Bible in 90 Days

¹¹ And so Solomon completed the Lord’s Temple, bringing to completion everything that he had planned on doing for the Lord’s Temple and for his own palace.

God Appears to Solomon^(A)

¹² Later, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and told him:

Solomon’s Accomplishments^(B)

8 It took Solomon 20 years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own palace. ² During this time, he also rebuilt the towns that Hiram had restored to him, and he settled Israelis in them. ³ After this, Solomon traveled to Hamath-zobah and captured it. ⁴ Then he rebuilt Tadmor in the desert, along with supply centers^[h] that he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper and lower Beth-horon as fortified cities, installing^[i] walls, gates, and bars, ⁶ and he rebuilt Baalath and its supply centers^[j] that belonged to Solomon, along with all the cities that he utilized to garrison his chariots and cavalry forces. Solomon was pleased also to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in every territory^[k] that he controlled.

Conscripted Laborers

⁷ All of the survivors who remained living in the land but who were not Israelis (including Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) ⁸ were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not eliminated. Solomon put them to work as conscripted laborers, which they continue to do^[l] to this day. ⁹ However, Solomon never made conscripted laborers from among the Israelis, but they did serve as his army, as his chief captains, and as commanders in charge of his chariots and cavalry. ¹⁰ King Solomon appointed 250 chief officers to command his army.^{[m] 11} Later, Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David to the palace that he had constructed to house her, because he reasoned, “My wife isn’t going to live in the palace where King David of Israel lived, because wherever the ark of the Lord entered is holy.”

¹² Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar that he had built in front of the porch of the Temple,^{[n] 13} acting^[o] in compliance with the daily rule by offering them in conformity to commands issued by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three annual festivals (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Tents). ¹⁴ Following proscriptions laid down by his father David, Solomon^[p] appointed divisions of priests for their service as well as descendants of Levi for duties of praise and ministry before the priests consistent with the daily rules. Furthermore, because David, the man of God, had commanded it, Solomon^[q] also appointed gatekeepers to serve by divisions at every gate of the Temple.^{[r] 15} They scrupulously adhered to^[s] the orders issued by the king to the priests and descendants of Levi in everything, including matters pertaining to operation of^[t] the treasuries.

Work on the Temple is Completed

¹⁶ And so Solomon completed all of the work, from the day that the foundation stone of the Lord’s Temple was laid^[u] until the Lord’s Temple was completely finished. ¹⁷ After this, Solomon visited Ezion-geber and Elath at the seashore in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ Hiram sent Solomon^[v] ships and servants who were expert mariners, and they sailed with Solomon’s servants to Ophir,^[w] where they brought back 450 talents^[x] of gold for Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Jerusalem^(C)

9 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him^[y] with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.^{[z] 2} Solomon answered all of her questions. Because nothing was hidden from Solomon, he hid nothing from her. ³ When the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon’s wisdom for herself, the palace that he had built, ⁴ the food set at his table, his servants who waited on him, his ministers in attendance and how they were dressed, his personal staff^[aa] and how they were dressed, and even his personal stairway by which he went up to the Lord’s Temple, she was breathless!

⁵ “Everything I heard about your wisdom and what you have to say is true!” she gasped, ⁶ “but I didn’t believe it at first! But then I came here and I’ve seen it for myself! It’s amazing! I wasn’t told half of what’s really great about your wisdom. You’re far better in person than what the reports have said about you! ⁷ How blessed are your staff! And how blessed are your employees,^[ab] who serve you continually and get to listen to your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God, who is delighted with you! He set you in place on his throne to be king for the Lord your God. He made you king over them so you could carry out justice and implement righteousness, because your God loves Israel and intends to establish them^[ac] forever.”

⁹ Then she gave the king 120 talents^[ad] of gold, a vast quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices comparable to those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹⁰ Hiram’s servants and Solomon’s servants, who brought gold from Ophir,^[ae] also presented algum wood^[af] and other precious stones. ¹¹ The king used the algum wood^[ag] to have steps made for the Lord’s Temple and for the royal palace, as well as lyres and harps for the choir,^[ah] and nothing like that wood^[ai] had been seen before in the territory of Judah. ¹² In return, King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and requested in addition to what she had brought for the king. Afterward, she returned to her own land, accompanied by her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth^(D)

¹³ Solomon received in any given year about 666 talents^[aj] of gold, ¹⁴ not including revenue from traders and merchants. In addition, all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the nation brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 600 gold pieces,^{[ak] 16} and 300 shields from beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 300 gold pieces.^[al] The king put them in his palace in the Lebanon forest. ¹⁷ The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ Six steps led up to the throne. A golden footstool was attached to the throne, which had armrests on each side of the seat and two lions standing on either side of each armrest. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were placed on both sides of the six steps leading to the throne,^[am] and nothing comparable was made for any other^[an] kingdom. ²⁰ All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were made of^[ao] gold, and all the vessels in his palace in the Lebanon forest were made of^[ap] pure gold. Silver was never considered to be valuable during the lifetime of Solomon, ²¹ because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram’s servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

²² As a result, King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in regards to wealth and wisdom. ²³ All the kings of the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart. ²⁴ Everyone kept on bringing gifts on an annual basis, including items made of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules. ²⁵ Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, along with 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶ King Solomon^[aq] ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates^[ar] River west^[as] to the land of the Philistines and as far south as the boundary with Egypt.

²⁷ The king made silver as common as^[at] stones in Jerusalem, and made cedar trees as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah.^{[au] 28} They also kept bringing horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all of the surrounding^[av] countries.

The Death of Solomon^(E)

²⁹ Now the rest of Solomon’s accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer pertaining to Nebat’s son Jeroboam, are they not? ³⁰ Solomon reigned for 40 years in Jerusalem over all of Israel. ³¹ Then Solomon died, as had^[aw] his ancestors, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Rehoboam’s Foolish Choices^(F)

10 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, because all of Israel went there to install him as king. ² Nebat’s son Jeroboam heard about it in Egypt, where he had fled to get away from Solomon the king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt ³ after being summoned. When Jeroboam and all of Israel arrived, they spoke to Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father made our burdens unbearable.^[ax] Therefore you must lighten your father’s requirements and his heavy burden that he placed on us, and we’ll serve you.”

⁵ “Come back again in three days,” Rehoboam^[ay] told them. So the people left ⁶ while King Rehoboam conferred with his advisors who had worked with his father Solomon during his administration. He asked them, “What is your advice as to what response I should return to these people?”

⁷ In reply, they told him, “If you will be kind to this people, please them, and speak appropriately to them with kind words, they’ll serve you forever.”

⁸ But Rehoboam^[az] ignored the counsel that his elder advisors had given him. Instead, he consulted the younger men who had grown up with him and worked for^[ba] him. ⁹ As a result, he asked them, “What’s your advice, so we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, ‘Please lighten the burden that your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ “This is what you should tell the people who asked you: ‘Your father made our burden heavy, but you must make it lighter for us!’” the young men who had grown up with Rehoboam^[bb] replied. “Tell them ‘My little finger will be thicker than my father’s whole body!^{[bc] 11} Not only that, but since my father loaded you down heavily, I’m going to add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I’m going to do so^[bd] with scorpions!’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people went back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as they had been directed when the king said, “Come back again in three days.” ¹³ But the king answered them strictly and ignored the counsel of his elders. ¹⁴ Instead, Rehoboam^[be] spoke to them along the lines of what the younger men suggested. He told them, “My father burdened you heavily, but I will add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I will, too—with scorpions!”

¹⁵ The king would not listen to the people because the turn of events was from God, so that the Lord might fulfill his prediction that he spoke through Nebat’s son Ahijah the Shilonite. ¹⁶ All of Israel—since the king wasn’t going to listen to them—the people responded to the king, “What’s the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let’s go home,^[bf] Israel! David, take care of your own household!” So all of Israel left for home.^{[bg] 17} And so Rehoboam ruled over the Israelis who lived in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but the Israelis stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ That’s how Israel came to be in rebellion against David’s dynasty to this day.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah Only^(G)

11 When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he gathered together 180,000 specially chosen soldiers from the households of Judah and Benjamin to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But a message from the Lord came to Shemaiah, a man of God: ³ “Tell Solomon’s son Rehoboam, king of Judah and all of Israel in Judah and Benjamin: ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: “You are not to fight or even to approach your relatives in battle. Every soldier is to return to his own home, for this development comes from me.”’” So they listened to what the Lord had to say and called off their attack on Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam continued to live in Jerusalem and built defensive fortification cities throughout Judah, ⁶ including Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were all fortified cities throughout Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He also strengthened the fortified cities, assigned officers to them, and stockpiled food, oil, and wine. ¹² He also stockpiled shields and spears in every city and fortified them greatly to secure his rule over Judah and Benjamin.

The Priests and Levites Support Rehoboam^(H)

¹³ The priests and descendants of Levi throughout Israel also supported him in their districts, ¹⁴ because the descendants of Levi left their pasture lands and their property to live in Judah and Jerusalem, since Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from participating in priestly services to the Lord. ¹⁵ Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places and to serve the satyrs^[bh] and calves that he had made. ¹⁶ As a result, anyone from all of the tribes of Israel who was determined to seek the Lord God of Israel followed the descendants of Levi^[bi] to Jerusalem so they could sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹⁷ and they continued to strengthen the kingdom of Judah, supporting Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years, by living^[bj] the way David and Solomon did for three years.

Rehoboam’s Wives and Children

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalath, the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth, along with Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab, ¹⁹ who bore him these sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After this he married Absalom’s daughter Maacah, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Absalom’s daughter Maacah more than he did all of his wives and mistresses. (He married eighteen wives and 60 concubines, fathering 28 sons and 60 daughters.) ²² Later, Rehoboam appointed Abijah, his son from Maacah, as senior family leader among his brothers, since he intended to establish Abijah^[bk] as king. ²³ Rehoboam^[bl] was wise to distribute some of his children throughout all of the territories of Judah and Benjamin, placing them in all of the fortified cities. He allotted them abundant supplies of food and sought many wives for them.^[bm]

Shishak Invades Judah^(I)

12 At the height of his power, after he had consolidated his rule, Rehoboam abandoned the Lord’s Law, along with all of Israel with him. ² Because he had been unfaithful to the Lord, during the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 cavalry. The Lubim, Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians who invaded from Egypt with Shishak^[bn] were innumerable. ⁴ Shishak^[bo] captured the fortified cities of Judah and invaded as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Right then, Shemaiah the prophet approached Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he told them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You abandoned me, so I’ve abandoned you to Shishak.’”

⁶ In response, the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and declared, “The Lord is righteous.”

⁷ When the Lord observed that they had humbled themselves, the Lord spoke to Shemaiah, “They have humbled themselves, so I won’t destroy them. Instead, I’ll grant them some deliverance by not pouring out my indignation on Jerusalem, using Shishak to do it. ⁸ Nevertheless, they will become his slaves so they may learn to differentiate between what it means to serve me and to serve the kingdoms of these nations.” ⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasure stores in the Lord’s Temple and in the royal palace. He took everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made. ¹⁰ After this, King Rehoboam made shields out of bronze to take their place, committing them to the care and custody of the commanders of those who guarded the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ As often as the king entered the Lord’s Temple, the guards came and transported the shields^[bp] to the Temple^[bq] and then brought them back to the guard’s quarters. ¹² After he had humbled himself, the Lord stopped being angry with him, and did not destroy Rehoboam^[br] completely. Furthermore, conditions became good in Judah.

The Death of Rehoboam^(J)

¹³ King Rehoboam consolidated his reign in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that that Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to establish his name. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah from Ammon. ¹⁴ He practiced evil by not setting his heart to seek the Lord. ¹⁵ Now Rehoboam’s accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, enrolled by genealogy, are they not? ¹⁶ Later, Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam^(K)

13 During the eighteenth year of the reign of^[bs] King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Uriel’s daughter Micaiah from Gibeah.

A war started between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah started the battle with an army of 400,000 specially chosen valiant soldiers, but Jeroboam opposed him with 800,000 specially chosen valiant soldiers. ⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and announced:

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent an ambush to attack from the rear, so Israel was in front of Judah, with the ambush set in place behind them. ¹⁴ When the army of^[bw] Judah turned around to look, they were being attacked from both front and rear, so they cried out to the Lord while the priests sounded their trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the army of Judah sounded a war cry, and God routed Jeroboam and the entire army of Israel in front of Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ When the descendants of Israel ran away from the army of Judah, God handed them over to the army of Judah. ¹⁷ Abijah and his army defeated them in a tremendous slaughter that resulted in 500,000 special forces from Israel being slain. ¹⁸ And so the descendants of Israel were defeated at that time. The descendants of Judah were victorious because they trusted in the Lord God of their ancestors. ¹⁹ After this Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages.

Jeroboam’s Death and Asa’s Reign in Judah

²⁰ Jeroboam never recovered his strength for the rest of Abijah’s life. The Lord struck Jeroboam,^[bx] and he died, ²¹ but Abijah continued to grow more powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself and fathered 22 sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of Abijah’s accomplishments, his lifestyle and his memoirs are recorded in the Midrash^[by] of the Prophet Iddo. 14 ^1 [bz]Then Abijah died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s^[ca] son Asa reigned in his place, and during his lifetime the land enjoyed rest for ten years.

Asa Chooses to do What is Right^(L)

^2 [cb]Asa practiced what the Lord his God considered to be right ³ by removing the foreign altars and high places, tearing down the sacred pillars, cutting down the Asherim,^[cc] and ⁴ commanding Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to keep the Law and the commandments. ⁵ He also removed the high places and incense altars from all of the cities of Judah. As a result, the kingdom enjoyed rest under Asa’s leadership.^[cd]

⁶ Asa^[ce] built fortified cities throughout Judah while the land lay undisturbed, because the Lord had given him peace so that no one went to war against him during those years. ⁷ He had told Judah, “Let’s build up these cities, surrounding them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land still belongs to us, because we have kept on seeking the Lord our God. We have sought him out, and he has given us rest all around us.” So the people built and prospered. ⁸ Asa kept a standing army of 300,000 soldiers from Judah equipped with large shields and spears, as well as 280,000 soldiers from Benjamin, also bearing shields and wielding bows. All of them were valiant soldiers.

Ethiopia Invades and is Repulsed

⁹ Sometime later, Zerah the Ethiopian went to war against him at Mareshah with an army of one million troops and 300 chariots. ¹⁰ Asa went out to engage him in battle, and they drew up their battle lines at Mareshah in the Zephathah Valley. ¹¹ Asa cried out to the Lord his God, telling him, “Lord, there is no one except for you to help between the powerful and the weak. So help us, Lord God, because we’re depending on you and have come against this vast group in your name. Lord, you are our God. Let no mere mortal man defeat you!”

¹² So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians right in front of Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians ran away. ¹³ Asa and his army pursued the Ethiopians^[cf] as far as Gerar. So many Ethiopians died that their army could not recover, because it had been shattered in the Lord’s presence and in the presence of his army. The Israelis^[cg] carried off a lot of plunder, too. ¹⁴ They attacked all the cities that surrounded Gerar, because fear of the Lord had overwhelmed them. The Israelis spoiled all the cities, because there was a lot to plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also attacked the tents of those who owned livestock and carried off lots of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Azariah the Prophet Encourages Asa

15 After this, the Spirit of God came to rest on Oded’s son Azariah, ² so he went out to meet Asa and rebuked him:

Asa Institutes Reforms

⁸ Encouraged by what Oded’s son Azariah the prophet had said in his prophecy, Asa^[cm] removed the detestable idols from throughout the entire territories of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord’s altar that stood in front of the vestibule of the Lord’s Temple. ⁹ Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ They all assembled in Jerusalem during the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹ They sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought with them. ¹² They also entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their heart and soul, ¹³ and they further agreed that^[cn] whoever would refuse to seek the Lord God of Israel was to be executed, whether important or unimportant, man or woman. ¹⁴ They also made a vow to the Lord with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns. ¹⁵ Everybody in Judah was very glad to make their oath, because they had made their vow with all their heart and had sought him with all of their might,^[co] and they found him! The Lord also gave them rest in their surrounding lands.

¹⁶ King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah.^[cp] He cut down his mother’s idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, the high places were not removed from Israel, even though Asa’s heart was blameless all of his life. ¹⁸ Asa brought into God’s Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service^[cq] implements. ¹⁹ Asa experienced no more war until the end of the^[cr] thirty-fifth year of his reign.

Asa Attacks Baasha^(M)

16 During the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. ² But Asa removed some silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and from his royal palace and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who lived in Damascus. ³ “Let’s make a treaty between you and me,” he said, “just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I’ve sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he’ll retreat from his attack^[cs] on me.”

⁴ So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Bel-maim, and all of the storage centers in Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha learned of the attack, he withdrew from Ramah and stopped his interdiction. ⁶ Then King Asa brought his entire army of Judah to carry away the building stones and the timber that Baasha had been using to surround Ramah, and he used those materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah.

Asa is Rebuked by Hanani the Seer^(N)

⁷ Right about then, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and rebuked him. “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your control. ⁸ Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Libyans a vast army with many chariots and cavalry? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your control! ⁹ The Lord’s eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison^[ct] because of what Hanani^[cu] had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel^[cv] at that time.

Asa’s Illness and Death^(O)

¹¹ Now the accomplishments of Asa from first to last are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from a foot disease. Even though he suffered greatly, he never sought the Lord, but instead looked to doctors. ¹³ As a result, in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died, as had his ancestors, ¹⁴ and he was buried in his own tomb that he had prepared^[cw] for himself in the City of David. He was laid out on a bier that had been filled with various spices prepared by morticians,^[cx] and the mourners^[cy] built a massive bonfire to honor his memory.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

17 Asa’s son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king, and he consolidated his authority over Israel ² by placing troops in all of the fortified citadels through Judah and by establishing garrisons throughout the land of Judah and in the cities that his father Asa had captured.

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example set during his ancestor David’s preliminary years by not pursuing the Baals.^{[cz] 4} Instead, Jehoshaphat^[da] sought the God of his ancestors and obeyed his commands, unlike Israel. ⁵ Therefore the Lord secured Jehoshaphat’s^[db] kingdom under his control, with all of Judah paying him tribute, and Jehoshaphat became very wealthy and greatly respected. ⁶ He remained committed to following the Lord, and he removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

Jehoshaphat Institutes Teaching Programs

⁷ During the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach throughout the cities of Judah. ⁸ They were accompanied by the descendants of Levi, including^[dc] Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah. These descendants of Levi were accompanied by the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ They taught throughout Judah from a copy of the Book of the Law of the Lord that they took with them as they passed through all the cities of Judah, teaching among all the people.

Jehoshaphat’s Military and Economic Stability

¹⁰ Because they were afraid of the Lord, none of the kingdoms of the lands that surrounded Judah dared go to war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and Arabians brought him flocks of 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹² As a result, Jehoshaphat grew more and more powerful, and built up fortresses and storage centers throughout Judah. ¹³ He placed a large amount of supplies into storage throughout the cities of Judah and stationed soldiers—all of them valiant men—in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Here’s how they were mustered, listed according to their ancestral houses and listed by commanders of thousands: Adnah commanded 300,000 elite forces. ¹⁵ Near him was Johanan, commander of 280,000 ¹⁶ and next to him was Zichri’s son Amasiah, who had volunteered to serve the Lord. He commanded 200,000 elite forces. ¹⁷ There was also Eliada from Benjamin, himself a valiant soldier. He was accompanied by 200,000 expert archers bearing shields. ¹⁸ Near him was Jehozabad, who was accompanied by 180,000 soldiers equipped for warfare. ¹⁹ These men served the king, and there were others whom the king garrisoned inside fortified cities throughout all of Judah.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab^(P)

18 After Jehoshaphat had become wealthy and was enjoying abundant honor, he allied himself to Ahab. ² After a few years, he visited Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered lots of sheep and oxen for him, and the people who were with him persuaded Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth-gilead. ³ King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “Will you join me in attacking Ramoth-gilead?”

“I’m with you,” Jehoshaphat^[dd] replied. “and my army is with you. We’ll join you in the battle.” ⁴ But then Jehoshaphat asked the king of Israel, “Please ask for a message from the Lord, first.”

⁵ So the king of Israel gathered together 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we go attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I call off the attack?”^[de]

“Go attack them,” they all said, “because God will drop them right in the king’s hand.”

⁶ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord left here that we could talk to?”

⁷ “There is still one man left by whom we could ask the Lord what to do,” the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he won’t prophesy anything good about me. Instead, he always prophesies evil. He is Imla’s son Micaiah.”

But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, “Kings^[df] should never talk like that.”

⁸ Nevertheless, the king of Israel called an officer and ordered him, “Bring me Imla’s son Micaiah quickly.”

⁹ Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were each sitting on their own thrones, arrayed in their robes, and sitting on the threshing floor at the entrance to the city gate of Samaria, and all of the prophets were prophesying in front of them. ¹⁰ Chenaanah’s son Zedekiah made iron horns for himself and told them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘With these horns you are to gore the Arameans until they are eliminated!’”

¹¹ All the other prophets were saying similar things, like “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and you will be successful, because the Lord will hand it over to the king!”

Micaiah the True Prophet Warns Ahab and Jehoshaphat^(Q)

¹² Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, “Look, everything that the other prophets were saying has been unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably.”

¹³ “As the Lord lives,” Micaiah replied, “I’ll say what my God tells me to say.”

¹⁴ When Micaiah^[dg] approached the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?”

“Go to war,” Micaiah^[dh] replied, “and you will be successful, because the Lord will hand it over to the king!”

¹⁵ When he heard this, the king asked him, “How many times do I have to ask you? Tell me nothing but the truth, and do it in the name of the Lord!”

¹⁶ And so Micaiah replied:

¹⁷ Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he wouldn’t prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?”

¹⁸ But Micaiah responded, “Therefore, listen to what the Lord has to say. I saw the Lord, sitting on his throne, and the entire Heavenly Army was surrounding him on his right hand and on his left hand.

¹⁹ “The Lord asked, ‘Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?’ And one was saying one thing and one was saying another.

²⁰ “But then a spirit approached, stood in front of the Lord, and said, ‘I will entice him.’

“And the Lord asked him, ‘How?’

²¹ “‘I will go,’ he announced, ‘and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!’

“So the Lord said, ‘You’re just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.’

²² Now therefore, listen! The Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the Lord has determined to bring disaster upon you.”

²³ As if on cue, Chenaanah’s son Zedekiah approached Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. Then he asked him, “How did the Spirit of the Lord move from me to speak to you?”

²⁴ Micaiah replied, “You’ll learn the answer to that question when the day comes that you run away to hide yourself in a closet!”

²⁵ Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and place him in the custody of Amon, the city governor. Hand him over to Joash, the king’s son. ²⁶ Give him this order: ‘Place him in prison on survival rations only until I come back safely.’”

²⁷ “If you return alive,” Micaiah responded, “then the Lord has not spoken by me.” Then he added, “Listen, everybody!”

Ahab’s Dies at Ramoth-gilead^(R)

²⁸ So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah both attacked Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ The king of Israel suggested to Jehoshaphat, “I’ll go into battle in disguise, but you keep your royal uniform on.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and they both went into the battle.

³⁰ Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his chariot commanders: “Don’t attack unimportant soldiers or ranking officers. Go after only the king of Israel.” ³¹ So when the chariot commanders observed Jehoshaphat, they said by mistake, “It’s the king of Israel!” and they turned aside to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord, who helped him, and God diverted them from him. ³² When the chariot commanders saw that their target^[di] was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

³³ Meanwhile, somebody drew his bow and struck the king of Israel at a weak spot where his armor plates joined, so he instructed his chariot driver, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, because I’ve been severely wounded.” ³⁴ The battle continued on for the rest of the day while the king of Israel propped himself up in front of the Arameans until the sun set, at which time he died.

Jehu the Seer Warns Jehoshaphat

19 After this, King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, ² where Hanani’s son Jehu, the seer, went out to meet him. He asked king Jehoshaphat, “Should you be helping those who are wicked, yes or no? Should you love those who hate the Lord? Wrath is headed your way directly from the Lord because of this. ³ Nevertheless, a few good things have been found in you, in that you have removed the Asheroth^[dj] from the land and you have disciplined yourself to seek God.”

Judges are Appointed

⁴ Jehoshaphat continued to live in Jerusalem, but he travelled again throughout the people from Beer-sheba to Mount Ephraim, bringing them back to the Lord God of their ancestors ⁵ and appointing judges throughout the land in all of the walled cities of Judah, city by city. He issued this reminder to the judges:

⁸ In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat also appointed certain descendants of Levi, priests, and family leaders of Israel to render verdicts for the Lord and to decide difficult cases. Their offices were in Jerusalem. ⁹ He issued this reminder to them:

Judah is Invaded Unexpectedly

20 Sometime after these events, the Moabites and the Ammonites, accompanied by some other descendants of Ammon,^[dr] attacked Jehoshaphat and started a war. ² Jehoshaphat’s military advisors^[ds] came and informed him, “We’ve been attacked by a vast invasion force from Aram,^[dt] beyond the Dead^[du] Sea. Be advised—they’ve already reached Hazazon-tamar, also known as En-gedi.”

³ In mounting fear, Jehoshaphat devoted himself^[dv] to seek the Lord. He proclaimed a period of^[dw] fasting throughout all of the territory of^[dx] Judah, ⁴ and the tribe of^[dy] Judah assembled together to seek the Lord. People^[dz] came from all of the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.

Jehoshaphat Prays and the People Wait

⁵ Jehoshaphat stood among the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the Lord’s Temple in the vicinity of the new court ⁶ and said:

¹³ All of Judah was standing in the Lord’s presence, along with their little babies, their wives, and their children.

The Prophetic Response of Jahaziel

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Zechariah’s son Jahaziel, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a descendant of Levi from the descendants of Asaph in the middle of the assembly, and he said:

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face^[eg] to the ground, and all the assembled inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem fell face down in the Lord’s presence and worshipped the Lord. ¹⁹ Descendants of Levi from the descendants of Kohath and from the descendants of Korah stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel in a very loud voice that ascended to heaven.^[eh]

Jehoshaphat’s Instructions the Next Morning

²⁰ The army^[ei] got up early the next morning and headed out into the wilderness of Tekoa. Jehoshaphat stood up and addressed them. “Listen to me, you inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem,” he said. “Have faith in the Lord your God and you’ll be established! Have faith in his prophets and you’ll succeed!” ²¹ After he had consulted with the people, Jehoshaphat^[ej] appointed some choir members^[ek] to sing to the Lord and to praise him in sacred splendor as they marched out in front of the armed forces. They kept saying

²² Right on time, as they began to sing and praise, the Lord ambushed^[el] the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of^[em] Mount Seir^[en] who had attacked Judah, and they were defeated. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them, and after they had finished with the inhabitants of Mount Seir, they worked on destroying one another!^[eo]

²⁴ When the army of^[ep] Judah arrived at the remotest watchtower in the wilderness, they looked around at the invasion force, and to their surprise, there were dead bodies lying all around on the ground—not one had escaped! ²⁵ Later on, when Jehoshaphat and his army arrived to collect the spoils of war, they discovered there were far more goods, garments, and other valuable items to collect than they could carry off in a single day.^[eq] There was so much material that it took three days to finish their collection efforts.

A Victory Celebration in Beracah Valley

²⁶ Three days later, they assembled together in the Beracah Valley, where they blessed the Lord, which is why the name of that place is called Beracah^[er] Valley to this day. ²⁷ Then they all returned with joy to Jerusalem, every soldier from Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at the head of the procession, because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They proceeded directly to the Lord’s Temple, carrying lyres, harps, and trumpets. ²⁹ Fear of God seized all of the kingdoms in the surrounding territories when they heard that the Lord had battled Israel’s enemies. ³⁰ As a result, Jehoshaphat’s kingdom enjoyed peace, because his God had provided rest for him all around.

A Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign^(S)

³¹ Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, having become king at the age of 35. He reigned in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He followed the example of his father Asa and never departed from it, practicing what the Lord considered to be right. ³³ However, the high places were not removed, since the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their ancestors. ³⁴ The rest of Jehoshaphat’s accomplishments, from first to last, are recorded in the annals of Hanani’s son Jehu, which appears in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Jehoshaphat’s Evil Alliance with Ahaziah

³⁵ Sometime later, King Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into a military alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, acting wickedly by doing so. ³⁶ He also agreed with King Ahaziah^[es] to build ships to sail toward Tarshish, which they built in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ But Dodavahu’s son Eliezer from Mareshah prophesied in opposition to Jehoshaphat, “Because you have entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your efforts.” So the ships were destroyed and were never able to sail for Tarshish.

Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat^(T)

21 Jehoshaphat died, as had his ancestors, and was buried in the City of David alongside his ancestors. His son Jehoram became king in his place. ² Jehoshaphat’s sons, Jehoram’s^[et] brothers, included Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah,^[eu] Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel.

³ Their father gave them many gifts made of silver, and gold, as well as valuable things, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he passed the kingdom to Jehoram because Jehoram was his firstborn. ⁴ But after Jehoram had assumed the throne and consolidated his rule over his father’s kingdom, he executed all of his brothers, along with some of the rulers of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He lived like^[ev] the kings of Israel, following the example of Ahab’s dynasty, since he had married Ahab’s daughter, and he practiced what the Lord considered to be evil. ⁷ Nevertheless, the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty because of the covenant that he had made with David, especially since he had promised to give him and to his sons the reigning presence of an heir^[ew] forever.

Edom Revolts^(U)

⁸ Nevertheless, Edom revolted against Judah’s rule and set up their own king to rule them during Jehoram’s reign.^{[ex] 9} So Jehoram invaded Edom^[ey] with his commanders and his chariots by night and killed the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ Edom remains in revolt against Judah to this day. Libnah revolted against Jehoram’s rule, too, because he had abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors. ¹¹ In addition to all of this, he built high places in the mountains of Judah, led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into cultic sexual immorality, and made Judah go astray.

Elijah Writes a Letter

¹² After this, a letter arrived from Elijah the prophet. It said:

¹⁶ The Lord also provoked the attitude of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians against Jehoram, ¹⁷ and they attacked Judah, invading it and carried off everything he owned in his royal palace, along with all of his sons and wives except for his youngest son Jehoahaz.^[ez]

Jehoram’s Illness and Death^(V)

¹⁸ After all of this happened, the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable illness. ¹⁹ In due course, as time passed, two years later^[fa] his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died in agony. His people lit no memorial bonfire for him as they had done for his ancestors. ²⁰ Jehoram^[fb] was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He left this earth^[fc]—to nobody’s regret—and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram^(W)

22 The residents of Jerusalem made Jehoram’s^[fd] son Ahaziah^[fe] king in his place after the raiding party that had invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all of the older sons. That’s how Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king of Judah. ² Ahaziah was 22^[ff] years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, Omri’s granddaughter.

³ He followed the example^[fg] of Ahab’s dynasty because his mother gave him evil counsel. ⁴ So he practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just like Ahab’s dynasty had done, because after his father died, he was given advice that resulted in his destruction. ⁵ He followed their counsel and accompanied Ahab’s son Joram, king of Israel, to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram, ⁶ so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramah in the battle against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoram’s son, went to visit Ahab’s son Joram, because he was wounded.

Ahaziah is Executed^(X)

⁷ God used Ahaziah’s visit to Joram to destroy Ahaziah. As soon as he arrived, Ahaziah^[fh] went out with Joram to attack Nimshi’s son Jehu, whom the Lord had appointed to eliminate Ahab’s dynasty. ⁸ And that’s exactly what happened. While Jehu was punishing^[fi] Ahab’s dynasty, he located the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were ministering to Ahaziah, and he put them to death. ⁹ Jehu^[fj] also searched for Ahaziah, had him apprehended while Ahaziah^[fk] was hiding out in Samaria, and had Ahaziah^[fl] brought to him. Jehu^[fm] had Ahaziah^[fn] executed and buried. It was said of Jehu,^[fo] “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all of his heart.” As a result, there was no one left in the household of Ahaziah strong enough to reign in the kingdom.

Athaliah’s Revolt^(Y)

¹⁰ As soon as Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she set out to destroy the entire royal family of Judah. ¹¹ However, the king’s daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah’s son Joash away from the king’s children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That’s how King Jehoram’s daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada’s wife and Ahaziah’s sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him. ¹² Joash^[fp] remained with them for six years, hidden in God’s Temple while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Jehoiada Establishes Joash as King^(Z)

23 Seven years later, Jehoiada mustered up some courage and made a deal with the officers who commanded units of hundreds of soldiers, including Jehoram’s son Azariah, Jehochanan’s son Ishmael, Obed’s son Azariah, Adaiah’s son Maaseiah, and Zichri’s son Elishaphat. ² They traveled throughout Judah and gathered together the descendants of Levi from all the cities of Judah, along with the Israeli family leaders. ³ Everybody went to Jerusalem, and the whole group made a covenant with the king in God’s Temple, where Jehoiada^[fq] addressed them:

⁸ What Jehoiada the priest ordered is precisely what the descendants of Levi and all of Judah did. Each of them took the men who were on duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty. Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions from service, ⁹ and Jehoiada the priest issued the spears and shields that King David had placed in storage in God’s Temple to the officers in charge of the units of hundreds. ¹⁰ He set the rest of the people to serve as guards for the king, and each one brandished weapons in his hand, from the south side of the Temple to the north side of the Temple, around the altar, and surrounding the palace. ¹¹ Then he brought out the king’s son, put a crown on him, and presented him with the Testimony,^[ft]

Joash is Crowned and Athaliah Executed^(AA)

¹² When Athaliah heard all the commotion of the people running around and praising the king, she went straight to the Lord’s Temple to confront^[fu] the people. ¹³ She looked around, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the gate, accompanied by officers and trumpeters who stood beside the king, along with all the people of the land rejoicing and sounding trumpets while singers lead the celebration with their musical instruments. Athaliah tore her robes and yelled “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ But Jehoiada the priest summoned the captains of hundreds who had been appointed in charge over the army and ordered them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and execute anyone who follows her.” The priest also told them, “Don’t execute her in the Lord’s Temple.” ¹⁵ So they arrested her when she arrived at the entrance to the Horse Gate near the royal palace, and then they executed her there.