¹⁶Jehoram began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the fifth year that Joram was king of Israel. Joram was the son of Ahab. Jehoram was the son of Jehoshaphat. ¹⁷Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.

¹⁸He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the royal family of Ahab had done. In fact, he got married to a daughter of Ahab. Jehoram did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁹But the Lord didn’t want to destroy Judah. That’s because the Lord had made a covenant with his servant David. He had promised to keep the lamp of David’s kingdom burning brightly for him and his children after him forever.

²⁰When Jehoram was king over Judah, Edom refused to remain under Judah’s control. They set up their own king. ²¹So Jehoram went to Zair. He took all of his chariots with him. The men of Edom surrounded him and his chariot commanders. He got up at night and fought his way out. But his army ran back home.

²²To this very day Edom has refused to remain under Judah’s control. At that same time, Libnah also refused to remain under the control of Judah.

²³The other events of Jehoram’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah.

²⁴Jehoram joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. His son Ahaziah became the next king after him.

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