5Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the House of the LORD at the front of the new court. 6He said, “LORD God of our fathers, truly You are the God in heaven and You rule over the kingdoms of the nations; power and strength are Yours; none can oppose You. 7O our God, you dispossessed the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and You gave it to the descendants of Your friend Abraham forever. 8They settled in it and in it built for You a House for Your name. They said, 9‘Should misfortune befall us—the punishing sword, pestilence, or famine, we shall stand before this House and before You— for Your name is in this House—and we shall cry out to You in our distress, and You will listen and deliver us.’ 10Now the people of Ammon, Moab, and the hill country of Seir, into whose [land] You did not let Israel come when they came from Egypt, but they turned aside from them and did not wipe them out, 11these now repay us by coming to expel us from Your possession which You gave us as ours. 12O our God, surely You will punish them, for we are powerless before this great multitude that has come against us, and do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” 13All Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, their womenfolk, and their children.
14Then in the midst of the congregation the spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah son of Benaiah son of Jeiel son of Mat- taniah the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, 15and he said, “Give heed, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat; thus said the LORD to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed by this great multitude, for the battle is God’s, not yours. 16March down against them tomorrow as they come up by the Ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the wadi in the direction of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17It is not for you to fight this battle; stand by, wait, and witness your deliverance by the LORD, O Judah and Jerusalem; do not fear or be dismayed; go forth to meet them tomorrow and the LORD will be with you.’ ” 18Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem threw themselves down before the LORD to worship the LORD. 19Levites of the sons of Kohath and of the sons of Korah got up to extol the LORD God of Israel at the top of their voices.
20Early the next morning they arose and went forth to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Trust firmly in the LORD your God and you will stand firm; trust firmly in His prophets and you will succeed.” 21After taking counsel with the people, he stationed singers to the LORD extolling the One majestic in holiness as they went forth ahead of the vanguard, saying, “Praise the LORD, for His steadfast love is eternal.” 22As they began their joyous shouts and hymns, the LORD set ambushes for the men of Amon, Moab, and the hill country of Seir, who were marching against Judah, and they were routed. 23The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the men of the hill country of Seir to exterminate and annihilate them. When they had made an end of the men of Seir, each helped to destroy his fellow.
24When Judah reached the lookout in the wilderness and looked for the multitude, they saw them lying on the ground as corpses; not one had survived. 25Jehoshaphat and his army came to take the booty, and found an abundance of goods, corpses, and precious objects, which they pillaged, more than they could carry off. For three days they were taking booty, there was so much of it. 26On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Blessing—for there they blessed the LORD; that is why that place is called the Valley of Blessing to this day. 27All the men of Judah and Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat at their head returned joyfully to Jeru- salem, for the LORD had given them cause for rejoicing over their enemies. 28They came to Jerusalem to the House of the LORD, to the accompan- iment of harps, lyres, and trumpets. 29The terror of God seized all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the LORD had fought the enemies of Israel. 30The kingdom of Jehoshaphat was untroubled, and his God granted him respite on all sides.
31bJehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 32He followed the course of his father Asa and did not deviate from it, doing what was pleasing to the LORD. 33However, the shrines did not cease; the people still did not direct their heart toward the God of their fathers. 34As for the other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, early and late, they are recorded in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which were included in the book of the kings of Israel.
35Afterward, King Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into a partnership with King Ahaziah of Israel, thereby acting wickedly. 36He joined with him in constructing ships to go to Tarshish; the ships were constructed in Ezion- geber. 37Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehosh- aphat, “As you have made a partnership with Ahaziah, the LORD will break up your work.” The ships were wrecked and were unable to go to Tarshish.
21 aJehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David; his son Jehoram succeeded him as king. 2He had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Mi- chael, and Shephatiah; all these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel. 3Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and [other] presents, as well as fortified towns in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the first-born.
4Jehoram proceeded to take firm hold of his father’s kingdom and put to the sword all his brothers, as well as some of the officers of Israel. 5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6He followed the practices of the kings of Israel doing what the House of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab; he did what was displeasing to the LORD. 7However, the LORD refrained from destroying the House of David for the sake of the covenant he had made with David, and in accordance with his promise to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants for all time. 8During his reign, the Edomites rebelled against Judah’s rule and set up a king of their own. 9Jehoram advanced [against them] with his officers and all his chariotry. He arose by night and attacked the Edomites, who surrounded him and the chariot commanders. 10Edom has been in rebellion against Judah, to this day; Libnah also rebelled against him at that time, because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers. 11Moreover, he built shrines in the hill country of Judah; he led astray the inhabitants of Jerusalem and made Judah wayward.
12A letter from Elijah the prophet came to him which read, “Thus says the LORD God of your father David: Since you have not followed the practices of your father Jehoshaphat and the practices of King Asa of Judah, 13but have followed the practices of the kings of Israel, leading astray Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem as the House of Ahab led them astray, and have also killed your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than you, 14therefore, the LORD will inflict a great blow upon your people, your sons, and your wives and all your possessions. 15As for you, you will be severely stricken with a disorder of the bowels year after year until your bowels drop out.”
16The LORD stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who were neighbors of the Cushites against Jehoram. 17They marched against Judah, breached its defenses, and carried off all the property that was found in the king’s palace, as well as his sons and his wives. The only son who remained was Jehoahaz, his youngest. 18After this, the LORD afflicted him with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19Some years later, when a period of two years had elapsed, his bowels dropped out because of his disease, and he died a gruesome death. His people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his fathers. 20He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He departed un- praised,b and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
22 aThe inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his stead, because all the older ones had been killed by the troops that penetrated the camp with the Arabs. Ahaziah son of Jehoram reigned as king of Judah. 2Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king,
