THE SECOND BOOK OF THE
CHRONICLES
2 Chronicles 20 ©
Jehoshaphat, being in distress by reason of war, proclaims a fast, v. 1, etc. He himself makes a prayer to God, 5. He is comforted by the prophet Jahaziel, by the promise of God’s aid and assistance, 14. Which he obtains miraculously, 20. Gets great spoil, and comes to Jerusalem with praise and thanksgiving to God, 25. His government, 31. His navy miscarries, 34.
IT came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them 1other 2beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond 3the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in 4Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.
And Jehoshaphat feared, and 5set himself to seek 6the LORD, and 7proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask 8help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
¶And Jehoshaphat 9stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the 10new court,
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and ina thine hand is there not power and might, 11so that none is able to withstand thee?
Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the 12seed of Abraham thy friend 13for ever?
And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a 14sanctuary therein 15for thy name, saying,
If,bwhen evil cometh upon us, as the 16sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for 17thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and 18mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel 19invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
Behold, I say, how they 20reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
O our God, wilt thou not 21judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but 22our eyes are upon thee.
And all Judah stood 23before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
¶Then upon 24Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, 25came 26the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Bec not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for 27the battle is not yours, but God's.
To morrow go ye down 28against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of 29Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the 30brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation 31of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD 32will be with you.
And Jehoshaphat 33bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
And the Levites, of the children of the 34Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a 35loud voice 36on high.
¶And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the 37wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe 38his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
And when 39he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the 40beauty of holiness, as they went out 41before the army, and to say, 42Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
¶And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD setd43ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and 44they were smitten.
For the children of Ammon and Moab 45stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, 46every one helped to destroy another.
And when Judah came toward the 47watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and 48none escaped.
And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with 49the dead bodies, and 50precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, 51more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
¶And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley 52of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, 53unto this day.
Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the 54forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets 55unto the house of the LORD.
And the 56fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
¶And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: 57he was thirtye and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
And he 58walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.
Howbeit the high places were 59not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared 60their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of 61Jehu the son of 62Hanani, 63who is mentioned in the 64book of the kings of Israel.
¶And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
And he joined himself with him to makef ships to go to 65Tarshish: and they made the ships in 66Ezion-geber.
Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Be-cause thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.