Jehoshaphat’s Additional Reforms

19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. ² And Jehu the son of Hanani ^(A)the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and ^(B)love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the ^(C)wrath of the Lord is upon you. ³ Nevertheless ^(D)good things are found in you, in that you have removed the ^[a]wooden images from the land, and have ^(E)prepared your heart to seek God.”

The Reforms of Jehoshaphat

⁴ So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their ^(F)fathers. ⁵ Then he set ^(G)judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶ and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for ^(H)you do not judge for man but for the Lord, ^(I)who is with you ^[b]in the judgment. ⁷ Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for ^(J)there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no ^(K)partiality, nor taking of bribes.”

⁸ Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat ^(L)appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, ^[c]when they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹ And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act ^(M)in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart: ^10 (N)Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and ^(O)wrath come upon ^(P)you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. ¹¹ And take notice: ^(Q)Amariah the chief priest is over you ^(R)in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be ^(S)with the good.”

Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir Defeated

20 It happened after this that the people of ^(T)Moab with the people of ^(U)Ammon, and others with them besides the ^(V)Ammonites,^[d] 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 ^[e]Syria; and they are ^(W)in Hazazon Tamar” (which is ^(X)En Gedi). ³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set ^[f]himself to ^(Y)seek the Lord, and ^(Z)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ask ^(AA)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 ^(AB)God in heaven, and ^(AC)do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(AD)in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? ⁷ Are You not ^(AE)our God, who ^(AF)drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham ^(AG)Your friend forever? ⁸ And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ^9 (AH)‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but ^(AK)they turned from them and did not destroy them— ¹¹ here they are, rewarding us ^(AL)by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will You not ^(AM)judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but ^(AN)our eyes are upon You.”

¹³ Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

¹⁴ Then ^(AO)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: ^(AP)‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, ^(AQ)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 ^[g]brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. ^17 (AR)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, ^(AS)for the Lord is with you.”

¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat ^(AT)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: ^(AU)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, ^(AV)and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

²² Now when they began to sing and to praise, ^(AY)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 ^[h]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, ^(AZ)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 ^[i]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 ^[j]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 ^(BA)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 ^(BB)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 ^(BC)God gave him rest all around.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign^(BD)

^31 (BE)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 ^(BF)Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ³³ Nevertheless ^(BG)the ^[k]high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not ^(BH)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, ^(BI)which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ After this ^(BJ)Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, ^(BK)who acted very ^(BL)wickedly. ³⁶ And he allied himself with him ^(BM)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.” ^(BN)Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go ^(BO)to Tarshish.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(A)

22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^(B)Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the ^(C)Arabians into the camp had killed all the ^(D)older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. ² Ahaziah was ^[a]forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(E)Athaliah the ^[b]granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. ⁴ Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. ⁵ He also followed their advice, and went with ^[c]Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ^6 (F)Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And ^[d]Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ His going to Joram ^(G)was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s ^[e]downfall; for when he arrived, ^(H)he went out with ^[f]Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(I)whom the Lord had anointed to ^[g]cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸ And it happened, when Jehu was ^(J)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and ^(K)found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. ^9 (L)Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of ^(M)Jehoshaphat, who ^(N)sought the Lord with all his heart.”

So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.