2 Chronicles 19:1–20:37

Jehoshaphat king of Judah came back safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ²Jehu son of Hanani, a seer, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Why did you help evil people? Why do you love those who hate the Lord? That is the reason the Lord is angry with you. ³But there is some good in you. You took the Asherah idols out of this country, and you have tried to obey God.”

Jehoshaphat Chooses Judges

⁴Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again to be with the people, from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and he turned them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁵Jehoshaphat appointed judges in all the land, in each of the strong, walled cities of Judah. ⁶Jehoshaphat said to them, “Watch what you do, because you are not judging for people but for the Lord. He will be with you when you make a decision. ⁷Now let each of you fear the Lord. Watch what you do, because the Lord our God wants people to be fair. He wants all people to be treated the same, and he doesn’t want decisions influenced by money.”

⁸And in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites, priests, and leaders of Israelite families to be judges. They were to decide cases about the law of the Lord and settle problems between the people who lived in Jerusalem. ⁹Jehoshaphat commanded them, “You must always serve the Lord completely, and you must fear him. ¹⁰Your people living in the cities will bring you cases about killing, about the teachings, commands, rules, or some other law. In all these cases you must warn the people not to sin against the Lord. If you don’t, he will be angry with you and your people. But if you warn them, you won’t be guilty.

¹¹“Amariah, the leading priest, will be over you in all cases about the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ishmael, a leader in the tribe of Judah, will be over you in all cases about the king. Also, the Levites will serve as officers for you. Have courage. May the Lord be with those who do what is right.”

Jehoshaphat Faces War

20Later the Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites came to start a war with Jehoshaphat. ²Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A large army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazazon Tamar!” (Hazazon Tamar is also called En Gedi.) ³Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to ask the Lord what to do. He announced that everyone in Judah should fast during this special time of prayer to God. ⁴The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord for help; they came from every town in Judah.

⁵The people of Judah and Jerusalem met in front of the new courtyard in the Temple of the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood up, ⁶and he said, “Lord, God of our ancestors, you are the God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You have power and strength, so no one can stand against you. ⁷Our God, you forced out the people who lived in this land as your people Israel moved in. And you gave this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham. ⁸They lived in this land and built a Temple for you. They said, ⁹‘If trouble comes upon us, or war, punishment, sickness, or hunger, we will stand before you and before this Temple where you have chosen to be worshiped. We will cry out to you when we are in trouble. Then you will hear and save us.’

¹⁰“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab, and Edom. You wouldn’t let the Israelites enter their lands when the Israelites came from Egypt. So the Israelites turned away and did not destroy them. ¹¹But see how they repay us for not destroying them! They have come to force us out of your land, which you gave us as our own. ¹²Our God, punish those people. We have no power against this large army that is attacking us. We don’t know what to do, so we look to you for help.”

¹³All the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their babies, wives, and children. ¹⁴Then the Spirit of the Lord entered Jahaziel. (Jahaziel was Zechariah’s son. Zechariah was Benaiah’s son. Benaiah was Jeiel’s son, and Jeiel was Mattaniah’s son.) Jahaziel, a Levite and a descendant of Asaph, stood up in the meeting. ¹⁵He said, “Listen to me, King Jehoshaphat and all you people living in Judah and Jerusalem. The Lord says this to you: ‘Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of this large army. The battle is not your battle, it is God’s. ¹⁶Tomorrow go down there and fight those people. They will come up through the Pass of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine that leads to the Desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷You won’t need to fight in this battle. Just stand strong in your places, and you will see the Lord save you. Judah and Jerusalem, don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord is with you. So go out against those people tomorrow.’ ”

¹⁸Jehoshaphat bowed facedown on the ground. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem bowed down before the Lord and worshiped him. ¹⁹Then some Levites from the Kohathite and Korahite people stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with very loud voices.

²⁰Jehoshaphat’s army went out into the Desert of Tekoa early in the morning. As they were starting out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, people 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.” ²¹Jehoshaphat listened to the people’s advice. Then he chose men to be singers to the Lord, to praise him because he is holy and wonderful. As they marched in front of the army, they said,

“Thank the Lord,

because his love continues forever.”

²²As they began to sing and praise God, the Lord set ambushes for the people of Ammon, Moab, and Edom who had come to attack Judah. And they were defeated. ²³The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the Edomites, destroying them completely. After they had killed the Edomites, they killed each other.

²⁴When the men from Judah came to a place where they could see the desert, they looked at the enemy’s large army. But they only saw dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵When Jehoshaphat and his army came to take their valuables, they found many supplies, much clothing, and other valuable things. There was more than they could carry away; there was so much it took three days to gather it all. ²⁶On the fourth day Jehoshaphat and his army met in the Valley of Beracah and praised the Lord. That is why that place has been called the Valley of Beracah ⁿ to this day.

²⁷Then Jehoshaphat led all the men from Judah and Jerusalem back to Jerusalem. The Lord had made them happy because their enemies were defeated. ²⁸They entered Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets and went to the Temple of the Lord.

²⁹When all the kingdoms of the lands around them heard how the Lord had fought Israel’s enemies, they feared God. ³⁰So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was not at war. His God gave him peace from all the countries around him.

Jehoshaphat’s Rule Ends

³¹Jehoshaphat ruled over the country of Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³²Jehoshaphat was good like his father Asa, and he did what the Lord said was right. ³³But the places where gods were worshiped were not removed, and the people did not really want to follow the God of their ancestors.

³⁴The other things Jehoshaphat did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made a treaty with Ahaziah king of Israel, which was a wrong thing to do. ³⁶Jehoshaphat agreed with Ahaziah to build trading ships, which they built in the town of Ezion Geber. ³⁷Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from the town of Mareshah spoke against Jehoshaphat. He said, “Jehoshaphat, because you joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked so they could not sail out to trade.