2 Chronicles 20
1 And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of 'Ammon, and with them some of the 'Ammonim, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then, after this, the Moabites and Ammonites, as well as some of the Meunites, came to attack Jehoshaphat.
2 And there came some and told unto Jehoshaphat, saying, There is coming against thee a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Syria; and, behold, they are in Chazazon-thamar, 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 Then became Jehoshaphat afraid, and he directed his face to seek the Lord; and he proclaimed a fast over all Judah.
Jehoshaphat was afraid, and went to ask the Lord what to do. He also ordered everyone throughout Judah to fast.
4 And [the people of] Judah gathered themselves together, to ask [help] of the Lord: also out of all the cities of Judah did they come to seek the Lord.
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 forward in the assembly of Judah 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 he said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, thou art God in the heavens, and thou rulest over all the kingdoms of the nations; and in thy hand are the power and might, and there is none that can 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 Behold, it is thou, O our God, who hast driven out the inhabitants of this land from before thy people Israel; and thou gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend to eternity.
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 have dwelt therein, and have built for thee therein a sanctuary for thy name, saying,
They are living in the land and have built a Temple for you here to honor you, saying,
9 If there should come over us any evil, the sword, punishment, or pestilence, or famine, [then] will we stand before this house, and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, and we will cry unto thee out of our distress, and 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 Se'ir, against whom thou wouldst not suffer Israel to come, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside 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 And behold, they recompense us, by coming to drive us out of thy inheritance, which thou hast given us to possess.
See how they're rewarding us, coming to steal the land you gave us to possess forever!
12 O our God, wilt thou not execute justice on them? for there is no power in us against this great multitude that is coming against us; and we indeed know not what we are to do: but upon thee are our eyes [directed].
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 were standing before the Lord, also their little ones, their wives, and their sons.
All the men of Judah stood before the Lord, together with their wives and children and babies.
14 And upon Jachaziel the son of Zecharyahu, the son of Benayah, the son of Je'iel, the son of Matthanyah, the Levite, of the sons of Assaph, came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the assembly;
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, Listen ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus hath said the Lord unto you, Be ye not afraid and be not dismayed because of this great multitude; for not unto you belongeth the battle, but unto God.
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 go ye down against them behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye will find them at the end of the valley, in front of 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 place: stand firmly, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out to meet 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 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, to prostrate themselves unto the Lord.
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 then arose the Levites, of the children of the Kehathites, and of the children of the Korehites, to praise the Lord the God of Israel with a very loud voice.
Then the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, shouting loudly.
20 And they rose up early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Thekoa': and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood forward and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God, and ye will have permanence; believe his prophets, and ye will 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 he consulted with his people, and he appointed singers unto the Lord, and those that should praise in the holy ornaments, as they went out before the armed array, and said, Give thanks unto the Lord; for unto everlasting endureth his kindness.
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 at the time when they began with the song and the praise, the Lord set an ambush against the children of 'Ammon, Moab, and mount Se'ir, who 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 And the children of 'Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Se'ir, utterly to annihilate and to destroy them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Se'ir, they helped to destroy 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 Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had 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 then came Jehoshaphat and his people to plunder their booty, and they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and costly vessels, which they stript off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in plundering the booty, for 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 the Lord: therefore did they call the name of this place, The valley of Berachah [[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 Then returned all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to return to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had caused 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 with harps and with trumpets unto 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 a dread from God was on all the kingdoms of [those] countries, when they heard that the Lord had fought with 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 kingdom of Jehoshaphat had repose, and his God gave him rest all round about.
Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were at peace, for God gave him rest—there were no attacks from any direction.
31 And [so] did Jehoshaphat reign over Judah; thirty and five years old was he when he became king, and twenty and five years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was 'Azubah the daughter of Shilchi.
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 Assa, and turned not aside from it, doing what is right in the eyes of 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 Nevertheless the high-places were not removed; for the people had not yet directed their heart firmly 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 And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Chanani, which was entered into 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 the king of Judah connect himself with Achazyah the king of Israel, the same who acted very wickedly;
Later in his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did wicked things.
36 And he connected himself with him to make ships to go to Tharshish: and they made ships in 'Ezyon-geber.
They agreed to work together and send ships to Tarshish. The ships were built in Ezion-geber.
37 Then prophesied Eli'ezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast connected thyself with Achazyahu, the Lord hath broken down thy works. And the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tharshish.
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.
