2 Chronicles 20:14–24:14

14 Then the Spiritt of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah,u a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouragedv because of this vast army. For the battlew is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and seex the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ”

18 Jehoshaphat bowed downy with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faithz in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.a” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of hisc holinessb as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,

for his love endures forever.”c

22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushesd against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23 The Ammonitese and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seirf to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.g

24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothingd and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakahe to this day.

27 Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.

29 The fearh of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had foughti against the enemies of Israel. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him restj on every side.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

20:31–21:1pp—1Ki 22:41–50

31 So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 32 He followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 33 The high places,k however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.

34 The other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehul son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.

35 Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliancem with Ahaziah king of Israel, whose ways were wicked.n 36 He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships.f After these were built at Ezion Geber, 37 Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” The shipso were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.g

21 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoramp his son succeeded him as king. 2 Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.a 3 Their father had given them many giftsq of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified citiesr in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.

Jehoram King of Judah

21:5–10,20pp—2Ki 8:16–24

4 When Jehoram establisheds himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brotherst to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel,u as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.v He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7 Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David,w the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David.x He had promised to maintain a lampy for him and his descendants forever.

8 In the time of Jehoram, Edomz rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 9 So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. 10 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah.

Libnaha revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.

12 Jehoram received a letter from Elijahb the prophet, which said:

“This is what the Lord, the God of your fatherc David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asad king of Judah. 13 But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did.e You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were betterf than you. 14 So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will be very ill with a lingering diseaseg of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’ ”

16 The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabsh who lived near the Cushites. 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah,b the youngest.i

18 After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor,j as they had for his predecessors.

20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buriedk in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah King of Judah

22:1–6pp—2Ki 8:25–29
22:7–9pp—2Ki 9:21–29

22 The peoplel of Jerusalemm made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place, since the raiders,n who came with the Arabs into the camp, had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

2 Ahaziah was twenty-twoa years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri.

3 He too followedo the ways of the house of Ahab,p for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing. 5 He also followed their counsel when he went with Joramb son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead.q The Arameans wounded Joram; 6 so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramothc in his battle with Hazaelr king of Aram.

Then Ahaziahd son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab because he had been wounded.

7 Through Ahaziah’ss visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab,t he found the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hidingu in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who soughtv the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.

Athaliah and Joash

22:10–23:21pp—2Ki 11:1–21

10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehosheba,e the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba,f the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. 12 He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat …