War against Edom

20 After this the men of Moab, and Ammon, and some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “Very many people are coming against you from the other side of the sea, from Syria. See, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is, Engedi).” ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid and decided to call on the Lord. He made a special time of not eating in all Judah. ⁴ And Judah gathered together to pray for help from the Lord. They came to the Lord from all the cities of Judah to call on the Lord.

⁵ Jehoshaphat stood among the people of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, in front of the new open space. ⁶ Then he said, “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? Do You not rule over all the nations? Power and strength are in Your hand, so that no one is able to stand against You. ⁷ O our God, did You not make the people of this land leave so that Your people Israel could have it and give it to the children of Your friend Abraham forever? ⁸ And they have lived in it. They have built You a holy place in it for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘If what is bad comes upon us, fighting, hard times, disease, or no food, we will stand in front of this house. And we will stand before You, (for Your name is in this house). We will cry to You in our trouble. And You will hear and take us out of trouble.’ ¹⁰ Now see the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel fight when they came from the land of Egypt. (They turned aside from them and did not destroy them.) ¹¹ Look how they are paying us back. They are coming to make us leave Your land which You have given to us. ¹² O our God, will You not punish them? For we have no power against all these men who are coming against us. We do not know what to do. But our eyes look to You.” ¹³ And all the men of Judah were standing before the Lord, with their babies, their wives, and their children.

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, the Levite of the sons of Asaph, as he stood among the people. ¹⁵ He said, “Listen, all Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or troubled because of these many men. For the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Go down to fight them tomorrow. See, they will come up by the hill of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, in front of the desert of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Just stand still in your places and see the saving power of the Lord work for you, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid or troubled. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.” ¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat put his face to the ground. And all Judah and the people of Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. ¹⁹ The Levites, of the Kohathites and Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ They got up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. When they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and people of Jerusalem. Trust in the Lord your God, and you will be made strong. Trust in the men who speak for Him, and you will do well.” ²¹ When he had spoken with the people, he called those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy clothing. They went out in front of the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord. For His loving-kindness lasts forever.” ²² When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set traps against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah. So they were destroyed. ²³ The men of Ammon and Moab fought against the people of Mount Seir, and killed all of them. And when they finished with the people of Seir, they all helped to kill each other.

²⁴ Judah came to the place where they could look out over the desert. When they looked toward the armies, they saw that dead bodies were lying on the ground. No one had been left alive. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away what they wanted from them. They found cattle, many good things, clothing, and things of great worth, which they took for themselves. There was more than they could carry. It took them three days to take all the things, because there was so much. ²⁶ They gathered together in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day. There they praised and thanked the Lord. So the name of that place has been the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷ Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned, with Jehoshaphat leading them. They returned to Jerusalem with joy. For the Lord had filled them with joy by saving them from those who hated them. ²⁸ They came to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem with horns and different kinds of harps. ²⁹ And the fear of God came upon all the nations of the lands, when they heard that the Lord had fought against those who hate Israel. ³⁰ So the nation of Jehoshaphat was at peace. His God gave him rest on all sides.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Rule

³¹ So Jehoshaphat ruled over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king. And he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² Jehoshaphat walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not leave it. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. ³³ But the high places were not taken away. The people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their fathers. ³⁴ The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the story of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is written in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ After this King Jehoshaphat of Judah joined with King Ahaziah of Israel who was very sinful. ³⁶ He joined him in making ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah told what would happen against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” So the ships were wrecked, and could not go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Rules in Judah

21 Jehoshaphat died, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His son Jehoram became king in his place. ² Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel. ³ Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and things of much worth. He gave them strong cities in Judah. But he made Jehoram king, because he was the first-born.

⁴ Now when Jehoram had become king in the place of his father, and had made himself strong, he killed all his brothers with the sword. He killed some of the leaders of Israel also. ⁵ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king. And he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as those of Ahab’s house did. (For Ahab’s daughter was his wife.) He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord would not destroy the family of David, because of the agreement He had made with David. He had promised to give a light to him and his sons forever.

⁸ In the days of Jehoram, Edom turned against the rule of Judah, and set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram crossed over with his captains and all his war-wagons. He went during the night and destroyed the Edomites who had gathered around him and the captains of the war-wagons. ¹⁰ So Edom has been against the rule of Judah to this day. Libnah turned against Jehoram’s rule at the same time, because he had left the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹ And Jehoram made high places in the mountains of Judah. He caused the people of Jerusalem to give themselves over to sin. And he made Judah sin. ¹² Then a letter came to him from Elijah the man of God, saying, “The Lord God of your father David says, ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat, and the ways of King Asa of Judah. ¹³ But you have walked in the way of the kings of Israel. You have caused Judah and the people of Israel to give themselves over to sin, as those of Ahab’s house did. And you have killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you. ¹⁴ So see, the Lord is going to send a bad disease upon your people, your sons, your wives, and all you have. ¹⁵ You yourself will suffer a bad sickness, a disease of your stomach. Your insides will come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord made the Philistines and the Arabs who were near the Ethiopians angry against Jehoram. ¹⁷ They came and fought against Judah, and carried away all the things they found in the king’s house, together with his sons and his wives. No son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest. ¹⁸ After all this the Lord caused a sickness in Jehoram’s stomach, which could not be cured. ¹⁹ After that time, at the end of two years, his insides came out because of his sickness. And he died in much pain. His people made no fire for him like the fires made for his fathers. ²⁰ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. And no one felt bad when he died. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the graves of the kings.

Ahaziah Rules in Judah

22 The people of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place. For the army of men who came with the Arabs to the tents had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah, the son of King Jehoram of Judah, began to rule. ² He was twenty-two years old when he became king. And he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the grand-daughter of Omri. ³ Ahaziah walked in the ways of those of Ahab’s house. For his mother talked him into doing sinful things. ⁴ He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, as those of Ahab’s house had done. For after his father’s death, they talked with him about what to do, and so caused him to be destroyed. ⁵ He did what they told him to do. He went with Jehoram the son of King Ahab of Israel to fight a war against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. But the Syrians hurt Jehoram. ⁶ So he returned to Jezreel to be healed of the cuts he had received at Ramah, when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ But it was planned by God that Ahaziah would be destroyed by going to Jehoram. For when he came, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi. Jehu was the one the Lord had chosen to destroy the family of Ahab. ⁸ When Jehu was punishing the family of Ahab, he found the sons of kings of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers. They were helping Ahaziah. And Jehu killed them. ⁹ Then he looked for Ahaziah, and he was found hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu, and was put to death. Then they buried him, for they said, “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who followed the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one left of Ahaziah’s house who was able to rule the nation.

Athaliah Rules in Judah

¹⁰ When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she went and destroyed all the king’s children of the family of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, took Ahaziah’s son Joash. She stole him from among the king’s sons who were being killed. And she put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the religious leader, and sister of Ahaziah, hid Joash from Athaliah, so she could not kill him.

¹² Joash was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah ruled over the land.