20:1And it came to pass after this that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them certain of the Maonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

20:2And they came and told Jehoshaphat saying, A great multitude is come against thee from beyond the sea, from Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.

20:3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.

20:4And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.

20:5And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;

20:6and he said, Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not thou God in the heavens, and rulest thou not over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in thy hand there is power and might, and none can withstand thee.

20:7Hast not thou, our God, dispossessed the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and given it for ever to the seed of Abraham, thy friend?

20:8And they have dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

20:9If evil come upon us, sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, and we stand before this house and before thee -- for thy name is in this house -- and cry unto thee in our distress, then thou wilt hear and save.

20:10And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab, and those of mount Seir, amongst whom thou wouldest not let Israel go when they came out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned from them, and destroyed them not,)

20:11behold, they reward us, in coming to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to possess.

20:12Our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might in presence of this great company which cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee.

20:13And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons.

20:14And 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, upon him came the Spirit of Jehovah, in the midst of the congregation;

20:15and he said, Be attentive, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat! Thus saith Jehovah unto you: Fear not, nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

20:16To-morrow go down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

20:17Ye shall not have to fight on this occasion: set yourselves, stand and see the salvation of Jehovah who is with you! Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, and Jehovah will be with you.

20:18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah.

20:19And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel with an exceeding loud voice.

20:20And they rose early in the morning, and went forth towards the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established; believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper!

20:21And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those that should praise in holy splendour, as they went forth before the armed men, and say, Give thanks to Jehovah; for his loving-kindness endureth for ever!

20:22And when they began the song of triumph and praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were smitten.

20:23And the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to exterminate and destroy them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

20:24And Judah came on to the mountain-watch in the wilderness, and they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped.

20:25And Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder the spoil of them, and they found among them in abundance, both riches with the dead bodies, and precious things, and they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away; and they were three days in plundering the spoil, it was so much.

20:26And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah, for there they blessed Jehovah; therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Berachah, to this day.

20:27And they returned, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

20:28And they came to Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, to the house of Jehovah.

20:29And the terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel.

20:30And the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; and his God gave him rest round about.

20:31And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.

20:32And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of Jehovah.

20:33Only, the high places were not removed; and as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

20:34And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.

20:35And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly.

20:36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

20:37And Eliezer the son of Dodavah, of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has broken thy works. And the ships were broken, and could not go to Tarshish.

21:1And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

21:2And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

21:3And their father had given them great gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things, besides fortified cities in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn.

21:4And Jehoram established himself over the kingdom of his father, and strengthened himself; and he slew all his brethren with the sword, and certain also of the princes of Israel.

21:5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

21:6And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah.

21:7But Jehovah would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he had promised to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons.

21:8In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves.

21:9And Jehoram went over with his captains, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots.

21:10But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah the God of his fathers.

21:11Moreover he made high places on the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.

21:12And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

21:13but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father's house who were better than thyself:

21:14behold, Jehovah will smite with a great stroke thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance,

21:15and thyself with sore sicknesses, with a disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

21:16And Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who are near the Ethiopians;

21:17and they came up into Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was no son left him, except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.

21:18And after all this, Jehovah smote him in his bowels with an incurable sickness.

21:19And it came to pass, from day to day, and at the time when the second year was drawing to a close, that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died in cruel sufferings. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

21:20He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being regretted. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

22:1And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead; for the band of men that came in the camp with the Arabians had slain all the elder ones. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

22:2Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri.

22:3He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

22:4And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah like the house of Ahab; for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

22:5He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, to the war against Hazael the king of Syria at Ramoth-Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

22:6And he returned to be healed in Jizreel because of the wounds that were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jizreel; for he was sick.

22:7But his coming to Joram was from God the complete ruin of Ahaziah. And when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

22:8And it came to pass when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that attended upon Ahaziah, and he slew them.

22:9And he sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he had hid himself in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart. And in the house of Ahaziah there was no one who was able to hold the kingdom.

22:10And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose up and exterminated all the royal seed of the house of Judah.

22:11But Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not slay him;

22:12and he was with them hid in the house of God six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.