2 Chronicles 20

Revised Geneva Translation

20 Also after this the children of Moab came, and the children of Ammon and some others besides the Ammonites, to do battle against Jehoshaphat.

² Then some came who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude comes against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram. And behold, they are 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 even came 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, in front of the new court,

⁶ and said, “O LORD God of our fathers! Are You not God in Heaven? And do You not reign over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Your Hand is power and might! And no one is able to withstand You.

⁷ “Did not You, our God, cast out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the seed of Abraham, Your friend, forever?

⁸ “And they dwelt in it, and have built You a Sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying,

⁹ ‘if misery comes upon us as the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this House, and in Your presence (for Your Name is in this House), and will cry to You in our tribulation. And You will hear and help.’

¹⁰ “And now behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, by whom You would not let Israel go when they came out of the land of Egypt, they have turned aside from them and have not destroyed them.

¹¹ “Behold, I say, they reward us by coming to cast us out of Your inheritance which You have caused us to inherit.

¹² “O, our God! Will You not judge them? For there is no strength in us before this great multitude that comes against us, nor do we know what to do! But our eyes are toward You.”

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, upon whom came the Spirit of the LORD, was in the midst of the Congregation.

¹⁵ And he said, “Listen all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Neither fear nor be afraid of this great multitude! For the battle is not yours, but God’s!

¹⁶ “Go down against them tomorrow. Behold, they come up by the cleft of Ziz. And you shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

¹⁷ “You shall not need to fight in this. Stand still. Do not move. And behold the salvation of the LORD towards you. O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or 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 me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Put your trust in the LORD your God, and you shall be established! Believe His Prophets and you shall prosper!”

²¹ And after he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to the LORD, and those who would praise in the beautiful Sanctuary by going forth before the men of arms, and saying, “Praise the LORD! For His mercy endures forever!”

²² And when they began to shout and to praise, the LORD laid ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah. And they were stricken.

²³ For the children of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to kill and to destroy. And when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy each other.

²⁴ And when Judah came toward Mizpah in the wilderness, they looked to the multitude. And behold, the carcasses had fallen to the earth. And no one escaped.

²⁵ And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found abundance among them, in both goods and also bodies with precious jewels, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. It took them three days to gather the spoil; for it was large.

²⁶ And on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the Valley of Berachah; for they blessed the LORD there. Therefore, they call the name of that place “The Valley of Berachah” to this day.

²⁷ Then, every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat, their leader, to go back to Jerusalem with joy. For the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.

²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem, to the House of the LORD, with viols and with harps and with trumpets.

²⁹ And the fear of God was upon all the kingdoms of the Earth after 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 Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah and was thirty-five years old when he began to reign and reigned twenty-five 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 did not depart from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

³³ However, the high places were not taken away. For the people had not yet prepared their hearts to 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, who is mentioned in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ Still, after this, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was given to do evil.

³⁶ And he joined with him to 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 you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has broken your works.” And the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.