The Daily Audio Bible
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19 King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem. 2 Jehu the son of Hanani the man who tells what will happen in the future went out to meet King Jehoshaphat, and said to him, “Should you help the sinful? Should you love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the Lord is angry with you. 3 But there is some good in you. For you have destroyed from the land the false goddess Asherah. And you have set your heart to follow God.”
The Changes Made by Jehoshaphat
4 So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim. And he brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 5 He chose judges in the land in all the strong cities of Judah, city by city. 6 And he said to the judges, “Think about what you do. For you do not judge for man, but for the Lord. He is with you when you judge between right and wrong. 7 So now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be very careful what you do. For the Lord our God will have nothing to do with what is not right and good, or with what is not fair, or with taking pay for doing what is wrong.”
8 In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat chose some of the Levites and religious leaders, and heads of families of Israel. He chose them to judge for the Lord, and to judge the troubles among the people of Jerusalem. 9 Then he told them what they must do. He said, “Do this in the fear of the Lord. Be faithful, and do your duty with your whole heart. 10 Whenever trouble comes to you between your brothers who live in the cities, between blood and blood, between one law and another, tell them not to sin before the Lord, so God’s anger may not come upon you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not be guilty. 11 See, Amariah the head religious leader will be over you in everything that has to do with the Lord. And Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the family of Judah, will be over you in everything that has to do with the king. The Levites will work for you as leaders. Be strong in what you do, and the Lord will be with the good.”
War against Edom
20 After this the men of Moab, and Ammon, and some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “Very many people are coming against you from the other side of the sea, from Syria. See, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is, Engedi).” 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid and decided to call on the Lord. He made a special time of not eating in all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered together to pray for help from the Lord. They came to the Lord from all the cities of Judah to call on the Lord.
5 Jehoshaphat stood among the people of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, in front of the new open space. 6 Then he said, “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? Do You not rule over all the nations? Power and strength are in Your hand, so that no one is able to stand against You. 7 O our God, did You not make the people of this land leave so that Your people Israel could have it and give it to the children of Your friend Abraham forever? 8 And they have lived in it. They have built You a holy place in it for Your name, saying, 9 ‘If what is bad comes upon us, fighting, hard times, disease, or no food, we will stand in front of this house. And we will stand before You, (for Your name is in this house). We will cry to You in our trouble. And You will hear and take us out of trouble.’ 10 Now see the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel fight when they came from the land of Egypt. (They turned aside from them and did not destroy them.) 11 Look how they are paying us back. They are coming to make us leave Your land which You have given to us. 12 O our God, will You not punish them? For we have no power against all these men who are coming against us. We do not know what to do. But our eyes look to You.” 13 And all the men of Judah were standing before the Lord, with their babies, their wives, and their children.
14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph, as he stood among the people. 15 He said, “Listen, all Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or troubled because of these many men. For the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Go down to fight them tomorrow. See, they will come up by the hill of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, in front of the desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Just stand still in your places and see the saving power of the Lord work for you, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid or troubled. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.” 18 Then Jehoshaphat put his face to the ground. And all Judah and the people of Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 The Levites, of the Kohathites and Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
20 They got up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. When they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and people of Jerusalem. Trust in the Lord your God, and you will be made strong. Trust in the men who speak for Him, and you will do well.” 21 When he had spoken with the people, he called those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy clothing. They went out in front of the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord. For His loving-kindness lasts forever.” 22 When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set traps against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah. So they were destroyed. 23 The men of Ammon and Moab fought against the people of Mount Seir, and killed all of them. And when they finished with the people of Seir, they all helped to kill each other.
24 Judah came to the place where they could look out over the desert. When they looked toward the armies, they saw that dead bodies were lying on the ground. No one had been left alive. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away what they wanted from them. They found cattle, many good things, clothing, and things of great worth, which they took for themselves. There was more than they could carry. It took them three days to take all the things, because there was so much. 26 They gathered together in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day. There they praised and thanked the Lord. So the name of that place has been the Valley of Beracah to this day. 27 Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned, with Jehoshaphat leading them. They returned to Jerusalem with joy. For the Lord had filled them with joy by saving them from those who hated them. 28 They came to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem with horns and different kinds of harps. 29 And the fear of God came upon all the nations of the lands, when they heard that the Lord had fought against those who hate Israel. 30 So the nation of Jehoshaphat was at peace. His God gave him rest on all sides.
The End of Jehoshaphat’s Rule
31 So Jehoshaphat ruled over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king. And he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 Jehoshaphat walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not leave it. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 33 But the high places were not taken away. The people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their fathers. 34 The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the story of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is written in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
35 After this King Jehoshaphat of Judah joined with King Ahaziah of Israel who was very sinful. 36 He joined him in making ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah told what would happen against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” So the ships were wrecked, and could not go to Tarshish.
14 But how can they call on Him if they have not put their trust in Him? And how can they put their trust in Him if they have not heard of Him? And how can they hear of Him unless someone tells them? 15 And how can someone tell them if he is not sent? The Holy Writings say, “The feet of those who bring the Good News are beautiful.” (A)
16 But they have not all listened to the Good News. Isaiah says, “Lord, who believed what we told them?” (B) 17 So then, faith comes to us by hearing the Good News. And the Good News comes by someone preaching it. 18 And so I ask, “Did they not hear?” For sure they did. The Holy Writings say, “Their voice was heard over all the earth. The Good News was told to the ends of the earth.” (C) 19 Again I ask, “Did the Jews not understand?” First of all, Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. I will make you angry with a foolish nation of people who do not understand.” (D) 20 Isaiah says even stronger words, “I have been found by men who did not look for Me. I have shown Myself to those who were not asking for Me.” (E) 21 This is what God says about the Jews, “All day long I held out my hand to a people who would not obey Me and who worked against Me.” (F)
11 I ask then, “Has God put His people, the Jews, aside?” No, not at all! I myself am a Jew. Abraham was my early father. I am from the family group of Benjamin. 2 God has not put His people aside. He chose them from the beginning. Do you know what the Holy Writings say about Elijah? Do you know what Elijah said to God against the Jews? 3 He said, “Lord, they have killed Your early preachers. They have destroyed the places where You are worshiped. I am the only one left. They are trying to kill me.” 4 But what did God say to him? God said, “I still have 7,000 men. None of them have worshiped the false god Baal.” 5 It is the same now. A few of the Jews are being chosen because of God’s loving-favor. 6 If they are saved from the punishment of sin because of God’s loving-favor, it is nothing men have done to earn it. If men had earned it, then His loving-favor would not be a free gift. 7 This is the way it was. Many Jews did not get what they were looking for. Only those God chose received it. The hearts of the others were made hard. They could not understand it. 8 The Holy Writings say this about them, “God gave them hearts and minds that want to sleep. He gave them eyes that could not see. To this very day He gave them ears that could not hear.” (G) 9 David said, “Let their table of food become a trap to hold them. Let it be a hole into which they fall and will suffer. 10 Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see. Keep their backs from being straight always because of their troubles.” (H)
11 I ask then, “Did the Jews fall so they would be lost forever?” No, not at all! It means the people who are not Jews are able to be saved from the punishment of sin because the Jews sinned by not putting their trust in Christ. This made the Jews jealous of those who are not Jews. 12 The world received good things from God because of the sin of the Jews. Because the Jews did not receive God’s free gift, the people who are not Jews received good things from Him. Think how much more the world will receive when the Jews finish God’s plan by putting their trust in Christ!
Song of Praise for Being Kept Safe
21 O Lord, in Your strength the king is glad! How great is his joy in Your saving power! 2 You have given him the desire of his heart. You have not kept from him anything that he has asked for. 3 For You meet him with gifts of good things. You set a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked You for life and You gave it to him, a long life forever and ever. 5 His honor is great because of Your help. You have given him greatness and power. 6 You have given him honor and respect forever. And You make him glad with the joy of being with You.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord. Because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not be shaken. 8 Your hand will find all who fight against You. Your right hand will find those who hate You. 9 You will make them like a stove of fire in the time of Your anger. The Lord will eat them up in His anger. And the fire will destroy them. 10 You will destroy their children from the earth, and their sons from the children of men. 11 For they planned much trouble against You. They have made sinful plans that will come to nothing. 12 For You will make them turn their backs when You take up Your bow against them. 13 Be honored in Your strength, O Lord. We will sing and praise Your power.
4 The lazy man does not plow before winter. So he begs during gathering time and has nothing.
5 The plan in a man’s heart is like water in a deep well, but a man of understanding gets it out.
6 Many men tell about their own loving-kindness and good ways but who can find a faithful man?
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