Historical

19 Jehoshaphat returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ² But the prophet Jehu son of Hanani met him and said:

By helping that wicked Ahab, you have made friends with someone who hates the Lord. Now the Lord God is angry with you! ³ But not everything about you is bad. You destroyed the sacred poles^[a] used in worshiping the goddess Asherah—that shows you have tried to obey the Lord.

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges To Settle Cases

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he often traveled through his kingdom, from Beersheba in the south to the edge of the hill country of Ephraim in the north. He talked with the people and convinced them to turn back to the Lord God and worship him, just as their ancestors had done.

⁵ He assigned judges to each of the fortified cities in Judah ⁶ and told them:

Be careful when you make your decisions in court, because you are judging by the Lord's standards and not by human standards, and he will know what you decide. ⁷ So do your work in honor of him and know that he won't allow you to be unfair to anyone or to take bribes.

⁸ Jehoshaphat also chose some Levites, some priests, and some of the family leaders, and he appointed them to serve as judges in Jerusalem. ⁹ He told them:

Faithfully serve the Lord! ¹⁰ The people of Judah will bring you legal cases that involve every type of crime, including murder. You must settle these cases and warn the people to stop sinning against the Lord, so that he won't get angry and punish Judah. Remember, if you follow these instructions, you won't be held responsible for anything that happens.

¹¹ Amariah the high priest will have the final say in any religious case. And Zebadiah, the leader^[b] of the Judah tribe, will have the final say in all other cases. The rest of the Levites will serve as your assistants. Be brave, and I pray that the Lord will help you do right.

Moab and Ammon Are Defeated

20 Some time later, the armies of Moab and Ammon, together with the Meunites,^[c] went to war against Jehoshaphat. ² Messengers told Jehoshaphat, “A large army from Edom^[d] east of the Dead Sea has invaded our country. They have already reached En-Gedi.”^[e]

³ Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he asked the Lord what to do. He then told the people of Judah to go without eating to show their sorrow. ⁴ They immediately left for Jerusalem to ask for the Lord's help.

⁵ After everyone from Judah and Jerusalem had come together at the Lord's temple, Jehoshaphat stood in front of the new courtyard ⁶ and prayed:

You, Lord, are the God our ancestors worshiped, and from heaven you rule every nation in the world. You are so powerful that no one can defeat you. ^7 (A) Our God, you forced out the nations who lived in this land before your people Israel came here, and you gave it to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever. ⁸ Our ancestors lived in this land and built a temple to honor you. ⁹ They believed that whenever this land is struck by war or disease or famine, your people can pray to you at the temple, and you will hear their prayer and save them.

^10 (B) You can see that the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Edom are attacking us! Those are the nations you would not let our ancestors invade on their way from Egypt, so these nations were not destroyed. ¹¹ Now they are coming to take back the land you gave us. ¹² Aren't you going to punish them? We won't stand a chance when this army attacks. We don't know what to do—we are begging for your help.

¹³ While every man, woman, and child of Judah was standing there at the temple, ¹⁴ the Lord's Spirit suddenly spoke to Jahaziel, a Levite from the Asaph clan.^{[f] 15 (C)} Then Jahaziel said:

Your Majesty and everyone from Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord says that you don't need to be afraid or let this powerful army discourage you. God will fight on your side! ¹⁶ So here's what you must do. Tomorrow the enemy armies will march through the desert around the town of Jeruel. March down and meet them at the town of Ziz as they come up the valley. ^17 (D) You won't even have to fight. Just take your positions and watch the Lord rescue you from your enemy. Don't be afraid. Just do as you're told. And as you march out tomorrow, the Lord will be there with you.

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed low to the ground and everyone worshiped the Lord. ¹⁹ Then some Levites from the Kohath and Korah clans stood up and shouted praises to the Lord God of Israel.

²⁰ Early the next morning, as everyone got ready to leave for the desert near Tekoa, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Listen my friends, if we trust the Lord God and believe what these prophets have told us, the Lord will help us, and we will be successful.” ²¹ Then he explained his plan and appointed men to march in front of the army and praise the Lord for his holy power by singing:^[g]

²² As soon as they began singing, the Lord confused the enemy camp, ²³ so that the Ammonite and Moabite troops attacked and completely destroyed those from Edom. Then they turned against each other and fought until the entire camp was wiped out!

²⁴ When Judah's army reached the tower that overlooked the desert, they saw that every soldier in the enemy's army was lying dead on the ground. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his troops went into the camp to carry away everything of value. They found a large herd of livestock,^[h] a lot of equipment, clothes,^[i] and other valuable things. It took them three days to carry it all away, and there was still some left over.

²⁶ Then on the fourth day, everyone came together in Beracah Valley and sang praises to the Lord. That's why that place was called Praise Valley.^[j]

^27-28 Jehoshaphat led the crowd back to Jerusalem. And as they marched, they played harps and blew trumpets. They were very happy because the Lord had given them victory over their enemies, so when they reached the city, they went straight to the temple.

²⁹ When the other nations heard how the Lord had fought against Judah's enemies, they were too afraid ³⁰ to invade Judah. The Lord let Jehoshaphat's kingdom be at peace.

Jehoshaphat Dies

(1 Kings 22.41-50)

³¹ Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² Jehoshaphat obeyed the Lord, just as his father Asa had done, ³³ but he did not destroy the local shrines.^[k] So the people still worshiped foreign gods, instead of faithfully serving the God their ancestors had worshiped.

³⁴ Everything else Jehoshaphat did while he was king is written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani that are included in The History of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ While Jehoshaphat was king, he signed a peace treaty with Ahaziah the wicked king of Israel. ³⁶ They agreed to build several seagoing ships^[l] at Ezion-Geber. ³⁷ But the prophet Eliezer^[m] warned Jehoshaphat, “The Lord will destroy these ships because you have supported Ahaziah.” The ships were wrecked and never sailed.

21 Jehoshaphat died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became king.

King Jehoram of Judah

(2 Kings 8.16-24)

² King Jehoshaphat had seven sons: Jehoram, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. ³ Jehoshaphat gave each of them silver and gold, as well as other valuable gifts. He also put them in charge of the fortified cities in Judah, but he had chosen his oldest son Jehoram to succeed him as king.

⁴ After Jehoram had taken control of Judah, he had his brothers killed, as well as some of the nation's leaders. ⁵ He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled eight years from Jerusalem.

⁶ Jehoram married Ahab's daughter and followed the sinful example of Ahab's family and the other kings of Israel. He disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong, ^7 (E) but because the Lord had made a solemn promise to King David that someone from his family would always rule in Judah, he refused to wipe out David's descendants.

^8 (F) While Jehoram was king, the people of Edom rebelled and chose their own king. ⁹ Jehoram, his officers, and his cavalry marched to Edom, where the Edomite army surrounded them. He escaped during the night, ¹⁰ but Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah^[n] rebelled at that time.

Those things happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord, the God his ancestors had worshiped. ¹¹ Jehoram even built local shrines^[o] in the hills of Judah and let the people sin against the Lord by worshiping foreign gods.

¹² One day, Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet that said:

I have a message for you from the Lord God your ancestor David worshiped. He knows that you have not followed the example of Jehoshaphat your father or Asa your grandfather. ¹³ Instead you have acted like those sinful kings of Israel and have encouraged the people of Judah to stop worshiping the Lord, just as Ahab and his descendants did. You even murdered your own brothers, who were better men than you.

¹⁴ Because you have done these terrible things, the Lord will severely punish the people in your kingdom, including your own family, and he will destroy everything you own. ¹⁵ You will be struck with a painful stomach disease and suffer until you die.

¹⁶ The Lord later caused the Philistines and the Arabs who lived near the Ethiopians^[p] to become angry with Jehoram. ¹⁷ They invaded Judah and stole the royal property from the palace, and they led Jehoram's wives and sons away as prisoners. The only one left behind was Ahaziah,^[q] his youngest son.

¹⁸ After this happened, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable stomach disease. ¹⁹ About two years later, Jehoram died in terrible pain. No bonfire was built to honor him, even though the people had done this for his ancestors.

²⁰ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled 8 years from Jerusalem. He died, and no one even felt sad. He was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs.