Jehoshaphat's Reforms

¹Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. ²But nJehu the son of oHanani pthe seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you qhelp the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, rwrath has gone out against you from the Lord. ³Nevertheless, ssome good is found in you, for tyou destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have uset your heart to seek God.”

⁴Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to vthe hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ⁵He appointed wjudges in the land in all xthe fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, yfor you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. ⁷Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for zthere is no injustice with the Lord our God, aor partiality or taking bribes.”

⁸Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat bappointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, yto give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. ⁹And he charged them: c“Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, dand with your whole heart: ¹⁰ewhenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or rules, then you shall warn them, that they may not incur guilt before the Lord and fwrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. ¹¹And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you gin all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. hDeal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright!”1

Jehoshaphat's Prayer

¹After this ithe Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites,1 came against Jehoshaphat for battle. ²Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom,2 from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in jHazazon-tamar” (that is, kEngedi). ³Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face lto seek the Lord, and mproclaimed 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 Jehoshaphat 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, are you not nGod in heaven? You orule over all the kingdoms of the nations. pIn your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷Did you not, our God, qdrive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of rAbraham your friend? ⁸And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ⁹s‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,3 or pestilence, or famine, twe will stand before this house and before you—ufor your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ ¹⁰And now behold, the men of vAmmon and Moab and wMount Seir, whom xyou would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, yand whom they avoided and did not destroy— ¹¹behold, they reward us zby coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹²O our God, will you not aexecute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but bour eyes are on you.”

¹³Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴And cthe Spirit of the Lord came4 upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, d‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, efor 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 fthe valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷gYou will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ dDo not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, hand the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁸Then Jehoshaphat ibowed 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 jKohathites and the kKorahites, 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 lthe wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! mBelieve 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 nin holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

o“Give thanks to the Lord,

for his steadfast love endures forever.”

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

The Lord Delivers Judah

²⁴When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there5 were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, 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 Beracah,6 for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, sfor 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. ²⁹tAnd 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 Jehoshaphat was quiet, ufor his God gave him rest all around.

³¹vThus Jehoshaphat 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 Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³²He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ³³wThe high places, however, were not taken away; xthe people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of yJehu the son of Hanani, zwhich are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign

³⁵aAfter this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. ³⁶He joined him in building ships to go to bTarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, c“Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.