Bible in 90 Days

¹¹ So Solomon finished building the Temple as well as his own palace. He completed what he had planned to do.

¹² One night the Lord appeared to Solomon and told him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place where I want you to sacrifice to me. ¹³ If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust swarms to eat up all of your crops, or if I send an epidemic among you, ¹⁴ then if my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. ¹⁵ I will listen, wide awake, to every prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For I have chosen this Temple and sanctified it to be my home forever; my eyes and my heart shall always be here.

¹⁷ “As for yourself, if you follow me as your father David did, ¹⁸ then I will see to it that you and your descendants will always be the kings of Israel; ¹⁹ but if you don’t follow me, if you refuse the laws I have given you and worship idols, ²⁰ then I will destroy my people from this land of mine that I have given them, and this Temple shall be destroyed even though I have sanctified it for myself. Instead, I will make it a public horror and disgrace. ²¹ Instead of its being famous, all who pass by will be incredulous.

“‘Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to this land and to this Temple?’ they will ask.

²² “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord God of their fathers, the God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead. That is why he has done all this to them.’”

8 It was now twenty years since Solomon had become king, and the great building projects of the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace were completed. ² He now turned his energies to rebuilding the cities that King Hiram of Tyre had given to him, and he relocated some of the people of Israel into them. ³ It was at this time, too, that Solomon fought against the city of Hamath-zobah and conquered it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the desert and built cities in Hamath as supply centers. ⁵ He fortified the cities of upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, both being supply centers, building their walls and installing barred gates. ⁶ He also built Baalath and other supply centers at this time and constructed cities where his chariots and horses were kept. He built to his heart’s desire in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout the entire realm.

^7-8 He began the practice that still continues of conscripting as slave laborers the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the descendants of those nations that the Israelis had not completely wiped out. ⁹ However, he didn’t make slaves of any of the Israeli citizens, but used them as soldiers, officers, charioteers, and cavalrymen; ¹⁰ also, 250 of them were government officials who administered all public affairs.

¹¹ Solomon now moved his wife (she was Pharaoh’s daughter) from the City of David sector of Jerusalem to the new palace he had built for her. For he said, “She must not live in King David’s palace for the Ark of the Lord was there, and it is holy ground.”

¹² Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar he had built in front of the porch of the Temple. ¹³ The number of sacrifices differed from day to day in accordance with the instructions Moses had given; there were extra sacrifices on the Sabbaths, on new moon festivals, and at the three annual festivals—the Passover celebration, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Tabernacles. ¹⁴ In assigning the priests to their posts of duty he followed the organizational chart prepared by his father David; he also assigned the Levites to their work of praise and of helping the priests in each day’s duties; and he assigned the gatekeepers to their gates. ¹⁵ Solomon did not deviate in any way from David’s instructions concerning these matters and concerning the treasury personnel. ¹⁶ Thus Solomon successfully completed the construction of the Temple.

^17-18 Then he went to the seaport towns of Ezion-geber and Eloth, in Edom, to launch a fleet presented to him by King Hiram. These ships, with King Hiram’s experienced crews working alongside Solomon’s men, went to Ophir and brought back to him several million dollars worth of gold on each trip!

9 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fabled wisdom, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. A very great retinue of aides and servants accompanied her, including camel loads of spices, gold, and jewels. ² And Solomon answered all her problems. Nothing was hidden from him; he could explain everything to her. ³ When she discovered how wise he really was, and how breathtaking the beauty of his palace, ⁴ and how wonderful the food at his tables, and how many servants and aides he had, and when she saw their spectacular uniforms and his stewards in full regalia, and saw the size of the men in his bodyguard, she could scarcely believe it!

⁵ Finally she exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard about you in my own country is true! ⁶ I didn’t believe it until I got here and saw it with my own eyes. Your wisdom is far greater than I could ever have imagined. ⁷ What a privilege for these men of yours to stand here and listen to you talk! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God! How he must love Israel to give them a just king like you! He wants them to be a great, strong nation forever.”

⁹ She gave the king a gift of over a million dollars in gold, and great quantities of spices of incomparable quality, and many, many jewels.

¹⁰ King Hiram’s and King Solomon’s crews brought gold from Ophir, also sandalwood and jewels. ¹¹ The king used the sandalwood to make terraced steps for the Temple and the palace and to construct harps and lyres for the choir. Never before had there been such beautiful instruments in all the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba gifts of the same value as she had brought to him, plus everything else she asked for! Then she and her retinue returned to their own land.

^13-14 Solomon received a quarter of a billion dollars worth of gold each year from the kings of Arabia and many other lands that paid annual tribute to him. In addition, there was a trade balance from the exports of his merchants. ¹⁵ He used some of the gold to make 200 large shields, each worth $100,000, ¹⁶ and 300 smaller shields, each worth $50,000. The king placed these in the Forest of Lebanon Room in his palace. ¹⁷ He also made a huge ivory throne overlaid with pure gold. ¹⁸ It had six gold steps and a footstool of gold; also gold armrests, each flanked by a gold lion. ¹⁹ Gold lions also stood at each side of each step. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it! ²⁰ All of King Solomon’s cups were solid gold, as were all the furnishings in the Forest of Lebanon Room. Silver was too cheap to count for much in those days!

²¹ Every three years the king sent his ships to Tarshish, using sailors supplied by King Hiram, to bring back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

²² So King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in all the earth. ²³ Kings from every nation came to visit him and to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart. ²⁴ Each brought him annual tribute of silver and gold bowls, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁵ In addition, Solomon had 4,000 stalls of horses and chariots, and 12,000 cavalrymen stationed in the chariot cities as well as in Jerusalem to protect the king. ²⁶ He ruled over all kings and kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far away as the border of Egypt. ²⁷ He made silver become as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones in the road! And cedar was used as though it were common sycamore. ²⁸ Horses were brought to him from Egypt and other countries.

²⁹ The rest of Solomon’s biography is written in the history of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and also in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

³⁰ So Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for forty years. ³¹ Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Rehoboam became the new king.

10 All the leaders of Israel came to Shechem for Rehoboam’s coronation. ^2-3 Meanwhile, friends of Jeroboam (son of Nebat) sent word to him of Solomon’s death. He was in Egypt at the time, where he had gone to escape from King Solomon. He now quickly returned, and was present at the coronation, and led the people’s demands on Rehoboam:

⁴ “Your father was a hard master,” they said. “Be easier on us than he was, and we will let you be our king!”

⁵ Rehoboam told them to return in three days for his decision. ⁶ He discussed their demand with the old men who had counseled his father Solomon.

“What shall I tell them?” he asked.

⁷ “If you want to be their king,” they replied, “you will have to give them a favorable reply and treat them with kindness.”

^8-9 But he rejected their advice and asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him. “What do you fellows think I should do?” he asked. “Shall I be easier on them than my father was?”

¹⁰ “No!” they replied. “Tell them, ‘If you think my father was hard on you, just wait and see what I’ll be like!’ Tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹ I am going to be tougher on you, not easier! My father used whips on you, but I’ll use scorpions!’”

¹² So when Jeroboam and the people returned in three days to hear King Rehoboam’s decision, ¹³ he spoke roughly to them; for he refused the advice of the old men ¹⁴ and followed the counsel of the younger ones.

“My father gave you heavy burdens, but I will give you heavier!” he told them. “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions!”

¹⁵ So the king turned down the people’s demands. (God caused him to do it in order to fulfill his prediction^[a] spoken to Jeroboam by Ahijah the Shilonite.) ¹⁶ When the people realized what the king was saying, they turned their backs and deserted him.

“Forget David and his dynasty!” they shouted angrily. “We’ll get someone else to be our king. Let Rehoboam rule his own tribe of Judah! Let’s go home!” So they did.

¹⁷ The people of the tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to Rehoboam. ¹⁸ Afterwards, when King Rehoboam sent Hadoram to draft forced labor from the other tribes of Israel, the people stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ And Israel has refused to be ruled by a descendant of David to this day.

11 Upon arrival at Jerusalem, Rehoboam mobilized the armies of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 strong, and declared war against the rest of Israel in an attempt to reunite the kingdom.

² But the Lord told Shemaiah the prophet,

³ “Go and say to King Rehoboam of Judah, Solomon’s son, and to the people of Judah and of Benjamin:

⁴ “‘The Lord says, Do not fight against your brothers. Go home, for I am behind their rebellion.’” So they obeyed the Lord and refused to fight against Jeroboam.

^5-10 Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem and fortified these cities of Judah with walls and gates to protect himself: Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.

¹¹ He also rebuilt and strengthened the forts, and manned them with companies of soldiers under their officers, and stored them with food, olive oil, and wine. ¹² Shields and spears were placed in armories in every city as a further safety measure. For only Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to him.

^13-14 However, the priests and Levites from the other tribes now abandoned their homes and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, for King Jeroboam had fired them, telling them to stop being priests of the Lord. ¹⁵ He had appointed other priests instead who encouraged the people to worship idols instead of God and to sacrifice to carved statues of goats and calves, which he placed on the hills. ¹⁶ Laymen, too, from all over Israel began moving to Jerusalem where they could freely worship the Lord God of their fathers and sacrifice to him. ¹⁷ This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, so King Rehoboam survived for three years without difficulty; for during those years there was an earnest effort to obey the Lord as King David and King Solomon had done.^[b]

¹⁸ Rehoboam married his cousin^[c] Mahalath. She was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of David’s brother Eliab. ¹⁹ Three sons were born from this marriage—Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰ Later he married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. The children she bore him were Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ He loved Maacah more than any of his other wives and concubines (he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines—with twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). ²² Maacah’s son Abijah was his favorite, and he intended to make him the next king. ²³ He very wisely scattered his other sons in the fortified cities throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin, and gave them large allowances and arranged for them to have several wives apiece.

12 But just when Rehoboam was at the height of his popularity and power he abandoned the Lord, and the people followed him in this sin. ² As a result, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign ³ with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen and an unnumbered host of infantrymen—Egyptians, Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ He quickly conquered Judah’s fortified cities and soon arrived at Jerusalem.

⁵ The prophet Shemaiah now met with Rehoboam and the Judean leaders from every part of the nation (they had fled to Jerusalem for safety) and told them, “The Lord says, ‘You have forsaken me, so I have forsaken you and abandoned you to Shishak.’”

⁶ Then the king and the leaders of Israel confessed their sins and exclaimed, “The Lord is right in doing this to us!”

⁷ And when the Lord saw them humble themselves, he sent Shemaiah to tell them, “Because you have humbled yourselves, I will not completely destroy you; some will escape. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger upon Jerusalem. ⁸ But you must pay annual tribute to him. Then you will realize how much better it is to serve me than to serve him!”

⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt conquered Jerusalem and took away all the treasures of the Temple and of the palace, also all of Solomon’s gold shields. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and committed them to the care of the captain of his bodyguard. ¹¹ Whenever the king went to the Temple, the guards would carry them and afterwards return them to the armory. ¹² When the king humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned aside and he didn’t send total destruction; in fact, even after Shishak’s invasion, the economy of Judah remained strong.

¹³ King Rehoboam reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city God had chosen as his residence after considering all the other cities of Israel. He had become king at the age of forty-one, and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ But he was an evil king, for he never did decide really to please the Lord. ¹⁵ The complete biography of Rehoboam is recorded in the histories written by Shemaiah the prophet and by Iddo the seer and in The Genealogical Register.

There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ When Rehoboam died he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Abijah became the new king.

13 ^1-2 Abijah became the new king of Judah in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel. He lasted three years. His mother’s name was Micaiah (daughter of Uriel of Gibeah).

Early in his reign war broke out between Judah and Israel. ³ Judah, led by King Abijah, fielded 400,000 seasoned warriors against twice as many Israeli troops—strong, courageous men led by King Jeroboam. ⁴ When the army of Judah arrived at Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, King Abijah shouted to King Jeroboam and the Israeli army:

⁵ “Listen! Don’t you realize that the Lord God of Israel swore that David’s descendants would always be the kings of Israel? ⁶ Your King Jeroboam is a mere servant of David’s son and was a traitor to his master. ⁷ Then a whole gang of worthless rebels joined him, defying Solomon’s son Rehoboam, for he was young and frightened and couldn’t stand up to them. ⁸ Do you really think you can defeat the kingdom of the Lord that is led by a descendant of David? Your army is twice as large as mine, but you are cursed with those gold calves you have with you that Jeroboam made for you—he calls them your gods! ⁹ And you have driven away the priests of the Lord and the Levites and have appointed heathen priests instead. Just like the people of other lands, you accept as priests anybody who comes along with a young bullock and seven rams for consecration. Anyone at all can be a priest of these no-gods of yours!

¹⁰ “But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not forsaken him. Only the descendants of Aaron are our priests, and the Levites alone may help them in their work. ¹¹ They burn sacrifices to the Lord every morning and evening—burnt offerings and sweet incense; and they place the Bread of the Presence upon the holy table. The gold lampstand is lighted every night, for we are careful to follow the instructions of the Lord our God; but you have forsaken him. ¹² So you see, God is with us; he is our leader. His priests, trumpeting as they go, will lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed!”

^13-14 Meanwhile, Jeroboam had secretly sent part of his army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them; so Judah was surrounded, with the enemy before and behind them. Then they cried out to the Lord for mercy, and the priests blew the trumpets. ^15-16 The men of Judah began to shout. And as they shouted, God used King Abijah and the men of Judah to turn the tide of battle against King Jeroboam and the army of Israel, ¹⁷ and they slaughtered 500,000 elite troops of Israel that day.

^18-19 So Judah, depending upon the Lord God of their fathers, defeated Israel, and chased King Jeroboam’s troops, and captured some of his cities—Bethel, Jeshanah, Ephron, and their suburbs. ²⁰ King Jeroboam of Israel never regained his power during Abijah’s lifetime, and eventually the Lord struck him and he died.

²¹ Meanwhile, King Abijah of Judah became very strong. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² His complete biography and speeches are recorded in the prophet Iddo’s History of Judah.

14 King Abijah was buried in Jerusalem. Then his son Asa became the new king of Judah, and there was peace in the land for the first ten years of his reign, ² for Asa was careful to obey the Lord his God. ³ He demolished the heathen altars on the hills, and broke down the obelisks, and chopped down the shameful Asherim idols, ⁴ and demanded that the entire nation obey the commandments of the Lord God of their ancestors. ⁵ Also, he removed the sun images from the hills and the incense altars from every one of Judah’s cities. That is why God gave his kingdom peace. ⁶ This made it possible for him to build walled cities throughout Judah.

⁷ “Now is the time to do it, while the Lord is blessing us with peace because of our obedience to him,” he told his people. “Let us build and fortify cities now, with walls, towers, gates, and bars.” So they went ahead with these projects very successfully.

⁸ King Asa’s Judean army was 300,000 strong, equipped with light shields and spears. His army of Benjaminites numbered 280,000, armed with large shields and bows. Both armies were composed of well-trained, brave men.

^9-10 But now he was attacked by an army of 1,000,000 troops from Ethiopia with 300 chariots, under the leadership of General Zerah. They advanced to the city of Mareshah, in the valley of Zephathah, and King Asa sent his troops to battle with them there.

¹¹ “O Lord,” he cried out to God, “no one else can help us! Here we are, powerless against this mighty army. Oh, help us, Lord our God! For we trust in you alone to rescue us, and in your name we attack this vast horde. Don’t let mere men defeat you!”

¹² Then the Lord defeated the Ethiopians, and Asa and the army of Judah triumphed as the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ They chased them as far as Gerar, and the entire Ethiopian army was wiped out so that not one man remained; for the Lord and his army destroyed them all. Then the army of Judah carried off vast quantities of plunder. ¹⁴ While they were at Gerar they attacked all the cities in that area, and terror from the Lord came upon the residents. As a result, additional vast quantities of plunder were collected from these cities too. ¹⁵ They not only plundered the cities but destroyed the cattle tents and captured great herds of sheep and camels before finally returning to Jerusalem.

15 Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah (son of Oded), ² and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle.

“Listen to me, Asa! Listen, armies of Judah and Benjamin!” he shouted. “The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you look for him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ³ For a long time now, over in Israel, the people haven’t worshiped the true God and have not had a true priest to teach them. They have lived without God’s laws. ⁴ But whenever they have turned again to the Lord God of Israel in their distress and searched for him he has helped them. ⁵ In their times of rebellion against God there was no peace. Problems troubled the nation on every hand. Crime was on the increase everywhere. ⁶ There were external wars and internal fighting of city against city, for God was plaguing them with all sorts of trouble. ⁷ But you men of Judah, keep up the good work and don’t get discouraged, for you will be rewarded.”

⁸ When King Asa heard this message from God, he took courage and destroyed all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim, and he rebuilt the altar of the Lord in front of the Temple.

⁹ Then he summoned all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the immigrants from Israel (for many had come from the territories of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon in Israel when they saw that the Lord God was with King Asa). ¹⁰ They all came to Jerusalem in June of the fifteenth year of King Asa’s reign ¹¹ and sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep—it was part of the plunder they had captured in the battle. ¹² Then they entered into a contract to worship only the Lord God of their fathers ¹³ and agreed that anyone who refused to do this must die—whether old or young, man or woman. ¹⁴ They shouted out their oath of loyalty to God with trumpets blaring and horns sounding. ¹⁵ All were happy for this covenant with God, for they had entered into it with all their hearts and wills and wanted him above everything else, and they found him! And he gave them peace throughout the nation.

¹⁶ King Asa even removed his mother Maacah from being the queen mother because she made an Asherah idol; he cut down the idol and crushed and burned it at Kidron Brook. ¹⁷ Over in Israel the idol-temples were not removed. But here in Judah and Benjamin the heart of King Asa was perfect before God throughout his lifetime. ¹⁸ He brought back into the Temple the silver and gold bowls that he and his father had dedicated to the Lord. ¹⁹ So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of King Asa’s reign.

16 In the thirty-sixth year of King Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel declared war on him and built the fortress^[d] of Ramah in order to control the road to Judah. ² Asa’s response was to take the silver and gold from the Temple and from the palace, and to send it to King Ben-hadad of Syria at Damascus with this message:

³ “Let us renew the mutual security pact that there was between your father and my father. See, here is silver and gold to induce you to break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will leave me alone.”

⁴ Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and mobilized his armies to attack Israel. They destroyed the cities of Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim and all of the supply centers in Naphtali. ⁵ As soon as King Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he discontinued building Ramah and gave up his plan to attack Judah. ⁶ Then King Asa and the people of Judah went out to Ramah and carried away the building stones and timbers and used them to build Geba and Mizpah instead.

⁷ About that time the prophet Hanani came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Syria instead of in the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from you. ⁸ Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and cavalrymen? But you relied then on the Lord, and he delivered them all into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them. What a fool you have been! From now on you shall have wars.”

¹⁰ Asa was so angry with the prophet for saying this that he threw him into jail. And Asa oppressed all the people at that time.

¹¹ The rest of the biography of Asa is written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became seriously diseased in his feet, but he didn’t go to the Lord with the problem but to the doctors. ^13-14 So he died in the forty-first year of his reign and was buried in his own vault that he had hewn out for himself in Jerusalem. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and ointments, and his people made a very great burning of incense for him at his funeral.

17 Then his son Jehoshaphat became the king and mobilized for war against Israel. ² He placed garrisons in all of the fortified cities of Judah, in various other places throughout the country, and in the cities of Ephraim that his father had conquered.

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed in the good footsteps of his father’s early years and did not worship idols. ⁴ He obeyed the commandments of his father’s God—quite unlike the people across the border in the land of Israel. ⁵ So the Lord strengthened his position as king of Judah. All the people of Judah cooperated by paying their taxes, so he became very wealthy as well as being very popular. ⁶ He boldly followed the paths of God—even knocking down the heathen altars on the hills and destroying the Asherim idols.

^7-9 In the third year of his reign he began a nationwide religious education program. He sent out top government officials as teachers in all the cities of Judah. These men included Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. He also used the Levites for this purpose, including Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; also the priests, Elishama and Jehoram. They took copies of The Book of the Law of the Lord to all the cities of Judah to teach the Scriptures to the people.

¹⁰ Then the fear of the Lord fell upon all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them declared war on King Jehoshaphat.

¹¹ Even some of the Philistines brought him presents and annual tribute, and the Arabs donated 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹² So Jehoshaphat became very strong and built fortresses and supply cities throughout Judah.

¹³ His public works program was also extensive, and he had a huge army stationed at Jerusalem, his capital. ^14-15 Three hundred thousand Judean troops were there under General Adnah. Next in command was Jehohanan with an army of 280,000 men. ¹⁶ Next was Amasiah (son of Zichri), a man of unusual piety, with 200,000 troops. ¹⁷ Benjamin supplied 200,000 men equipped with bows and shields under the command of Eliada, a great general. ¹⁸ His second in command was Jehozabad, with 180,000 trained men. ¹⁹ These were the troops in Jerusalem in addition to those placed by the king in the fortified cities throughout the nation.

18 But rich, popular King Jehoshaphat of Judah made a marriage alliance for his son^[e] with the daughter of King Ahab of Israel. ² A few years later he went down to Samaria to visit King Ahab, and King Ahab gave a great party for him and his aides, butchering great numbers of sheep and oxen for the feast. Then he asked King Jehoshaphat to join forces with him against Ramoth-gilead.

^3-5 “Why, of course!” King Jehoshaphat replied. “I’m with you all the way. My troops are at your command! However, let’s check with the Lord first.”

So King Ahab summoned 400 of his heathen prophets and asked them, “Shall we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?”

And they replied, “Go ahead, for God will give you a great victory!”

^6-7 But Jehoshaphat wasn’t satisfied. “Isn’t there some prophet of the Lord around here too?” he asked. “I’d like to ask him the same question.”

“Well,” Ahab told him, “there is one, but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything but evil! His name is Micaiah (son of Imlah).”

“Oh, come now, don’t talk like that!” Jehoshaphat exclaimed. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”

⁸ So the king of Israel called one of his aides. “Quick! Go and get Micaiah (son of Imlah),” he ordered.

⁹ The two kings were sitting on thrones in full regalia at an open place near the Samaria gate, and all the “prophets” were prophesying before them. ¹⁰ One of them, Zedekiah (son of Chenaanah), made some iron horns for the occasion and proclaimed, “The Lord says you will gore the Syrians to death with these!”

¹¹ And all the others agreed. “Yes,” they chorused, “go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the Lord will cause you to conquer.”

¹² The man who went to get Micaiah told him what was happening and what all the prophets were saying—that the war would end in triumph for the king.

“I hope you will agree with them and give the king a favorable reading,” the man ventured.

¹³ But Micaiah replied, “I vow by God that whatever God says is what I will say.”

¹⁴ When he arrived before the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth-gilead or not?”

And Micaiah replied, “Sure, go ahead! It will be a glorious victory!”

¹⁵ “Look here,” the king said sharply, “how many times must I tell you to speak nothing except what the Lord tells you to?”

¹⁶ Then Micaiah told him, “In my vision I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountain as sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘Their master has been killed. Send them home.’”

¹⁷ “Didn’t I tell you?” the king of Israel exclaimed to Jehoshaphat. “He does it every time. He never prophesies anything but evil against me.”

¹⁸ “Listen to what else the Lord has told me,” Micaiah continued. “I saw him upon his throne surrounded by vast throngs of angels.

^19-20 “And the Lord said, ‘Who can get King Ahab to go to battle against Ramoth-gilead and be killed there?’

“There were many suggestions, but finally a spirit stepped forward before the Lord and said, ‘I can do it!’

“‘How?’ the Lord asked him.

²¹ “He replied, ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of all of the king’s prophets!’

“‘It will work,’ the Lord said; ‘go and do it.’

²² “So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, when actually he has determined just the opposite of what they are telling you!”

²³ Then Zedekiah (son of Chenaanah) walked up to Micaiah and slapped him across the face. “You liar!” he yelled. “When did the Spirit of the Lord leave me and enter you?”

²⁴ “You’ll find out soon enough,” Micaiah replied, “when you are hiding in an inner room!”

²⁵ “Arrest this man and take him back to Governor Amon and to my son Joash,” the king of Israel ordered. ²⁶ “Tell them, ‘The king says to put this fellow in prison and feed him with bread and water until I return safely from the battle!’”

²⁷ Micaiah replied, “If you return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then, turning to those around them, he remarked, “Take note of what I have said.”

²⁸ So the king of Israel and the king of Judah led their armies to Ramoth-gilead.

²⁹ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I’ll disguise myself so that no one will recognize me, but you put on your royal robes!” So that is what they did.

³⁰ Now the king of Syria had issued these instructions to his charioteers: “Ignore everyone but the king of Israel!”

³¹ So when the Syrian charioteers saw King Jehoshaphat of Judah in his royal robes, they went for him, supposing that he was the man they were after. But Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord to save him, and the Lord made the charioteers see their mistake and leave him. ³² For as soon as they realized he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him. ³³ But one of the Syrian soldiers shot an arrow haphazardly at the Israeli troops, and it struck the king of Israel at the opening where the lower armor and the breastplate meet. “Get me out of here,” he groaned to the driver of his chariot, “for I am badly wounded.” ³⁴ The battle grew hotter and hotter all that day, and King Ahab went back in, propped up in his chariot, to fight the Syrians, but just as the sun sank into the western skies, he died.

19 As King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned home, uninjured, ² the prophet Jehu (son of Hanani) went out to meet him.

“Should you be helping the wicked, and loving those who hate the Lord?” he asked him. “Because of what you have done, God’s wrath is upon you. ³ But there are some good things about you in that you got rid of the shameful idols throughout the land, and you have tried to be faithful to God.”

⁴ So Jehoshaphat made no more trips to Israel after that but remained quietly at Jerusalem. Later he went out again among the people, traveling from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim to encourage them to worship the God of their ancestors. ⁵ He appointed judges throughout the nation in all the larger cities, ⁶ and instructed them:

“Watch your step—I have not appointed you—God has; and he will stand beside you and help you give justice in each case that comes before you. ⁷ Be very much afraid to give any other decision than what God tells you to. For there must be no injustice among God’s judges, no partiality, no taking of bribes.”

⁸ Jehoshaphat set up courts in Jerusalem, too, with the Levites and priests and clan leaders and judges. ⁹ These were his instructions to them: “You are to act always in the fear of God, with honest hearts. ¹⁰ Whenever a case is referred to you by the judges out in the provinces, whether murder cases or other violations of the laws and ordinances of God, you are to clarify the evidence for them and help them to decide justly, lest the wrath of God come down upon you and them; if you do this, you will discharge your responsibility.”

¹¹ Then he appointed Amariah the High Priest to be the court of final appeal in cases involving violation of sacred affairs; and Zebadiah (son of Ishmael), a ruler in Judah, as the court of final appeal in all civil cases; with the Levites as their assistants. “Be fearless in your stand for truth and honesty. And may God use you to defend the innocent,” was his final word to them.

20 Later on the armies of the kings of Moab, Ammon, and of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. ² Word reached Jehoshaphat that “a vast army is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea from Syria. It is already at Hazazon-tamar” (also called Engedi). ³ Jehoshaphat was badly shaken by this news and determined to beg for help from the Lord; so he announced that all the people of Judah should go without food for a time, in penitence and intercession before God. ⁴ People from all across the nation came to Jerusalem to plead unitedly with him. ⁵ Jehoshaphat stood among them as they gathered at the new court of the Temple and prayed this prayer:

⁶ “O Lord God of our fathers—the only God in all the heavens, the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth—you are so powerful, so mighty. Who can stand against you? ⁷ O our God, didn’t you drive out the heathen who lived in this land when your people arrived? And didn’t you give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? ⁸ Your people settled here and built this Temple for you, ⁹ truly believing that in a time like this—whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, disease, or famine—we can stand here before this Temple and before you—for you are here in this Temple—and cry out to you to save us; and that you will hear us and rescue us.

¹⁰ “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You wouldn’t let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so we went around and didn’t destroy them. ¹¹ Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land which you have given us. ¹² O our God, won’t you stop them? We have no way to protect ourselves against this mighty army. We don’t know what to do, but we are looking to you.”

¹³ As the people from every part of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, ¹⁴ the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there—Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah the Levite, who was one of the sons of Asaph).

¹⁵ “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem, and you, O king Jehoshaphat!” he exclaimed. “The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid! Don’t be paralyzed by this mighty army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s! ¹⁶ Tomorrow, go down and attack them! You will find them coming up the slopes of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ But you will not need to fight! Take your places; stand quietly and see the incredible rescue operation God will perform for you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem! Don’t be afraid or discouraged! Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!’”

¹⁸ Then King Jehoshaphat fell to the ground with his face to the earth, and all the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Levites of the Kohath clan and the Korah clan stood to praise the Lord God of Israel with songs of praise that rang out strong and clear.

²⁰ Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and called them to attention. “Listen to me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem,” he said. “Believe in the Lord your God and you shall have success! Believe his prophets and everything will be all right!”

²¹ After consultation with the leaders of the people, he determined that there should be a choir leading the march, clothed in sanctified garments and singing the song “His Loving-Kindness Is Forever” as they walked along praising and thanking the Lord! ²² And at the moment they began to sing and to praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to begin fighting among themselves, and they destroyed each other! ²³ For the Ammonites and Moabites turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. And when they had finished that job, they turned against each other! ²⁴ So, when the army of Judah arrived at the watchtower that looks out over the wilderness, as far as they could look there were dead bodies lying on the ground—not a single one of the enemy had escaped. ²⁵ King Jehoshaphat and his people went out to plunder the bodies and came away loaded with money, garments, and jewels stripped from the corpses—so much that it took them three days to cart it all away! ²⁶ On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, as it is called today, and how they praised the Lord!

²⁷ Then they returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, full of joy that the Lord had given them this marvelous rescue from their enemies. ²⁸ They marched into Jerusalem accompanied by a band of harps, lyres, and trumpets and proceeded to the Temple. ²⁹ And as had happened before, when the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God fell upon them. ³⁰ So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet, for his God had given him rest.

³¹ A thumbnail sketch of King Jehoshaphat: He became king of Judah when he was thirty-five years old and reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He was a good king, just as his father Asa was. He continually tried to follow the Lord ³³ with the exception that he did not destroy the idol shrines on the hills, nor had the people as yet really decided to follow the God of their ancestors.

³⁴ The details of Jehoshaphat’s reign from first to last are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ But at the close of his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went into partnership with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was a very wicked man. ³⁶ They made ships in Ezion-geber to sail to Tarshish. ³⁷ Then Eliezer, son of Dodavahu from Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, telling him, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your work.” So the ships met disaster and never arrived at Tarshish.

21 When Jehoshaphat died, he was buried in the cemetery of the kings in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became the new ruler of Judah. ² His brothers—other sons of Jehoshaphat—were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. ^3-4 Their father had given each of them valuable gifts of money and jewels, also the ownership of some of the fortified cities of Judah. However, he gave the kingship to Jehoram because he was the oldest. But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all of his brothers and many other leaders of Israel. ⁵ He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ But he was as wicked as the kings who were over in Israel. Yes, as wicked as Ahab, for Jehoram had married one of the daughters of Ahab, and his whole life was one constant binge of doing evil. ⁷ However, the Lord was unwilling to end the dynasty of David, for he had made a covenant with David always to have one of his descendants upon the throne.

⁸ At that time the king of Edom revolted, declaring his independence of Judah. ⁹ Jehoram attacked him with his full army and with all of his chariots, marching by night, and almost^[f] managed to subdue him. ¹⁰ But to this day Edom has been successful in throwing off the yoke of Judah. Libnah revolted too because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹ What’s more, Jehoram constructed idol shrines in the mountains of Judah and led the people of Jerusalem in worshiping idols; in fact, he compelled his people to worship them.

¹² Then Elijah the prophet wrote him this letter: “The Lord God of your ancestor David says that because you have not followed in the good ways of your father Jehoshaphat, nor the good ways of King Asa, ¹³ but you have been as evil as the kings over in Israel and have made the people of Jerusalem and Judah worship idols just as in the times of King Ahab, and because you have killed your brothers who were better than you, ¹⁴ now the Lord will destroy your nation with a great plague. You, your children, your wives, and all that you have will be struck down. ¹⁵ You will be stricken with an intestinal disease and your bowels will rot away.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and the Arabs living next to the Ethiopians to attack Jehoram. ¹⁷ They marched against Judah, broke across the border, and carried away everything of value in the king’s palace, including his sons and his wives; only his youngest son, Jehoahaz, escaped.

¹⁸ It was after this that Jehovah struck him down with the incurable bowel disease. ¹⁹ In the process of time, at the end of two years, his intestines came out, and he died in terrible suffering. (The customary pomp and ceremony was omitted at his funeral.) ²⁰ He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years and died unmourned. He was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal cemetery.

22 Then the people of Jerusalem chose Ahaziah,^[g] his youngest son, as their new king (for the marauding bands of Arabs had killed his older sons). ² Ahaziah was twenty-two years old^[h] when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri. ³ He, too, walked in the evil ways of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. ⁴ Yes, he was as evil as Ahab, for Ahab’s family became his advisors after his father’s death, and they led him on to ruin.

⁵ Following their evil advice, Ahaziah made an alliance with King Joram of Israel (the son of Ahab), who was at war with King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. Ahaziah led his army there to join the battle. King Joram of Israel was wounded ⁶ and returned to Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah went to visit him, ⁷ but this turned out to be a fatal mistake; for God had decided to punish Ahaziah for his alliance with Joram. It was during this visit that Ahaziah went out with Joram to challenge Jehu (son of Nimshi), whom the Lord had appointed to end the dynasty of Ahab.

⁸ While Jehu was hunting down and killing the family and friends of Ahab, he met King Ahaziah’s nephews, the princes of Judah, and killed them. ⁹ As he and his men were searching for Ahaziah, they found him hiding in the city of Samaria and brought him to Jehu, who killed him. Even so, Ahaziah was given a royal burial because he was the grandson of King Jehoshaphat—a man who enthusiastically served the Lord. None of his sons, however, except for Joash, lived to succeed him as king, ¹⁰ for their grandmother Athaliah killed them when she heard the news of her son Ahaziah’s death.

¹¹ Joash was rescued by his Aunt Jehoshabeath, who was King Ahaziah’s sister,^[i] and was hidden away in a storage room in the Temple. She was a daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest. ¹² Joash remained hidden in the Temple for six years while Athaliah reigned as queen. He was cared for by his nurse and by his aunt and uncle.

23 In the seventh year of the reign of Queen Athaliah, Jehoiada the priest got up his courage and took some of the army officers into his confidence: Azariah (son of Jeroham), Ishmael (son of Jehohanan), Azariah (son of Obed), Maaseiah (son of Adaiah), and Elishaphat (son of Zichri). ^2-3 These men traveled out across the nation secretly to tell the Levites and clan leaders about his plans and to summon them to Jerusalem. On arrival they swore allegiance to the young king, who was still in hiding at the Temple.

“At last the time has come for the king’s son to reign!” Jehoiada exclaimed. “The Lord’s promise—that a descendant of King David shall be our king—will be true again. ⁴ This is how we’ll proceed: A third of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath will stay at the entrance as guards. ^5-6 Another third will go over to the palace, and a third will be at the Lower Gate. Everyone else must stay in the outer courts of the Temple, as required by God’s laws. For only the priests and Levites on duty may enter the Temple itself, for they are sanctified. ⁷ You Levites, form a bodyguard for the king, weapons in hand, and kill any unauthorized person entering the Temple. Stay right beside the king.”

⁸ So all the arrangements were made. Each of the three leaders led a third of the priests arriving for duty that Sabbath, and a third of those whose week’s work was done and were going off duty—for Jehoiada the chief priest didn’t release them to go home. ⁹ Then Jehoiada issued spears and shields to all the army officers. These had once belonged to King David and were stored in the Temple. ¹⁰ These officers, fully armed, formed a line from one side to the other in front of the Temple and around the altar in the outer court. ¹¹ Then they brought out the little prince and placed the crown upon his head, and handed him a copy of the law of God, and proclaimed him king.

A great shout went up, “Long live the king!” as Jehoiada and his sons anointed him.

¹² When Queen Athaliah heard all the noise and commotion and the shouts of praise to the king, she rushed over to the Temple to see what was going on—and there stood the king by his pillar at the entrance, with the army officers and the trumpeters surrounding him, and people from all over the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers singing, accompanied by an orchestra leading the people in a great psalm of praise.

Athaliah ripped her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”

^13-14 “Take her out and kill her,” Jehoiada the priest shouted to the army officers. “Don’t do it here at the Temple. And kill anyone who tries to help her.”

^15-17 So the crowd opened up for them to take her out, and they killed her at the palace stables.

Then Jehoiada made a solemn contract that he and the king and the people would be the Lord’s. And all the people rushed over to the temple of Baal and knocked it down, and broke up the altars, and knocked down the idols, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before his altar.