Historical

Jehoshaphat’s Reforms

19 Then Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. ² And Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. And he said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you be a help to the wicked and love those who hate Yahweh? On account of this, wrath has come against you from Yahweh. ³ Nevertheless some good things have been found in regard to you, for you burned the Asherahs out of the land and set your heart to seek God.”

⁴ And Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and returned and went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.^{[a] 5} And he appointed judges in the land and in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city. ⁶ And he said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you are not judging for a man but for Yahweh. Now he is with you in speaking justice. ⁷ So now, let the fear of Yahweh be upon you all. Be careful what you do,^[b] for there is neither wickedness nor showing partiality^[c] and taking bribes with Yahweh our God.”

⁸ Moreover, Jehoshaphat appointed in Jerusalem some of the Levites and the priests and heads of the families^[d] of Israel as judges and to decide legal disputes for Yahweh. And they sat^[e] in Jerusalem. ⁹ And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you must do in the fear of Yahweh in faithfulness and with a whole heart. ¹⁰ Any legal dispute that comes before you from your brothers who live in their cities concerning bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, and justice, you must warn them, so that they do not incur guilt before Yahweh, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you must do that you do not incur guilt. ¹¹ And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the word of Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all matters of the king, and the Levites shall be before you as officials. Be strong and do well! May Yahweh be with the upright.”

The Prayer of Jehoshaphat

20 And it happened that afterward, the Moabites,^[f] the Ammonites,^[g] and some of the Meunites^[h] came against Jehoshaphat for war. ² And they came and reported it to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude from beyond the sea, from Aram,^[i] is coming against you. Now behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). ³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek Yahweh. And he called for a fast through all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek after Yahweh; even from all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh.

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Yahweh before the new courtyard. ⁶ And he said, “O Yahweh, God of our ancestors,^[j] are you not God in heaven? Now you rule in all the kingdoms of the nations, and in your hand are power and might, and there is none who can resist against you. ⁷ O, our God, did you yourself not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants^[k] of Abraham your friend forever? ⁸ And they lived in it and built for you a sanctuary for your name in it, saying, ⁹ ‘If disaster, a sword, punishment, disease, or famine come upon us, we shall stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you out of our trouble, then you will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰ And now, look, the people^[l] of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy, ¹¹ now behold, they are rewarding us by coming to dispossess us from your possession which you gave us as an inheritance. ¹² O our God, will you not judge them, for there is no power in us before this great multitude that is coming against us. Now we do not know what we shall do, for our eyes are upon you.”

¹³ And all Judah was standing before Yahweh, and also their little children, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite from the descendants^[m] of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says Yahweh to you: ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up the ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley facing the desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ There will be no need for you to fight in this battle. Take your stand! Stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh among you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them and Yahweh will be with you.’” ¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat bowed his face^[n] down to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yahweh to worship Yahweh. ¹⁹ Then the Levites, from the Kohathites^[o] and from the Korahites^[p] stood up to praise Yahweh the God of Israel with an exceedingly^[q] loud voice.

God Delivers Judah and Jerusalem

²⁰ And they rose up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Yahweh your God, and you shall be established! Believe in his prophets, and you shall succeed!” ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed singers to Yahweh who were giving praise to the splendor of his holiness when they went out before the army. And they said, “Give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love is everlasting!”

²² And when^[r] they began with singing and praise, Yahweh set ambushes against the people^[s] of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming against Judah. And they were defeated ²³ when the people^[t] of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to destroy and demolish them. And when the inhabitants of Seir had made an end of them, each helped to destroy his comrade.

²⁴ And Judah came against the watchtower of the wilderness. And they looked at the crowd, and behold, corpses were lying on the ground. There was none who had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat came with his people to plunder their booty, they found among them in abundance possessions, corpses, and precious items. And they took plunder for themselves until they could carry no more.^[u] And they were three days in plundering the booty, for it was abundant. ²⁶ And on the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore the name of that place is called the Valley of Berakah up to this day. ²⁷ And all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned, and Jehoshaphat was at their head in returning to Jerusalem with joy, for Yahweh caused them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with harps, stringed instruments, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. ²⁹ And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the earth when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at rest, since his God gave rest to him all around.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

³¹ So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ³² And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn aside from it, to do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. ³³ Only the high places were not removed. The people still had not yet set their heart on the God of their ancestors.^{[v] 34} Now the rest of the words of Jehoshaphat, from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the chronicles^[w] of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the scroll of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ And afterward Jehoshaphat the king of Judah joined with Ahaziah the king of Israel, who acted wickedly. ³⁶ He joined with him to build ships to go to Tarshish. And they built the ships in Ezion Geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because of your joining with Ahaziah, Yahweh will break down your works.” And the ships were destroyed and were not able to go to Tarshish.

The Reign of Jehoram

21 And Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors^[x] and was buried with his ancestors^[y] in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ² Now he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel. ³ And their father gave to them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuables, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn. ⁴ When Jehoram ascended to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and murdered all his brothers with the sword, and even some of the princes of Israel.

⁵ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, 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 the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh. ⁷ But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant that he had made^[z] with David and since he had promised^[aa] to give a lamp to him and to his descendants^[ab] forever.^[ac]

⁸ In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all the chariots with him, and when night came he struck Edom who was all around him and the commanders of his chariots. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah until this day. Then Libnah also revolted at that time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his ancestors.^[ad]

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and he enticed the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful, and he led Judah astray. ¹² And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, ¹³ but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, Yahweh is inflicting a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will be afflicted with great illness, with sickness in your bowels, until your bowels come out on account of the illness, day by day.’”

¹⁶ And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who were near^[ae] the Cushites against Jehoram. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the house of the king, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this Yahweh afflicted him in his bowels with an illness for which there was no cure. ¹⁹ And it happened that after many days, at the end of two years,^[af] his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.^{[ag] 20} He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed^[ah] with no one’s regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.