2 Chronicles
Chapter Twenty
1 ¶ It happened after
this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them
besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.
2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming
against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar"
(which is En Gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a
fast throughout all Judah.
4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities
of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house
of the LORD, before the new court,
6 and said: "O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and
do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there
not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
7 "Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before
Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
8 "And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your
name, saying,
9 'If disaster comes upon us-sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine-we will
stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple),
and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.'
10 "And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir-whom You
would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they
turned from them and did not destroy them-
11 "here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession
which You have given us to inherit.
12 "O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this
great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our
eyes are upon You."
13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood
before the LORD.
14 ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah,
the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the
sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
15 And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: 'Do not be afraid nor
dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.
16 'Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of
Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of
Jeruel.
17 'You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still
and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!'
Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with
you."
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.
19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of
the Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and
high.
20 ¶ So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness
of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O
Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you
shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should
sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went
out before the army and were saying: "Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures
forever."
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against
the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they
were defeated.
23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount
Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the
inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward
the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one
had escaped.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found
among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry,
which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and
they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there
they blessed the LORD; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley
of Berachah until this day.
27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in
front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them
rejoice over their enemies.
28 So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets,
to the house of the LORD.
29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they
heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.
31 ¶ So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when
he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it,
doing what was right in the sight of the LORD.
33 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had
not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed they are
written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned in the book
of the kings of Israel.
35 After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of
Israel, who acted very wickedly.
36 And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they
made the ships in Ezion Geber.
37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat,
saying, "Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed
your works." Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to
go to Tarshish.
Go to Chapter Twenty-One
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