2 Chronicles 18-20

2 Chronicles 18

¹Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ahab.

²And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that were with him, and moved him to go up [with him] to Ramoth-gilead.

³And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and [we will be] with thee in the war.

⁴And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire first, I pray thee, for the word of Jehovah.

⁵Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the hand of the king.

⁶But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we may inquire of him?

⁷And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah: but I hate him; for he never prophesieth good concerning me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

⁸Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.

⁹Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

¹⁰And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed.

¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper; for Jehovah will deliver it into the hand of the king.

¹²And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the king with one mouth: let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.

¹³And Micaiah said, As Jehovah liveth, what my God saith, that will I speak.

¹⁴And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper; and they shall be delivered into your hand.

¹⁵And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth in the name of Jehovah?

¹⁶And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and Jehovah said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.

¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?

¹⁸And [Micaiah] said, Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.

¹⁹And Jehovah said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.

²⁰And there came forth a spirit, and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith?

²¹And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice him, and shalt prevail also: go forth, and do so.

²²Now therefore, behold, Jehovah hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets; and Jehovah hath spoken evil concerning thee.

²³Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak unto thee?

²⁴And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

²⁵And the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;

²⁶and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

²⁷And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, Jehovah hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, ye peoples, all of you.

²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

²⁹And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.

³⁰Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

³¹And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Jehovah helped him; and God moved them [to depart] from him.

³²And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

³³And a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the armor: wherefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded.

³⁴And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even; and about the time of the going down of the sun he died.

2 Chronicles 19

¹And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

²And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate Jehovah? for this thing wrath is upon thee from before Jehovah.

³Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thy heart to seek God.

⁴And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim, and brought them back unto Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

⁵And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

⁶and said to the judges, Consider what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for Jehovah; and [he is] with you in the judgment.

⁷Now therefore let the fear of Jehovah be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with Jehovah our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.

⁸Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and the priests, and of the heads of the fathers' [houses] of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for controversies. And they returned to Jerusalem.

⁹And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of Jehovah, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

¹⁰And whensoever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, ye shall warn them, that they be not guilty towards Jehovah, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not be guilty.

¹¹And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Jehovah; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. [ Deal courageously, and Jehovah be with the good.

2 Chronicles 20

¹And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

²Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi).

³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

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

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

⁶and he said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and art not thou ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in thy hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee.

⁷Didst not thou, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

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

⁹If evil come upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save.

¹⁰And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not;

¹¹behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

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

¹³And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

¹⁴Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of Jehovah in the midst of the assembly;

¹⁵and he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat: Thus saith Jehovah unto you, Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

¹⁶To-morrow go ye 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.

¹⁷Ye shall not need to fight in this [battle] : set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them: for Jehovah is with you.

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.

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

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

²¹And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto Jehovah, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto Jehovah; for his lovingkindness [endureth] for ever.

²²And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

²³For the children of Ammon and Moab stood 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, every one helped to destroy another.

²⁴And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.

²⁵And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.

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

²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

²⁸And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of Jehovah.

²⁹And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel.

³⁰So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; for his God gave him rest round about.

³¹And Jehoshaphat 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.

³²And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah.

³³Howbeit the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly:

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

³⁷Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah hath destroyed thy works. And the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.