2 Chronicles 21
1 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers, in the city of David, —and Jehoram his son reigned in his steed.
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 Now, he, had brethren, sons of Jehoshaphat—Azariah and Jehiel and Zechariah and Azariah, and Michael and Shephatiah, —all these, were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel,
His [younger] brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah.
3 and their father gave them large presents—of silver and of gold and of precious things, with cities of defence, in Judah, —but, the kingdom, gave he unto Jehoram, for, he, was the firstborn.
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 But, when Jehoram had arisen over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren, with the sword, —moreover also some of the rulers 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 Thirty-two years old, was Jehoram when he began to reign, —and, eight years, reigned he in Jerusalem.
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, like as did the house of Ahab, for, the daughter of Ahab, had he, to wife, —so he wrought wickedness, in the eyes of Yahweh.
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 Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant which he had solemnised, unto David, —and as he had promised to give unto him a lamp, and unto his sons, all the days.
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 days, revolted the Edomites, from under the hand of Judah, —and set over themselves a king.
While Jehoram was ruling, the people of [the] Edom [region] rebelled against [the king of] Judah and appointed their own king.
9 So Jehoram passed over, with his captains, and all his chariot, with him, -and it came to pass that he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites that were round about unto him, and the chariot-captains.
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 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah—unto this day. Then, must Libnah needs revolt at the same time, from under his hand, —because he had forsaken Yahweh, the 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 He too, made high places among the mountains of Judah, —and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unchaste, and seduced Judah.
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 Then came there unto him, a writing, from Elijah the prophet, saying, —Thus, saith Yahweh, God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa, king of Judah;
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 caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unchaste, after the unchastities of the house of Ahab, —moreover also, thine own brethren of the house of thy father who were better than thou, hast thou slain,
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 lo! Yahweh, is about to plague, with a great plague, thy people, -and thy children and thy wives, and all thy possessions;
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 also, thyself, with sore diseases, with disease of thy bowels, -until thy bowels shall fall out, by reason of the disease, in a year added to a year.
And you yourself will have an intestinal disease that will continue to become worse, and you will suffer from it until you die.'”
16 And Yahweh stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and the Arabians, who were under the direction of 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 up against Judah, and forced their way into it, and carried off all the possessions that were found belonging to the house of the king, moreover also his sons and his wives, —so that there was left him never a son, save only Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.
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, Yahweh plagued 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 it came to pass, in a year beyond a year, even when the end of the days of two years had passed, that his bowels fell out by reason of his disease, so that he died, of, malignant disease, —and his people made him no burning, 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 Thirty-two years old, was he when he began to reign, and, eight years, reigned he in Jerusalem, —and went his way—unregretted, and, though they buried him in the city of David, yet, not in 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.
