2 Chronicles 20

¹After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Me-uʹnites, came against Jehoshʹaphat for battle. ²Some men came and told Jehoshʹaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazʹazon-taʹmar” (that is, En-geʹdi). ³Then Jehoshʹaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵And Jehoshʹaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, art thou not God in heaven? Dost thou not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In thy hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee. ⁷Didst thou not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham thy friend? ⁸And they have dwelt in it, and have built thee in it a sanctuary for thy name, saying, ⁹‘If evil comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, for thy name is in this house, and cry to thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save.’ ¹⁰And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seʹir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—¹¹behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. ¹²O our God, wilt thou not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.”

¹³Meanwhile all the men of Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaʹziel the son of Zechariʹah, son of Benaiʹah, son of Je-iʹel, son of Mattaniʹah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵And he said, “Hearken, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshʹaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Fear not, and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶Tomorrow go down against them; behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruʹel. ¹⁷You will not need to fight in this battle; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁸Then Jehoshʹaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹And the Levites, of the Koʹhathites and the Koʹrahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoʹa; and as they went out, Jehoshʹaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy array, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the Lord,

for his steadfast love endures for ever.”

²²And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seʹir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. ²³For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seʹir, destroying them utterly, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seʹir, they all helped to destroy one another.

²⁴When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵When Jehoshʹaphat and his people came to take the spoil from them, they found cattle in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. ²⁶On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berʹacah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Berʹacah to this day. ²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshʹaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸They came to Jerusalem, with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰So the realm of Jehoshʹaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about.

³¹Thus Jehoshʹaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azuʹbah the daughter of Shilhi. ³²He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it; he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. ³³The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshʹaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanaʹni, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵After this Jehoshʹaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziʹah king of Israel, who did wickedly. ³⁶He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Eʹzion-geʹber. ³⁷Then Elieʹzer the son of Dodavʹahu of Mareʹshah prophesied against Jehoshʹaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziʹah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.