2 Chronicles 17–21

Jehoshaphat Becomes King of Judah

17Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa. Jehoshaphat became the next king after him. He made his kingdom strong in case Israel would attack him. ²He placed troops in all of the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. He stationed some soldiers in Judah. He also put some in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

³The Lord was with Jehoshaphat. That’s because in his early years he lived the way King David had lived. He didn’t ask for advice from the gods that were named after Baal. ⁴Instead, he looked to the God of his father. He followed the Lord’s commands instead of the practices of Israel.

⁵The Lord made the kingdom secure under Jehoshaphat’s control. All of the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. So he had great wealth and honor. ⁶His heart was committed to living the way the Lord wanted him to. He removed the high places from Judah. He also removed the poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah.

⁷In the third year of his rule, he sent his officials to teach in the towns of Judah. The officials were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah. ⁸Some Levites were with them. Their names were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah. The priests Elishama and Jehoram were also with them. ⁹They taught people all through Judah. They took the Scroll of the Law of the Lord with them. They went around to all of the towns of Judah. And they taught the people.

¹⁰All of the kingdoms of the lands around Judah became afraid of the Lord. So they didn’t go to war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some Philistines brought to Jehoshaphat the gifts and silver he required of them. The Arabs brought him their flocks. They brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.

¹²Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built forts in Judah. He also built cities in Judah where he could store things. ¹³He had large supplies in the towns of Judah. In Jerusalem he kept men who knew how to fight well. ¹⁴Here is a list of them, family by family.

From Judah there were commanders of companies of 1,000.

One of them was Adnah. He commanded 300,000 fighting men.

¹⁵Another was Jehohanan. He commanded 280,000.

¹⁶Another was Amasiah, the son of Zicri. Amasiah commanded 200,000. He had offered to serve the Lord.

¹⁷From Benjamin there were also commanders.

One of them was Eliada. He was a brave soldier. He commanded 200,000 men. They were armed with bows and shields.

¹⁸Another was Jehozabad. He commanded 180,000 men. They were prepared for battle.

¹⁹Those were the men who served the king. He stationed some other men in the cities all through Judah. The cities had high walls around them.

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

18Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor. He joined forces with Ahab by getting married to Ahab’s daughter. ²Some years later he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab killed a lot of sheep and cattle for him and the people who were with him. Ahab tried to get Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth Gilead. ³Ahab was the king of Israel. He spoke to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. He asked, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat replied, “Yes. I’ll go with you. My men will also go with you. We’ll join you in the war.” ⁴He continued, “First ask the Lord for advice.”

⁵So the king of Israel brought 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or should I stay here?”

“Go,” they answered. “God will hand it over to you.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? If there is, ask him what we should do.”

⁷The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat. He said, “There is still one other man we can go to. We can ask the Lord for advice through him. But I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me. He only prophesies bad things. His name is Micaiah. He’s the son of Imlah.”

“You shouldn’t say bad things about him,” Jehoshaphat replied.

⁸So the king of Israel called for one of his officials. He told him, “Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, at once.”

⁹The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were wearing their royal robes. They were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor. It was near the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All of the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

¹⁰Zedekiah was the son of Kenaanah. Zedekiah had made horns out of iron. They looked like animal horns. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘With these horns you will drive back the men of Aram until they are destroyed.’ ”

¹¹All of the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead,” they said. “Win the battle over it. The Lord will hand it over to you.”

¹²A messenger went to get Micaiah. He said to him, “Look. The other prophets agree. All of them are saying the king will have success. So agree with them. Say the same thing they do.”

¹³But Micaiah said, “You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that I can only tell the king what my God says.”

¹⁴When Micaiah arrived, the king spoke to him. He asked, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or should I stay here?”

“Attack,” he answered. “You will win. The people of Ramoth Gilead will be handed over to you.”

¹⁵The king said to him, “I’ve made you promise to tell the truth many times before. So don’t tell me anything but the truth in the name of the Lord.”

¹⁶Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all of the people of Israel scattered on the hills. They were like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people do not have a master. Let each of them go home in peace.’ ”

¹⁷The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies anything good about me? He only prophesies bad things.”

¹⁸Micaiah continued, “Listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. Some of the angels of heaven were standing at his right side. The others were standing at his left side. ¹⁹The Lord said, ‘Who will try to get Ahab, the king of Israel, to attack Ramoth Gilead? I want him to die there.’

“One angel suggested one thing. Another suggested something else. ²⁰Finally, a spirit came forward and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, ‘I’ll try to get Ahab to do it.’

“ ‘How?’ the Lord asked.

²¹“The spirit said, ‘I’ll go and put lies in the mouths of all of his prophets.’

“ ‘You will have success in getting Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

²²“So the Lord has put lies in the mouths of your prophets. He has said that great harm will come to you.”

²³Then Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “So you think the spirit that was sent by the Lord went away from me to speak to you, do you?” he asked. “Which way did he go?”

²⁴Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inside room to save your life.”

²⁵Then the king of Israel gave an order. He said, “Take Micaiah away. Send him back to Amon. Amon is the ruler of the city of Samaria. And send him back to Joash. Joash is a member of the royal court. ²⁶Tell them, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in prison. Don’t give him anything but bread and water until I return safely.” ’ ”

²⁷Micaiah announced, “Do you really think you will return safely? If you do, the Lord hasn’t spoken through me.” He continued, “All of you people, remember what I’ve said!”

Ahab Is Killed at Ramoth Gilead

²⁸So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went there too.

²⁹The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “I’ll go into battle wearing different clothes. Then people won’t recognize me. But you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel put on different clothes. Then he went into battle.

³⁰The king of Aram had given an order to his chariot commanders. He had said, “Fight only against the king of Israel. Don’t fight against anyone else.”

³¹The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought, “That’s the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. And the Lord helped him. God drew the commanders away from him. ³²They saw he wasn’t the king of Israel after all. So they stopped chasing him.

³³But someone shot an arrow without taking aim. The arrow hit the king of Israel between the parts of his armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Turn the chariot around. Get me out of this battle. I’ve been wounded.”

³⁴All day long the battle continued. The king of Israel kept himself standing up by leaning against the inside of his chariot. He kept his face toward the men of Aram until evening. At sunset he died.

19Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem. ²The prophet Jehu went out to meet him. He was the son of Hanani. Jehu said to the king, “You shouldn’t help evil people. You shouldn’t love those who hate the Lord. The Lord is angry with you. ³But there’s some good in you. You have gotten rid of all of the poles in the land that are used to worship the goddess Asherah. And you have worshiped God with all your heart.”

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

⁴Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again among the people. He went from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim. He turned the people back to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁵Jehoshaphat appointed judges in the land. He put them in all of the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. ⁶He told the judges, “Think carefully about what you do. After all, you aren’t judging for mere men. You are judging for the Lord. He’s with you every time you make a decision. ⁷Have respect for the Lord. Judge carefully. He is always right. He treats everyone the same. He doesn’t want his judges to take money from people who want special favors.”

⁸In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat chose some Levites and priests. He also chose some leaders of Israelite families. He appointed all of them to apply the law of the Lord fairly. He wanted them to decide cases. He wanted them to settle matters between people. All of those…