2 Chronicles 21

1 Iehosphaphat then slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the citie of Dauid: and Iehoram his sonne reigned in his steade.

Then Jehoshaphat died, and was buried where his ancestors were buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. Then his son Jehoram became the king [of Judah].

2 And he had brethren the sonnes of Iehoshaphat, Azariah, and Iehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sonnes of Iehoshaphat King of Israel.

His [younger] brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah.

3 And their father gaue them great giftes of siluer and of golde, and of precious things, with strong cities in Iudah, but the kingdome gaue he to Iehoram: for he was the eldest.

Before Jehoshaphat died, he gave them gifts of silver and gold and other valuable things. He also appointed them to rule various cities in Judah that had walls around them. But he appointed Jehoram to be the king of Judah, because Jehoram was his oldest son.

4 And Iehoram rose vp vpon the kingdom of his father, and made himselfe strong, and slew all his brethren with the sworde, and also of the princes of Israel.

After Jehoram was completely in control of his father’s kingdom, he had all of his [younger] brothers executed, along with some of the leaders of the nation.

5 Iehoram was two and thirtie yeere olde, when he began to reigne, and he reigned eyght yeere in Ierusalem.

Jehoram was 32 years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.

6 And he walked in the way of the Kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife, and he wrought euill in the eyes of the Lord.

But he did many of the [evil] things that the kings of Israel had done. He did many things that Yahweh considers to be evil, things that the family of Ahab had done, because he married one of Ahab’s daughters.

7 Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of Dauid, because of the couenant that he had made with Dauid, and because he had promised to giue a light to him, and to his sonnes for euer.

However, because of the agreement that Yahweh had made with King David, Yahweh did not want to get rid of the descendants of David. He had promised that David’s descendants would always be the ones who ruled Judah.

8 In his dayes Edom rebelled from vnder the hand of Iudah, and made a King ouer them.

While Jehoram was ruling, the people of [the] Edom [region] rebelled against [the king of] Judah and appointed their own king.

9 And Iehoram went forth with his princes, and all his charets with him: and hee rose vp by night, and smote Edom, which had compassed him in, and the captaines of the charets.

So Jehoram and his officers and his men in chariots went to Edom. There, the army of Edom surrounded them. Jehoram escaped during the night.

10 But Edom rebelled from vnder the hande of Iudah vnto this day. then did Libnah rebell at the same time from vnder his hand, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.

But the king of Judah was never able to regain control of Edom, and Edom is still not controlled by Judah. [The people in] Libnah [city between Judah and Philistia] also rebelled against Judah. Those things happened because Jehoram turned away from [obeying] Yahweh, the God whom his ancestors [belonged to].

11 Moreouer hee made hie places in the mountaines of Iudah, and caused the inhabitants of Ierusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Iudah thereto.

On the hilltops in Judah he had also built shrines [to worship idols], and had caused the people of Judah to stray away from Yahweh by worshiping foreign gods.

12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the Prophet, saying, Thus sayth the Lord God of Dauid thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the wayes of Iehoshaphat thy father, nor in the wayes of Asa King of Iudah,

One day, Jehoram received a letter from the prophet Elijah. Elijah had written this in the letter: “This is what Yahweh, the God whom your ancestor [King] David [worshiped], says: 'You have not done things that please me like your father Jehoshaphat did or what King Asa did.

13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Iudah and the inhabitantes of Ierusalem to go a whoring, as the house of Ahab went a whoring, and hast also slaine thy brethre of thy fathers house, which were better then thou,

Instead, you have continually done the [evil things] that the kings of Israel have done. You have encouraged the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah to stop worshiping Yahweh, like the descendants of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, who were more righteous men than you are.

14 Beholde, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wiues, and all thy substance,

So now Yahweh is about to very severely punish the people in your kingdom and even your own children and your wives and everything that you own.

15 And thou shalt be in great diseases in the disease of thy bowels, vntill thy bowels fall out for the disease, day by day.

And you yourself will have an intestinal disease that will continue to become worse, and you will suffer from it until you die.'”

16 So the Lord stirred vp against Iehoram the spirite of the Philistims, and the Arabians that were beside the Ethiopians.

Then Yahweh caused some men from the Philistia people-group and some Arabs who lived near the coast [of the Mediterranean Sea], where people from Ethiopia had settled, to become angry with Jehoram.

17 And they came vp into Iudah, and brake into it, and caryed away all the substance that was found in the Kings house, and his sonnes also, and his wiues, so that there was not a sonne left him, saue Iehoahaz, the yongest of his sonnes.

Their army invaded Judah and took away [from Jerusalem] all the valuable things that they found in the king’s palace, and even his sons and wives. His youngest son, Ahaziah, was the only one of his sons whom they did not take away.

18 And after all this, the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

After that happened, Yahweh caused Jehoram to be afflicted with an intestinal disease that no one could cure.

19 And in processe of time, euen after the end of two yeeres, his guttes fell out with his disease: so he dyed of sore diseases: and his people made no burning for him like the burning of his fathers.

About two years later, while he was in great pain, he died because of that disease. The people of Judah had made bonfires to honor his ancestors when they died, but they did not make a bonfire for Jehoram.

20 When he began to reigne, he was two and thirtie yeere olde, and reigned in Ierusalem eight yeere, and liued without being desired: yet they buryed him in the citie of Dauid, but not among the sepulchres of the Kings.

Jehoram was 32 years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. No one was sorry when he died. His corpse was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, but he was not buried where the other kings [of Judah] had been buried.