2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 20 ©

1 Jehoshaphat invaded by the Moabites and others in his fear proclaimeth a fast. 5 His prayer. 14 The prophecy of Jahaziel. 20 Jehoshaphat exhorteth the people, and appointeth singers to praise the Lord. 22 The enemies destroy one another, and leave much spoil for Israel. 26 The people, having blessed God at Berachah, return in triumph, and dwell unmolested. 31 Jehoshaphat's good reign and acts. 35 He joineth with Ahaziah in sending ships to Tarshish, which, according to the prediction of Eliezer, are wrecked.

1

IT came to pass after this also, that athe children of Moab, and the children of bAmmon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came cagainst Jehoshaphat to battle.

2

Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in dHazazon-tamar, which is eEn-gedi.

3

And Jehoshaphat ffeared, and set 1himself to seek the LORD, and gproclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

4

And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

5

¶And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

6

And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou hGod in heaven? and irulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

7

Art not thou jour God, 2who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and kgavest it to the seed of Abraham thy lfriend mfor ever?

8

And they dwelt therein, and have nbuilt thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

9

If, when oevil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand pbefore this house, and in thy presence, (for qthy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

10

And now, behold, the children of rAmmon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou swouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

r v.1,22,23.
11

Behold, I say, how tthey reward us, to come uto cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

12

O our God, wilt thou not vjudge them? for wwe have no might against this great company that cometh against us; xneither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

13

And yall Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

14

¶Then zupon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, acame the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

15

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, bBe not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for cthe battle is not yours, but dGod's.

d v.22.
16

To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the 3cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the 4brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

17

Ye eshall not need to fight in this battle : set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

18

And Jehoshaphat fbowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

19

And gthe Levites, of the children of the hKohathites, and of the children of the iKorhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

20

¶And they jrose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of kTekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; lBelieve in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

21

And when he mhad consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and 5that should praise the nbeauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, oPraise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

22

¶And 6when they began 7to sing and to praise, the LORD pset ambushments against the children of qAmmon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and 8they were smitten.

q v.10.
23

For the children of Ammon and Moab rstood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly 9to slay and destroy them : and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

24

And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were sdead bodies fallen to the earth, and 10none escaped.

25

And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and tprecious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

26

¶And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of 11Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore uthe name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

27

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the 12forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD vhad made them to rejoice over their enemies.

28

And they came to Jerusalem with wpsalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.

29

And the xfear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

30

So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God ygave him rest round about.

31

¶And zJehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty 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.

32

And he awalked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

33

Howbeit the bhigh places were not taken away: for as yet the people chad not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

34

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the 13book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who 14is mentioned in the dbook of the kings of Israel.

35

¶And after this edid Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

36

And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to fTarshish: and they made the ships in gEzion-geber.

37

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of hMareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Be-cause thou hast ijoined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD jhath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.