2 Chronicles 20

Legacy Standard Bible

War Against Judah

20 Now it happened after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the ^[a](A)Ammonites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ² Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of ^[b]Aram and behold, they are in ^(B)Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” ³ And Jehoshaphat was afraid and ^[c](C)set his face to seek Yahweh, and ^(D)called for a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ^(E)seek help from Yahweh; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.

Jehoshaphat Before the Assembly

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh before the new court, ⁶ and he said, “O Yahweh, the God of our fathers, ^(F)are You not God in the heavens? And ^(G)are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can take their stand against You. ⁷ Did You not, O our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and ^(H)give it to the seed of ^(I)Abraham Your friend forever? ⁸ And they have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘^(J)Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for ^(K)Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰ So now, behold, ^(L)the sons of Ammon and Moab and ^[d]Mount Seir, ^(M)whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), ¹¹ and behold, they are rewarding us by ^(N)coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have caused us to possess. ¹² O our God, ^(O)will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; and we do not know what we should do, but ^(P)our eyes are on You.”

¹³ Now all Judah was standing before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Yahweh’s Spirit Comes upon Jahaziel

¹⁴ Then in the midst of the assembly ^(Q)the Spirit of Yahweh 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; ¹⁵ and he said, “Pay attention, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says Yahweh to you, ‘^(R)Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for ^(S)the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You need not fight in this battle; take your stand—^(T)stand and see the salvation of Yahweh on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, ^(U)for Yahweh is with you.”

¹⁸ So Jehoshaphat ^(V)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh. ¹⁹ Then the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, rose up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Yahweh Eradicates the Multitude

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^(W)establish your faith in Yahweh your God and you will be established. Establish your faith in His prophets and succeed.” ²¹ When he had taken counsel with the people, he caused those who sang to Yahweh and those who ^(X)praised Him to stand in holy attire, as they went out before the army, saying, “^(Y)Give thanks to Yahweh, for His lovingkindness endures forever.” ²² When they began singing for joy and praising, Yahweh ^(Z)set ambushes against the sons of ^(AA)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were ^[e]defeated. ²³ Indeed, the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to devote them to destruction and to utterly eradicate them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, ^(AB)they helped to bring one another to ruin.

²⁴ Now Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, and they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses fallen on the ground, and no one had escaped. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil and found much among them, including goods, ^[f]garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

²⁶ Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of ^[g]Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of ^[h]Beracah” until today. ²⁷ And every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with gladness, ^(AC)for Yahweh had made them glad over their enemies. ²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. ²⁹ And ^(AD)the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, ^(AE)for his God gave him rest all around.

^31 (AF)Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. And 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 away from it, doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh. ^33 (AG)The high places, however, were not taken away; ^(AH)the people had not yet set their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first ^[i]to last, behold, they are written in the chronicles of ^(AI)Jehu the son of Hanani, which is ^[j]recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahaziah

^35 (AJ)Afterwards, Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly ^[k]in so doing. ³⁶ So he allied himself with him to make ships to go ^(AK)to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.