< 2 Chronicles 20 >
1 And it came to pass after this, that the sons of Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and with them some of the Minaeans, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2 Then there came some who told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria. And, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set himself to seek for Jehovah. And he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help from Jehovah, even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Jehovah before the new court.
6 And he said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, are thou not God in heaven? And are thou not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in thy hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee.
7 Did thou not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built for thee a sanctuary in it for thy name, saying,
9 If evil comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house, ) and cry out to thee in our affliction, and thou will hear and save.
10 And now, behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir (whom thou would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and did not destroy them),
11 behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou have given us to inherit.
12 O our God, will thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. Neither do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons.
14 Then 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, came the Spirit of Jehovah in the midst of the assembly.
15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat. Thus says Jehovah to you, Fear ye not, neither be dismayed because of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's.
16 Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz. And ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for Jehovah is with you.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshiping Jehovah.
19 And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah, the God of Israel, with an exceedingly loud voice.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established. Believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to Jehovah, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to Jehovah. For his loving kindness is forever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set an ambushment against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir who came against Judah, and they were smitten.
23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to slay and destroy them utterly. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another of themselves.
24 And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude. And, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none who escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away. And they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah, for there they blessed Jehovah. Therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah to this day.
27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy. For Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets to the house of Jehovah.
29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet. For his God gave him rest round about.
31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah.
33 However the high places were not taken away. Neither as yet had the people set their hearts to the God of their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. The same did very wickedly.
36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. And they made the ships in Ezion-geber.
37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou have joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has destroyed thy works. And the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
