2 Chronicles 20
1 Now after this, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunim, made war against Jehoshaphat.
And it came to pass, after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, and, with them, some of the Meunim, came against Jehoshaphat, to battle.
2 And they came to Jehoshaphat with the news, saying, A great army is moving against you from Edom across the sea; and now they are in Hazazon-tamar (which is En-gedi).
And there came [some] and told Jehoshaphat, saying, There is coming against thee, a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Syria, —and lo! they are in Hazazon-tamar, the same, is Engedi.
3 Then Jehoshaphat, in his fear, went to the Lord for directions, and gave orders all through Judah for the people to go without food.
And Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek unto Yahweh, —and proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
4 And Judah came together to make prayer for help from the Lord; from every town of Judah they came to give worship to the Lord.
And Judah gathered themselves together, to enquire of Yahweh, —even, out of all the cities of Judah, came they in, to seek Yahweh.
5 And Jehoshaphat took his place in the meeting of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new open space,
And Jehoshaphat stood, in the convocation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Yahweh, —before the new court;
6 And said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hands are power and strength so that no one is able to keep his place against you.
and said, O Yahweh, God of our fathers, art not, thou, God in the heavens? and art, thou, not ruling throughout all the kingdoms of the nations? and, in thy hand, [are there not] strength and might? and is there any who, against thee, can stand?
7 Did you not, O Lord our God, after driving out the people of this land before your people Israel, give it to the seed of Abraham, your friend, for ever?
Art not, thou, our God, who didst dispossess the inhabitants of this land, from before thy people Israel, —and didst give it unto the seed of Abraham who loved thee, unto times age-abiding?
8 And they made it their living-place, building there a holy house for your name, and saying,
and they have dwelt therein, —and have built for thee therein, a sanctuary for thy Name, saying:
9 If evil comes on us, the sword, or punishment, or disease, or need of food, we will come to this house and to you, (for your name is in this house, ) crying to you in our trouble, and you will give us salvation in answer to our cry.
If there come upon us calamity, the sword of judgment or pestilence or famine, we will stand before this house and before thee, for, thy Name, is in this house, —that we may make outcry unto thee out of our distress, that thou mayest hear and save.
10 And now, see, the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, whom you kept Israel from attacking when they came out of Egypt, so that turning to one side they did not send destruction on them:
Now, therefore, lo! the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou didst not suffer Israel to invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, —but they turned away from them and destroyed them not,
11 See now, how as our reward they have come to send us out of your land which you have given us as our heritage.
yea lo! they, are requiting us, —by coming to drive us out, from thy possession, which thou didst cause us to possess.
12 O our God, will you not be their judge? for our strength is not equal to this great army which is coming against us; and we are at a loss what to do: but our eyes are on you.
O our God, wilt thou not bring judgment upon them, seeing that there is, in us, no strength, before this great multitude, that is coming against us, —we, therefore, know not what we shall do, but, unto thee, are our eyes.
13 And all Judah were waiting before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
And, all Judah, were standing before Yahweh, —also their little ones, their wives and their children.
14 Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph;
Now, as for Jahaziel son of Zechariah son of Benaiah son of Jeiel son of Mattaniah a Levite, of the sons of Asaph, there came upon him the spirit of Yahweh, in the midst of the convocation:
15 And he said, Give ear, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat: the Lord says to you, Have no fear and do not be troubled on account of this great army; for the fight is not yours but God's.
and he said, Give ye heed, all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! Thus, saith Yahweh unto you. As for you, do not fear nor be dismayed, by reason of this great multitude, for, not yours, is the battle, but, God’s.
16 Go down against them tomorrow: see, they are coming up by the slope of Ziz; at the end of the valley, before the waste land of Jeruel, you will come face to face with them.
To-morrow, go ye down against them, for lo! there they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, —and ye shall find them at the end of the ravine, facing the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 There will be no need for you to take up arms in this fight; put yourselves in position, and keep where you are, and you will see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: have no fear and do not be troubled: go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.
It is not, for you, to fight in this matter, —take your station, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear, nor be dismayed, to-morrow, go ye out to meet them, and, Yahweh, will be with you.
18 Then Jehoshaphat went down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem gave worship to the Lord, falling down before him.
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head, with his face to the ground, —and, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell down before Yahweh, prostrating themselves unto Yahweh.
19 And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites and the Korahites, got to their feet and gave praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice.
And Levites—of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to offer praise unto Yahweh, God of Israel, with an exceedingly loud voice.
20 And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you.
So they rose early in the morning, and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa, —and, as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Trust ye in Yahweh your God, and ye shall be trusted, Trust ye in his prophets, and ye shall prosper.
21 And after discussion with the people, he put in their places those who were to make melody to the Lord, praising him in holy robes, while they went at the head of the army, and saying, May the Lord be praised, for his mercy is unchanging for ever.
And, when he had given counsel unto the people, he appointed such as should sing unto Yahweh, and offer praise with holy adorning, —as they should be going forth before the armed men, that they should be saying, O give thanks unto Yahweh, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
22 And at the first notes of song and praise the Lord sent a surprise attack against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome.
And, when they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh had set liers-in-wait against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who were coming against Judah, and they were smitten.
23 And the children of Ammon and Moab made an attack on the people of Mount Seir with a view to their complete destruction; and when they had put an end to the people of Seir, everyman's hand was turned against his neighbour for his destruction.
Then rose up the sons of Ammon and Moab against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, —and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to cut off, every man his neighbour.
24 And Judah came to the watchtower of the waste land, and looking in the direction of the army, they saw only dead bodies stretched on the earth; no living man was to be seen.
So when, Judah, came near the watch-tower of the wilderness, —they turned towards the multitude, and lo! there they were, dead bodies fallen to the earth, with none to escape.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much.
And, when Jehoshaphat and his people came near to plunder the spoil of them, they found among them, in abundance, both riches and dead bodies and precious jewels, and they stripped off for themselves, beyond what they could carry away, —and they were three days plundering the spoil, for great it was.
26 On the fourth day they all came together in the Valley of Blessing, and there they gave blessing to the Lord; for which cause that place has been named the Valley of Blessing to this day.
And, on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the vale of Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh, —on this account, was the name of that place called The Vale of Beracah—unto this day.
27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem went back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, coming back to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them glad over their haters.
Then turned every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with, Jehoshaphat, at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy, —for Yahweh had caused them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 So they came to Jerusalem with corded instruments and wind-instruments into the house of the Lord.
So they came to Jerusalem, with harps and with lyres, and with trumpets, —unto the house of Yahweh.
29 And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had news of how the Lord made war on those who came against Israel.
And it came to pass that, the dread of God, was upon all the kingdoms of the countries, -when they heard, that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for the Lord gave him rest on every side.
So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, —for his God, gave him rest, round about.
31 And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for twenty-five years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, —thirty-five years old, was he when he began to reign, and, twenty-five years, reigned he in Jerusalem, and the, name of his mother, was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
32 He went in the ways of his father Asa, not turning away, but doing right in the eyes of the Lord.
And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and turned not from it, —doing that which was right, in the eyes of Yahweh.
33 The high places, however, were not taken away, and the hearts of the people were still not true to the God of their fathers.
Howbeit, the high places, were not taken away, —for as yet, the people, had not fixed their heart unto the God of their fathers.
34 Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, they are recorded in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which were put in the book of the kings of Israel.
But, the rest of the story of Jehoshaphat, first and last, lo! there it is written in the story of Jehu son of Hanani, which hath been added to the book of the Kings of Israel.
35 After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became friends with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did much evil:
Yet, after this, did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, —he, was lawless in his doings;
36 Together they made ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber.
and he joined with him, to make ships to go unto Tarshish, —and they made ships in Ezion-geber,
37 Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.
Then prophesied, Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, against Jehoshaphat, saying, —Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Yahweh hath broken in pieces thy works. So the ships were wrecked, and were not able to go unto Tarshish.
