2 Chronicles 20
1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then, after this, the Moabites and Ammonites, as well as some of the Meunites, came to attack Jehoshaphat.
2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon–tamar, which is En–gedi.
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 Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Yhwh, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
Jehoshaphat was afraid, and went to ask the Lord what to do. He also ordered everyone throughout Judah to fast.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of Yhwh: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yhwh.
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 Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yhwh, 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 Yhwh God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand 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 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out 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 therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
They are living in the land and have built a Temple for you here to honor you, saying,
9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, ( for thy name is in this house, ) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
‘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 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed 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 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
See how they're rewarding us, coming to steal the land you gave us to possess forever!
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon 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 Judah stood before Yhwh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
All the men of Judah stood before the Lord, together with their wives and children and babies.
14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of Yhwh in the midst of the congregation;
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, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith Yhwh unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great 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 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before 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 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Yhwh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for Yhwh 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 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yhwh, worshipping Yhwh.
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 children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise Yhwh 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 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 Yhwh your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
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 when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto Yhwh, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise Yhwh; 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 and to praise, Yhwh set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
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 Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy 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 Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
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 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
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 assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed Yhwh: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto 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 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Yhwh had made them to 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 to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of Yhwh.
They entered Jerusalem and went straight to the Temple of Lord, accompanied by music from harps, lyres, and trumpets.
29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that Yhwh 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 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were at peace, for God gave him rest—there were no attacks from any direction.
31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
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 Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of Yhwh.
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 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto 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 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book 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 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
Later in his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did wicked things.
36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion–geber.
They agreed to work together and send ships to Tarshish. The ships were built in Ezion-geber.
37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Yhwh hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
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.
