20 3 Jehoshaphat and the people pray unto the Lord. 22 The marvelous victory that the Lord gave him against his enemies. 30 His reign and acts.
1 After this also came the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the Sea, out of Aram: and behold, they be in Hazazon Tamar, which is En Gedi.
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask counsel of the Lord: they came even out of all the cities of Judah to inquire of 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 God in heaven? and reignest not thou on all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is power and might, and none is able to withstand thee.
7 Didst not thou our God cast out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a Sanctuary therein for thy Name, saying,
9 (A)If evil come upon us, as the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and in thy presence (for thy name is in this house) and will cry unto thee in our tribulation, and thou wilt hear and help.
10 And now, behold, the children of (B)Ammon and Moab, and mount Seir, by whom thou wouldest not let Israel go, when they came out of the land of Egypt: but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not:
11 Behold, I say, they reward us, in coming to cast us out of thine inheritance, which thou hast caused us to inherit:
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for there is no strength in us to stand before this great multitude that cometh against us, neither do we know what to do: but our eyes are toward thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord with their young ones, their wives, and their children.
14 And Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom came 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, Fear you not, neither be afraid for this great multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cleft of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: (C)stand still, move not, and behold the salvation of the Lord towards you: O Judah, and Jerusalem, fear ye not, neither be afraid: tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.
18 ¶ Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
19 ¶ And the Levites of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And when they arose early in the morning, they went forth to the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they departed, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear ye me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: put your trust in the Lord your God, and ye shall be assured: believe his Prophets, and ye shall prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, and appointed singers unto the Lord, and them that should praise him that is in the beautiful Sanctuary, in going forth before the men of arms, and saying, Praise ye the Lord, for his mercy lasteth forever.
22 And when they began to shout, and to praise, the Lord laid ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they slew one another.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to slay and to 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 Mizpah in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude: and behold, the carcasses were fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both of substance and also of bodies laden with precious jewels, which they took for themselves, till they could carry no more: they were three days in gathering of the spoil: for it was much.
26 And in the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah: for there they blessed the Lord: therefore they called the name of that place, The valley of Berachah unto this day.
27 Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat their head to go again to Jerusalem with joy: for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with viols, and with harps, and with trumpets, even unto the house of the Lord.
29 And the fear of God was upon all the kingdoms of the earth, when they had heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave him rest on every side.
31 ¶ And (D)Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, and was five and thirty years old, when he began to reign: and reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not there from, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for the people had not yet prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
34 Concerning the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which (E)is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 ¶ Yet after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was given to do evil.
36 And he joined with him, to (F)make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.
37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because 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.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 20:1
- 2 Chronicles 20:2
- 2 Chronicles 20:3
- 2 Chronicles 20:7
- 2 Chronicles 20:9
- 2 Chronicles 20:9
- 2 Chronicles 20:12
- 2 Chronicles 20:13
- 2 Chronicles 20:14
- 2 Chronicles 20:15
- 2 Chronicles 20:17
- 2 Chronicles 20:18
- 2 Chronicles 20:20
- 2 Chronicles 20:21
- 2 Chronicles 20:22
- 2 Chronicles 20:23
- 2 Chronicles 20:26
- 2 Chronicles 20:29
- 2 Chronicles 20:32
- 2 Chronicles 20:33
- 2 Chronicles 20:37
Cross references
- 2 Chronicles 20:9 : 1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chron. 6:28
- 2 Chronicles 20:10 : Deut. 2:9; Neh. 13:1
- 2 Chronicles 20:17 : Exod. 14:13,14
- 2 Chronicles 20:31 : 1 Kings 22:42
- 2 Chronicles 20:34 : 1 Kings 16:1
- 2 Chronicles 20:36 : 1 Kings 2:48,49
