change his judgments.”

⁸ In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat chose some of the Levites, priests, and heads of the families of Israel to be judges. These men lived in Jerusalem and used the law of the Lord to settle problems among the people. ⁹ Jehoshaphat commanded them, “You must serve faithfully with all your heart. You must fear the Lord. ¹⁰ People from cities around the country will bring their problems to you. You will listen to cases where people have broken a law or a command or maybe killed someone. In all these cases you must warn the people not to sin against the Lord so that he will not get angry and punish you and your people.

¹¹ “Amariah is the high priest, so he will make the final decision about the people’s responsibilities to the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ishmael is the leader of the tribe of Judah, so he will make the final decision about the people’s responsibilities to the king. The Levites will serve as scribes for you. Be brave and do what is right! May the Lord be with those of you who are good judges.”

Jehoshaphat Faces War

20 Later, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and some Meunites^[a] came to start a war with Jehoshaphat. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “There is a large army 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 became afraid, and he decided to ask the Lord what to do. He announced a time of fasting for everyone in Judah. ⁴ The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord for help. They came from out of all the towns of Judah to ask for the Lord’s help. ⁵ Jehoshaphat was in the new courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. He stood up in the meeting of the people from Judah and Jerusalem ⁶ and said,

“Lord God of our ancestors, you are the God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms in all the nations. You have power and strength. No one can stand against you. ⁷ You are our God! You forced the people living in this land to leave. You did this in front of your people Israel. You gave this land to the descendants of Abraham forever. Abraham was your friend. ⁸ His descendants lived in this land, and built a Temple for your name. ⁹ They said, ‘If trouble comes to us—the sword, punishment, sicknesses, or famine—we will stand in front of this Temple and in front of you. Your name is on this Temple. We will shout to you when we are in trouble. Then you will hear and save us.’

¹⁰ “But now, here are men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. You would not let the Israelites enter their lands when they came out of Egypt.^[b] So the Israelites turned away and didn’t destroy them. ¹¹ But see the kind of reward those people give us for not destroying them. They have come to force us out of your land that you gave to us. ¹² Our God, punish those people. We don’t have the strength to stop this large army that is coming against us. We don’t know what to do! We are looking to you for help.”^[c]

¹³ All the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their wives, babies, and children. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah. (Zechariah was the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah.) Jahaziel was a Levite from the family of Asaph. In the middle of the meeting, ¹⁵ Jahaziel said, “Listen to me King Jehoshaphat and everyone living in Judah and Jerusalem! The Lord says this to you: ‘Don’t be afraid or worry about this large army, because the battle is not your battle. It is God’s battle! ¹⁶ Tomorrow, they will come up through the Ziz Pass. You must go down to them. You will find them at the end of the valley on the other side of the desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not have to fight this battle. Just stand there and watch the Lord save you. Judah and Jerusalem, don’t be afraid. Don’t worry, because the Lord is with you. So go out to stand against those people tomorrow.’”

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem bowed down before the Lord and worshiped him. ¹⁹ The Levites from the Kohath family groups and the Korah family stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. They sang very loudly.

²⁰ Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat’s army went out into the desert of Tekoa. As they marched out, Jehoshaphat stood there saying, “Listen to me, men of Judah and Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will stand strong! Have faith in his prophets, and you will succeed!”

²¹ Jehoshaphat encouraged the men and gave them instructions. Then he had the Temple singers stand up in their special clothes to praise the Lord. They marched in front of the army and sang,

²² As they began to sing and to praise God, the Lord set an ambush for the army from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come to attack Judah. The enemy was defeated! ²³ The Ammonites and the Moabites started to fight the men from Mount Seir. After they killed them, the Ammonites and Moabites turned on themselves and killed each other.

²⁴ The men from Judah arrived at the lookout point in the desert. They looked for the enemy’s large army, but all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground. There were no survivors. ²⁵ Jehoshaphat and his army came to take things from the bodies. They found many animals, riches, clothes, and other valuable things. It was more than Jehoshaphat and his men could carry away. There was so much that they spent three days taking everything from the dead bodies. ²⁶ On the fourth day Jehoshaphat and his army met in the Valley of Beracah.^[d] They praised the Lord. That is why people still call that place, “The Valley of Beracah.”

²⁷ All the men from Judah and Jerusalem were very happy as they marched back to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat in the front. The Lord made them very happy when he defeated their enemy. ²⁸ They entered Jerusalem with lyres, harps, and trumpets and went to the Temple of the Lord.

²⁹ People in all the surrounding kingdoms became afraid of God when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ That is why there was peace for Jehoshaphat’s kingdom—his God brought him rest from the enemies that were all around him.

Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Rule

³¹ Jehoshaphat ruled over the country of Judah. He was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ^32-33 Like his father Asa, Jehoshaphat was good and did everything that the Lord wanted, except he did not destroy the high places. Also, the people did not turn back to the God their ancestors worshiped.

³⁴ Everything else Jehoshaphat did, from beginning to end, is written in The Official Records of Jehu Son of Hanani. It was copied and included in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ Later on, King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an agreement with King Ahaziah of Israel. Ahaziah was very evil. ³⁶ Jehoshaphat joined with Ahaziah to make ships to go to the town of Tarshish. They built some ships at Ezion Geber. ³⁷ There was a man from the town of Mareshah named Eliezer son of Dodavahu. He spoke against Jehoshaphat and said, “Jehoshaphat, since you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have built.” The ships were wrecked, so Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah were not able to send them to Tarshish.

21 Then Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son, Jehoram became the next king. ² Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. They were the sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.^{[e] 3} Jehoshaphat gave his sons many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things. He also gave them strong fortresses in Judah. But Jehoshaphat gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his oldest son.

Jehoram, King of Judah

⁴ Jehoram took over his father’s kingdom and made himself strong. Then he used a sword to kill all his brothers. He also killed some of the leaders of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was 32 years old when he began to rule. He ruled eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He lived the same way the kings of Israel lived. He lived the same way Ahab’s family lived. This was because Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter. And Jehoram did evil in the Lord’s sight. ⁷ But the Lord would not destroy David’s family because of the agreement he made with David. He had promised to keep a lamp burning for David and his children forever.^[f]

⁸ In Jehoram’s time, Edom broke away from under Judah’s authority. 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 Since that time and until now the country of Edom has been rebellious against Judah. The people from the town of Libnah also turned against Jehoram. This happened because Jehoram left the Lord God. He is the God Jehoram’s ancestors followed. ¹¹ Jehoram also built high places on the hills in Judah. He caused the people of Jerusalem to start worshiping other gods. He led the people of Judah away from their God.

¹² Jehoram received this message from Elijah the prophet:

“This is what the Lord, the God your father David followed, says, ‘Jehoram, you have not lived the way your father Jehoshaphat lived. You have not lived the way King Asa of Judah lived. ¹³ But you have lived the way the kings of Israel lived. You have caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to stop doing what God wants. That is what Ahab and his family did. They were unfaithful to God. You have killed your brothers, and they were better than you. ¹⁴ So now, the Lord will soon punish your people with terrible suffering. He will punish your children, your wives, and all your property. ¹⁵ You will have a painful sickness in your intestines that will get worse and worse. Your intestines will finally come out.’”

¹⁶ The Lord caused the Philistines and the Arabs living near the Ethiopians to be angry with Jehoram. ¹⁷ They attacked Judah and carried away all the riches in the king’s palace. They also took Jehoram’s sons and wives. Only Jehoram’s youngest son, Ahaziah,^[g] was left.

¹⁸ After this happened, the Lord made Jehoram sick with a disease in his intestines that could not be cured. ¹⁹ His intestines fell out two years later because of his sickness. He died in very bad pain. The people did not make a large fire to honor Jehoram as they did for his father. ²⁰ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled eight years in Jerusalem. No one was sad when he died. The people buried Jehoram in the City of David, but not in the graves where the kings are buried.

Ahaziah, King of Judah

22 The people of Jerusalem chose Ahaziah to be the new king in Jehoram’s place. Ahaziah was Jehoram’s youngest son. The people who came with the Arabs to attack Jehoram’s camp killed all of Jehoram’s older sons. So Ahaziah began to rule in Judah. ² He was 22 years old when he began to rule.^[h] He ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah. Her father’s name was Omri. ³ Ahaziah also lived the way Ahab’s family lived because his mother encouraged him to do wrong things. ⁴ Ahaziah did evil in the Lord’s sight. That is what Ahab’s family did. Ahab’s family gave advice to Ahaziah after Ahaziah’s father died. They gave Ahaziah bad advice that led to his death. ^5-6 Ahaziah followed the advice of Ahab’s family and joined King Joram to fight against King Hazael from Aram. They fought near the town of Ramoth in Gilead. Joram, who was the son of King Ahab of Israel, was wounded in the battle. He went back to the town of Jezreel to heal from the wounds he suffered at Ramoth. King Ahaziah^[i] went there later to visit him.

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 chose Jehu to destroy Ahab’s family. ⁸ Jehu was punishing Ahab’s family. He found the leaders of Judah and Ahaziah’s relatives who served Ahaziah. He killed the leaders of Judah and Ahaziah’s relatives. ⁹ Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah. Jehu’s men caught him when he tried to hide in the town of Samaria. They brought him to Jehu. They killed Ahaziah and buried him. They said, “Ahaziah is the descendant of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat followed the Lord with all his heart.” Ahaziah’s family had no power to hold the kingdom of Judah together.

Queen Athaliah

¹⁰ Athaliah was Ahaziah’s mother. When she saw that her son was dead, she killed all the king’s children in Judah. ¹¹ But Jehosheba took Ahaziah’s son Joash and hid him. Jehosheba put Joash and his nurse in the inside bedroom. Jehosheba was King Jehoram’s daughter. She was also Jehoiada’s wife. Jehoiada was a priest, and Jehosheba was Ahaziah’s sister. Athaliah did not kill Joash, because Jehosheba hid him. ¹² Joash was hidden with the priests in God’s Temple for six years. During that time Athaliah ruled over the land as queen.

Priest Jehoiada and King Joash

23 After six years, Jehoiada showed his strength and made an agreement with the captains. These captains were 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 of Judah. They also gathered the leaders of the families of Israel. Then they went to Jerusalem. ³ All the people meeting together made an agreement with the king in God’s Temple.

Jehoiada said to the people, “The king’s son will rule. That is what the Lord promised about David’s descendants. ⁴ Now, this is what you must do: One-third of you priests and Levites who go on duty on the Sabbath will guard the doors. ⁵ And one-third of you will be at the king’s palace, and one-third of you will be at the Foundation Gate. But all the other people will stay in the yards of the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ Only the priests and Levites who serve in the Lord’s Temple are permitted to enter it. They are the only ones who have been made holy. Don’t let anyone else enter. All the others must do only the work 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 that person. You must stay with the king everywhere he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all the people of Judah obeyed all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Jehoiada the priest did not excuse anyone from the groups of the priests. So each captain and all his men came in on the Sabbath with those who went out on the Sabbath. ⁹ Jehoiada the priest gave the spears and the large and small shields that belonged to King David to the officers. The weapons were kept in God’s Temple. ¹⁰ Then Jehoiada told the men where to stand. Every man had his weapon in his hand. The men stood all the way from the right side of the Temple to the left side of the Temple. They stood near the altar and the Temple, and near the king. ¹¹ They brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him. They gave him a copy of the agreement.^[j] Then they made Joash king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed Joash and said, “Long live the king!”

¹² Athaliah heard the noise of the people running to the Temple and praising the king. She came into the Lord’s Temple to the people. ¹³ She looked and saw the king standing by his column at the front entrance. The officers and the men who blew trumpets were near the king. The people of the land were happy and blowing trumpets. The singers were playing on instruments of music. They led the people in singing praises. Then Athaliah tore her clothes^[k] and said, “Treason! Treason!”^[l]

¹⁴ Jehoiada the priest brought out the army captains. He said to them, “Take Athaliah outside among the army. Use your swords to kill anyone who follows her.” Then the priest warned the soldiers, “Don’t kill Athaliah in the Lord’s Temple.” ¹⁵ Then those men grabbed Athaliah when she came to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the king’s palace. Then they killed her there.

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made an agreement with all the people and the king. They all agreed that they all would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ All the people went into the temple of the idol Baal and tore it down. They also broke the altars and idols that were in Baal’s temple. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars of Baal.

¹⁸ Then Jehoiada chose the priests to be responsible for the Lord’s Temple. The priests were Levites, and David had given them the job of being responsible for the Lord’s Temple. They were to offer the burnt offerings to the Lord the way the Law of Moses commanded. They offered the sacrifices with much joy and singing the way David commanded. ¹⁹ Jehoiada put guards at the gates of the Lord’s Temple to prevent any unclean person from entering the Temple.

²⁰ Jehoiada took the army captains, the leaders, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land with him. Then Jehoiada took the king out of the Lord’s Temple. They went through the Upper Gate to the king’s palace and put the king on the throne. ²¹ All the people of Judah were very happy, and the city of Jerusalem had peace because Athaliah was killed with a sword.