2 Chronicles 18–36

¹And Jehoshaphat hath riches and honour in abundance, and joineth affinity to Ahab, ²and goeth down at the end of certain years unto Ahab to Samaria, and Ahab sacrificeth for him sheep and oxen in abundance, and for the people who are with him, and persuadeth him to go up unto Ramoth-Gilead. ³And Ahab king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ‘Dost thou go with me to Ramoth-Gilead?’ And he saith to him, ‘As I—so thou, and as thy people—my people, even with thee in battle.’

⁴And Jehoshaphat saith unto the king of Israel, ‘Seek, I pray thee, this day, the word of Jehovah.’ ⁵And the king of Israel gathereth the prophets, four hundred men, and saith unto them, ‘Do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear?’ And they say, ‘Go up, and God doth give it into the hand of the king.’ ⁶And Jehoshaphat saith, ‘Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah still, and we seek from him?’ ⁷And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, ‘Still—one man to seek Jehovah from him, and I—I have hated him, for he is not prophesying concerning me of good, but all his days of evil, he is Micaiah son of Imlah;’ and Jehoshaphat saith, ‘Let not the king say so.’ ⁸And the king of Israel calleth unto a certain officer, and saith, ‘Hasten Micaiah son of Imlah.’ ⁹And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, and they are sitting in a threshing-floor at the opening of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them. ¹⁰And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah maketh for himself horns of iron, and saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, ¹¹With these thou dost push Aram till thou hast consumed them.’ And all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, ‘Go up to Ramath-Gilead and prosper, and Jehovah hath given it into the hand of the king.’ ¹²And the messenger who hath gone to call for Micaiah hath spoken unto him, saying, ‘Lo, the words of the prophets—one mouth—are good towards the king, and let, I pray thee, thy word be like one of theirs: and thou hast spoken good.’ ¹³And Micaiah saith ‘Jehovah liveth, surely that which my God saith, it I speak.’ ¹⁴And he cometh in unto the king, and the king saith unto him, ‘Micaiah, do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear?’ And he saith, ‘Go ye up, and prosper, and they are given into your hand.’ ¹⁵And the king saith unto him, ‘How many times am I adjuring thee, that thou speak unto me only truth in the name of Jehovah?’ ¹⁶And he saith, ‘I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd, and Jehovah saith, There are no masters to these, they turn back each to his house in peace.’ ¹⁷And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not say unto thee, He doth not prophesy concerning me good, but rather of evil?’ ¹⁸And he saith, ‘Therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah: I have seen Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing on His right and His left; ¹⁹and Jehovah saith, Who doth entice Ahab king of Israel, and he doth go up and fall in Ramoth-Gilead? And this speaker saith thus, and that speaker thus. ²⁰And go out doth the spirit, and stand before Jehovah, and saith, I do entice him; and Jehovah saith unto him, With what? ²¹and he saith, I go out, and have become a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He saith, Thou dost entice, and also, thou art able; go out and do so. ²²And, now, lo, Jehovah hath put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of these thy prophets, and Jehovah hath spoken concerning thee—evil.’ ²³And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah cometh nigh, and smiteth Micaiah on the cheek, and saith, ‘Where is this—the way the Spirit of Jehovah passed over from me to speak with thee?’ ²⁴And Micaiah saith, ‘Lo, thou dost see in that day, that thou dost enter into the innermost chamber to be hidden.’ ²⁵And the king of Israel saith, ‘Take ye Micaiah, and turn him back unto Amon head of the city, and unto Joash son of the king, ²⁶and ye have said, Thus said the king, Put ye this one in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, till my return in peace.’ ²⁷And Micaiah saith, ‘If thou dost certainly return in peace, Jehovah hath not spoken by me;’ and he saith, ‘Hear ye, O peoples, all of them!’

²⁸And the king of Israel goeth up, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, unto Ramoth-Gilead; ²⁹and the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, ‘And thou, put on thy garments.’ And the king of Israel disguiseth himself, and they go into battle. ³⁰And the king of Aram hath commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he hath, saying, ‘Ye do not fight with small or with great, except with the king of Israel by himself.’ ³¹And it cometh to pass at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they have said, ‘The king of Israel he is,’ and they turn round against him to fight, and Jehoshaphat crieth out, and Jehovah hath helped him, and God enticeth them from him, ³²yea, it cometh to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that it hath not been the king of Israel—they turn back from after him. ³³And a man hath drawn with a bow, in his simplicity, and smiteth the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he saith to the charioteer, ‘Turn thy hand, and thou hast brought me out of the camp, for I have become sick.’ ³⁴And the battle increaseth on that day, and the king of Israel hath been stayed up in the chariot over-against Aram till the evening, and he dieth at the time of the going in of the sun.

Chapter 19

¹And Jehoshaphat king of Judah turneth back unto his house in peace to Jerusalem, ²and go out unto his presence doth Jehu son of Hanani, the seer, and saith unto king Jehoshaphat, ‘To give help to the wicked, and to those hating Jehovah, dost thou love? and for this against thee is wrath from before Jehovah, ³but good things have been found with thee, for thou hast put away the shrines out of the land, and hast prepared thy heart to seek God.’ ⁴And Jehoshaphat dwelleth in Jerusalem, and he turneth back and goeth out among the people from Beer-Sheba unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and bringeth them back unto Jehovah, God of their fathers.

⁵And he establisheth judges in the land, in all the fenced cities of Judah, for every city, ⁶and saith unto the judges, ‘See what ye are doing—for not for man do ye judge, but for Jehovah, who is with you in the matter of judgment; ⁷and now, let fear of Jehovah be upon you, observe and do, for there is not with Jehovah our God perverseness, and acceptance of faces, and taking of a bribe.’ ⁸And also in Jerusalem hath Jehoshaphat appointed of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they turn back to Jerusalem, ⁹and he layeth a charge upon them, saying, ‘Thus do ye do in the fear of Jehovah, in faithfulness, and with a perfect heart, ¹⁰and any strife that cometh in unto you of your brethren who are dwelling in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and command, statutes, and judgments, then ye have warned them and they become not guilty before Jehovah, and wrath hath not been on you and on your brethren; thus do ye do, and ye are not guilty.

¹¹‘And, lo, Amariah the head priest is over you for every matter of Jehovah, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the house of Judah, is for every matter of the king, and officers the Levites are before you; be strong and do, and Jehovah is with the good.’

Chapter 20

¹And it cometh to pass after this, the sons of Moab have come in, and the sons of Ammon, and with them of the peoples, against Jehoshaphat to battle. ²And they come in and declare to Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘Come against thee hath a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Aram, and lo, they are in Hazezon-Tamar—it is En-Gedi.’ ³And Jehoshaphat feareth, and setteth his face to seek to Jehovah, and proclaimeth a fast over all Judah; ⁴and Judah is gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also, from all the cities of Judah they have come in to seek Jehovah. ⁵And Jehoshaphat standeth in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court, ⁶and saith, ‘O Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not Thou—God in the heavens? yea, Thou art ruling over all kingdoms of the nations, and in Thy hand is power and might, and there is none with Thee to station himself.

⁷‘Art not Thou our God? Thou hast dispossessed the inhabitants of this land from before Thy people Israel, and dost give it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend to the age, ⁸and they dwell in it, and build to Thee in it a sanctuary for Thy name, saying, ⁹If evil doth come upon us—sword, judgment, and pestilence, and famine—we stand before this house, and before Thee, for Thy name is in this house, and cry unto Thee out of our distress, and Thou dost hear and save.

¹⁰‘And now, lo, sons of Ammon, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom Thou didst not grant to Israel to go in against in their coming out of the land of Egypt, for they turned aside from off them and destroyed them not, ¹¹and lo, they are recompensing to us—to come in to drive us out of Thy possession, that Thou hast caused us to possess.

¹²‘O our God, dost Thou not execute judgment upon them? for there is no power in us before this great multitude that hath come against us, and we know not what we do, but on Thee are our eyes.’ ¹³And all Judah are standing before Jehovah, also their infants, their wives, and their sons.

¹⁴And upon Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, hath the Spirit of Jehovah been, in the midst of the assembly, ¹⁵and he saith, ‘Attend, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and O king Jehoshaphat, Thus said Jehovah to you, Ye fear not, nor are afraid of the face of this great multitude, for not for you is the battle, but for God. ¹⁶To-morrow, go ye down against them, lo, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz,…