2 Chronicles 20
1 After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to fight against Josaphat.
Then, after this, the Moabites and Ammonites, as well as some of the Meunites, came to attack Jehoshaphat.
2 And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying: There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of Syria, and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.
Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A large army is coming to fight you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. They have already reached Hazazon-tamar,” (otherwise called En-gedi).
3 And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda.
Jehoshaphat was afraid, and went to ask the Lord what to do. He also ordered everyone throughout Judah to fast.
4 And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord: and all came out of their cities to make supplication to him.
So the people of Judah gathered in Jerusalem to pray to the Lord—in fact, they came from all the towns of Judah to commit themselves to him.
5 And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court,
Jehoshaphat stood before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at the Temple, in front of the new courtyard,
6 And said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven, and rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength and power, and no one can resist thee.
and said, “Lord, God of our forefathers, aren't you the God of heaven? Don't you rule over all earthly kingdoms? You possess strength and power, and no one can stand against you!
7 Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
Our God, didn't you drive out before your people Israel those who living in this land? Didn't you give this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever?
8 And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name, saying:
They are living in the land and have built a Temple for you here to honor you, saying,
9 If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our afflictions, and thou wilt hear, and save us.
‘If disaster strikes us, whether it's invasion or judgment, disease or famine, we will stand in front of this Temple and before you, for this Temple is yours. We will cry out to you to help us in our suffering, and you will hear us and save us.’
10 Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to pass, when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and slew them not,
Look, here come the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, those very countries you did not let Israel invade when they came out of Egypt. Israel left them alone and did not destroy them.
11 Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the possession which thou hast delivered to us.
See how they're rewarding us, coming to steal the land you gave us to possess forever!
12 O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have not strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee.
Our God, won't you punish them, because we don't have the power to confront such a great army that is marching against us? We don't know what to do. We're looking to you for help.”
13 And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and their wives, and their children.
All the men of Judah stood before the Lord, together with their wives and children and babies.
14 And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude,
Then the Spirit of the Lord came over Jahaziel while he was standing there in the assembly. He was the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from the descendants of Asaph.
15 And he said: Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
He said, “Listen, everyone from Judah, people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord has to say to you: Don't be afraid or discouraged because of this large army. This isn't your battle—it's God's!
16 Tomorrow you shall go down against them: for they will come up by the ascent named Sis, and you shall find them at the head of the torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel.
Tomorrow march down to face them. You will see them coming up the pass at Ziz—you'll find them at the end of the valley in front of the desert of Jeruel.
17 It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: tomorrow you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.
But you do not need to fight this battle. Just stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem! Don't be afraid or discouraged! March down to face them, for the Lord is with you!”
18 Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell hat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him.
Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell to the ground before the Lord, worshiping him.
19 And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high.
Then the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, shouting loudly.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.
They got up early the next morning and went to the desert of Tekoa. As they left, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem. Trust in the Lord your God, and you will be vindicated; trust in his prophets, and you will be successful.”
21 And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever.
After discussion with the people, he appointed singers to praise the Lord for his glorious, holy goodness. They led the way at the front of the army, singing, “Praise the Lord, for his trustworthy love lasts forever!”
22 And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain.
As soon as they started singing and praising, the Lord ambushed the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming to attack Judah, and they were defeated.
23 For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed one another.
The men of Ammon and Moab turned on the men from Mount Seir, killing all of them. Once they'd finished wiping out the army from Seir, they turned on each other, destroying themselves.
24 And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death.
So when the men of Judah came to the watchtower in the desert, they looked out to see the enemy army and all they saw were corpses lying on the ground! No one had escaped.
25 Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies, stuff of various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and they took them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all, nor in three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great.
When Jehoshaphat and his people came to collect the plunder, they found a great deal of cattle, equipment, clothing, and other valuable articles, more than they could carry. It took three days to collect the plunder because there was so much of it.
26 And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called that place the valley of Blessing until this day.
On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing. They gave it this name because this was where they blessed the Lord. It is still called the Valley of Blessing to this day.
27 And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem returned, and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy, because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem celebrated as they returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, full of joy for the Lord's victory over their enemies.
28 And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets into the house of the Lord.
They entered Jerusalem and went straight to the Temple of Lord, accompanied by music from harps, lyres, and trumpets.
29 And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
All the kingdoms around were in awe of God when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace round about.
Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were at peace, for God gave him rest—there were no attacks from any direction.
31 And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was five and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Selahi.
So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, having become king when he was thirty-five years, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and departed not from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord.
Jehoshaphat followed the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it. He did what was right in the Lord's sight.
33 But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had not yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers.
However, the high places were not removed, and the people were not committed to the God of their forefathers.
34 But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, first and last, are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books of the kings of Israel.
The rest of what Jehoshaphat did, from beginning to end, is written down in the chronicles of Jehu, son of Hanani, recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
35 After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked.
Later in his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did wicked things.
36 And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tharsis: and they made the ships in Asiongaber.
They agreed to work together and send ships to Tarshish. The ships were built in Ezion-geber.
37 And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to Josaphat, saying: Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the Lord hath destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they could not go to Tharsis.
But Eliezer, son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you're doing.” The ships were wrecked and couldn't sail to Tarshish.
