The Daily Audio Bible
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19 And Jehoshaphat king of Judah turneth back unto his house in peace to Jerusalem,
2 and go out unto his presence doth Jehu son of Hanani, the seer, and saith unto king Jehoshaphat, `To give help to the wicked, and to those hating Jehovah, dost thou love? and for this against thee [is] wrath from before Jehovah,
3 but good things have been found with thee, for thou hast put away the shrines out of the land, and hast prepared thy heart to seek God.'
4 And Jehoshaphat dwelleth in Jerusalem, and he turneth back and goeth out among the people from Beer-Sheba unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and bringeth them back unto Jehovah, God of their fathers.
5 And he establisheth judges in the land, in all the fenced cities of Judah, for every city,
6 and saith unto the judges, `See what ye are doing -- for not for man do ye judge, but for Jehovah, who [is] with you in the matter of judgment;
7 and now, let fear of Jehovah be upon you, observe and do, for there is not with Jehovah our God perverseness, and acceptance of faces, and taking of a bribe.'
8 And also in Jerusalem hath Jehoshaphat appointed of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they turn back to Jerusalem,
9 and he layeth a charge upon them, saying, `Thus do ye do in the fear of Jehovah, in faithfulness, and with a perfect heart,
10 and any strife that cometh in unto you of your brethren who are dwelling in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and command, statutes, and judgments, then ye have warned them and they become not guilty before Jehovah, and wrath hath not been on you and on your brethren; thus do ye do, and ye are not guilty.
11 `And, lo, Amariah the head priest [is] over you for every matter of Jehovah, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the house of Judah, [is] for every matter of the king, and officers the Levites [are] before you; be strong and do, and Jehovah is with the good.'
20 And it cometh to pass after this, the sons of Moab have come in, and the sons of Ammon, and with them of the peoples, against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 And they come in and declare to Jehoshaphat, saying, `Come against thee hath a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Aram, and lo, they [are] in Hazezon-Tamar -- it [is] En-Gedi.'
3 And Jehoshaphat feareth, and setteth his face to seek to Jehovah, and proclaimeth a fast over all Judah;
4 and Judah is gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also, from all the cities of Judah they have come in to seek Jehovah.
5 And Jehoshaphat standeth in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court,
6 and saith, `O Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not Thou -- God in the heavens? yea, Thou art ruling over all kingdoms of the nations, and in Thy hand [is] power and might, and there is none with Thee to station himself.
7 `Art not Thou our God? Thou hast dispossessed the inhabitants of this land from before Thy people Israel, and dost give it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend to the age,
8 and they dwell in it, and build to Thee in it a sanctuary for Thy name, saying,
9 If evil doth come upon us -- sword, judgment, and pestilence, and famine -- we stand before this house, and before Thee, for Thy name [is] in this house, and cry unto Thee out of our distress, and Thou dost hear and save.
10 `And now, lo, sons of Ammon, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom Thou didst not grant to Israel to go in against in their coming out of the land of Egypt, for they turned aside from off them and destroyed them not,
11 and lo, they are recompensing to us -- to come in to drive us out of Thy possession, that Thou hast caused us to possess.
12 `O our God, dost Thou not execute judgment upon them? for there is no power in us before this great multitude that hath come against us, and we know not what we do, but on Thee [are] our eyes.'
13 And all Judah are standing before Jehovah, also their infants, their wives, and their sons.
14 And upon Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, hath the Spirit of Jehovah been, in the midst of the assembly,
15 and he saith, `Attend, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and O king Jehoshaphat, Thus said Jehovah to you, Ye fear not, nor are afraid of the face of this great multitude, for not for you [is] the battle, but for God.
16 To-morrow, go ye down against them, lo, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and ye have found them in the end of the valley, the front of the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Not for you to fight in this; station yourselves, stand, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem -- be not afraid nor fear ye -- to-morrow go out before them, and Jehovah [is] with you.'
18 And Jehoshaphat boweth -- face to the earth -- and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have fallen before Jehovah, to bow themselves to Jehovah.
19 And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korhites, rise to give praise to Jehovah, God of Israel, with a loud voice on high.
20 And they rise early in the morning, and go out to the wilderness of Tekoa, and in their going out Jehoshaphat hath stood and saith, `Hear me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, remain stedfast in Jehovah your God, and be stedfast; remain stedfast in His prophets, and prosper.'
21 And he taketh counsel with the people, and appointeth singers to Jehovah, and those giving praise to the honour of holiness, in the going out before the armed [men], and saying, `Give ye thanks to Jehovah, for to the age [is] His kindness.'
22 And at the time they have begun with singing and praise, Jehovah hath put ambushments against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who are coming in to Judah, and they are smitten,
23 and the sons of Ammon stand up, and Moab, against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, and at their finishing with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped, a man against his neighbour, to destroy.
24 And Judah hath come in unto the watch-tower, to the wilderness, and they look unto the multitude, and lo, they [are] carcases fallen to the earth, and there is none escaped,
25 and Jehoshaphat cometh in, and his people, to seize their spoil, and they find among them, in abundance, both goods and carcases, and desirable vessels, and they take spoil to themselves without prohibition, and they are three days seizing the spoil, for it [is] abundant.
26 And on the fourth day they have been assembled at the valley of Blessing, for there they blessed Jehovah: therefore they have called the name of that place, `Valley of Blessing,' unto this day.
27 And they turn back, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go back unto Jerusalem with joy, for Jehovah hath made them rejoice over their enemies.
28 And they come in to Jerusalem with psalteries, and with harps, and with trumpets, unto the house of Jehovah.
29 And there is a fear of God on all kingdoms of the lands in their hearing that Jehovah hath fought with the enemies of Israel,
30 and the kingdom of Jehoshaphat is quiet, and his God giveth rest to him round about.
31 And Jehoshaphat reigneth over Judah, a son of thirty and five years in his reigning, and twenty and five years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walketh in the way of his father Asa, and hath not turned aside from it, to do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.
33 Only, the high places have not turned aside, and still the people have not prepared their heart for the God of their fathers.
34 And the rest of the matters of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, lo, they are written among the matters of Jehu son of Hanani, who hath been mentioned on the book of the kings of Israel.
35 And after this hath Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, (he did wickedly in [so] doing),
36 and he joineth him with himself to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they make ships in Ezion-Geber,
37 and prophesy doth Eliezer son of Dodavah, of Mareshah, against Jehoshaphat, saying, `For thy joining thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah hath broken up thy works;' and the ships are broken, and have not retained [power] to go unto Tarshish.
14 How then shall they call upon [him] in whom they did not believe? and how shall they believe [on him] of whom they did not hear? and how shall they hear apart from one preaching?
15 and how shall they preach, if they may not be sent? according as it hath been written, `How beautiful the feet of those proclaiming good tidings of peace, of those proclaiming good tidings of the good things!'
16 But they were not all obedient to the good tidings, for Isaiah saith, `Lord, who did give credence to our report?'
17 so then the faith [is] by a report, and the report through a saying of God,
18 but I say, Did they not hear? yes, indeed -- `to all the earth their voice went forth, and to the ends of the habitable world their sayings.'
19 But I say, Did not Israel know? first Moses saith, `I will provoke you to jealousy by [that which is] not a nation; by an unintelligent nation I will anger you,'
20 and Isaiah is very bold, and saith, `I was found by those not seeking Me; I became manifest to those not inquiring after Me;'
21 and unto Israel He saith, `All the day I did stretch out My hands unto a people unbelieving and gainsaying.'
11 I say, then, Did God cast away His people? let it not be! for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin:
2 God did not cast away His people whom He knew before; have ye not known -- in Elijah -- what the Writing saith? how he doth plead with God concerning Israel, saying,
3 `Lord, Thy prophets they did kill, and Thy altars they dug down, and I was left alone, and they seek my life;'
4 but what saith the divine answer to him? `I left to Myself seven thousand men, who did not bow a knee to Baal.'
5 So then also in the present time a remnant according to the choice of grace there hath been;
6 and if by grace, no more of works, otherwise the grace becometh no more grace; and if of works, it is no more grace, otherwise the work is no more work.
7 What then? What Israel doth seek after, this it did not obtain, and the chosen did obtain, and the rest were hardened,
8 according as it hath been written, `God gave to them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes not to see, and ears not to hear,' -- unto this very day,
9 and David saith, `Let their table become for a snare, and for a trap, and for a stumbling-block, and for a recompense to them;
10 let their eyes be darkened -- not to behold, and their back do Thou always bow down.'
11 I say, then, Did they stumble that they might fall? let it not be! but by their fall the salvation [is] to the nations, to arouse them to jealousy;
12 and if the fall of them [is] the riches of a world, and the diminution of them the riches of nations, how much more the fulness of them?
21 To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. Jehovah, in Thy strength is the king joyful, In Thy salvation how greatly he rejoiceth.
2 The desire of his heart Thou gavest to him, And the request of his lips Thou hast not withheld. Selah.
3 For Thou puttest before him blessings of goodness, Thou settest on his head a crown of fine gold.
4 Life he hath asked from Thee, Thou hast given to him -- length of days, Age-during -- and for ever.
5 Great [is] his honour in Thy salvation, Honour and majesty Thou placest on him.
6 For Thou makest him blessings for ever, Thou dost cause him to rejoice with joy, By Thy countenance.
7 For the king is trusting in Jehovah, And in the kindness of the Most High He is not moved.
8 Thy hand cometh to all Thine enemies, Thy right hand doth find Thy haters.
9 Thou makest them as a furnace of fire, At the time of Thy presence. Jehovah in His anger doth swallow them, And fire doth devour them.
10 Their fruit from earth Thou destroyest, And their seed from the sons of men.
11 For they stretched out against Thee evil, They devised a wicked device, they prevail not,
12 For Thou makest them a butt, When Thy strings Thou preparest against their faces.
13 Be Thou exalted, O Jehovah in, Thy strength, We sing and we praise Thy might!
4 Because of winter the slothful plougheth not, He asketh in harvest, and there is nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of a man [is] deep water, And a man of understanding draweth it up.
6 A multitude of men proclaim each his kindness, And a man of stedfastness who doth find?