2 Chronicles 20
1 Later [armies from] Moab and Ammon and some soldiers from [the] Meun [area in Edom] came [to fight] against Jehoshaphat’s [army].
And it came to pass, after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, and, with them, some of the Meunim, came against Jehoshaphat, to battle.
2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is coming to attack your army. They are coming from [the] Edom [region], from the eastern side of the [Dead] Sea. They have already come to Hazazon-Tamar!” Another name for that place is En-Gedi.
And there came [some] and told Jehoshaphat, saying, There is coming against thee, a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Syria, —and lo! they are in Hazazon-tamar, the same, is Engedi.
3 Jehoshaphat became very afraid, so he decided to ask Yahweh [what he should do]. He also proclaimed that all [the people of] Judah should fast.
And Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek unto Yahweh, —and proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
4 The people of Judah gathered together to request Yahweh to help them. They came [to Jerusalem] from every town in Judah to seek help from Yahweh.
And Judah gathered themselves together, to enquire of Yahweh, —even, out of all the cities of Judah, came they in, to seek Yahweh.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in front of the people of Judah in front of the new courtyard of the temple,
And Jehoshaphat stood, in the convocation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Yahweh, —before the new court;
6 and he prayed this: “Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors belonged to, you are surely the God who [rules from] heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You have great power, and no one can successfully oppose you.
and said, O Yahweh, God of our fathers, art not, thou, God in the heavens? and art, thou, not ruling throughout all the kingdoms of the nations? and, in thy hand, [are there not] strength and might? and is there any who, against thee, can stand?
7 Our God, you expelled the people who lived in this land while your Israeli people advanced, and you certainly gave it to us who are descendants of your friend Abraham, to belong to us forever.
Art not, thou, our God, who didst dispossess the inhabitants of this land, from before thy people Israel, —and didst give it unto the seed of Abraham who loved thee, unto times age-abiding?
8 We have lived here and have built a temple where we, your people, worship you. We said,
and they have dwelt therein, —and have built for thee therein, a sanctuary for thy Name, saying:
9 'If we experience disasters, either from our enemies attacking us or from you punishing us, or if we experience a plague or a famine, we will stand in your presence in front of this temple that is built to honor you, and we will cry out to you when we are distressed/suffering, and you will hear us and will rescue us.'
If there come upon us calamity, the sword of judgment or pestilence or famine, we will stand before this house and before thee, for, thy Name, is in this house, —that we may make outcry unto thee out of our distress, that thou mayest hear and save.
10 You would not allow our Israeli ancestors to enter the countries of Ammon and Moab and Edom when they were traveling from Egypt [to Canaan]. So our ancestors turned away from those areas and did not attack the people there and did not destroy them. But now they are coming here [to attack us].
Now, therefore, lo! the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou didst not suffer Israel to invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, —but they turned away from them and destroyed them not,
11 [We did not destroy them. But now] look at how they are repaying us by trying to expel us from the land that you gave to our ancestors to belong to them [and their descendants forever]
yea lo! they, are requiting us, —by coming to drive us out, from thy possession, which thou didst cause us to possess.
12 So, our God, please punish them, because we do not have enough power to resist/defeat this huge army that is coming to attack us. We do not know what to do. But we are pleading for you to help us.”
O our God, wilt thou not bring judgment upon them, seeing that there is, in us, no strength, before this great multitude, that is coming against us, —we, therefore, know not what we shall do, but, unto thee, are our eyes.
13 All the men of Judah and their wives and children and babies were standing there in the presence of Yahweh [while Jehoshaphat prayed].
And, all Judah, were standing before Yahweh, —also their little ones, their wives and their children.
14 Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel, who was the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Benaiah, who was the son of Jeiel, who was the son of Mattaniah. He was a descendant of Levi and a descendant of Asaph. He stood up in front of the whole group that was gathered there,
Now, as for Jahaziel son of Zechariah son of Benaiah son of Jeiel son of Mattaniah a Levite, of the sons of Asaph, there came upon him the spirit of Yahweh, in the midst of the convocation:
15 and said, “King Jehoshaphat and all you who live in Jerusalem and in other places in Judah, listen! This is what Yahweh says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this huge army [that is coming to attack you], because it is not you who [will win] this battle. It is God [who will win it].
and he said, Give ye heed, all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! Thus, saith Yahweh unto you. As for you, do not fear nor be dismayed, by reason of this great multitude, for, not yours, is the battle, but, God’s.
16 Tomorrow march down toward them. They will be climbing up through Ziz Pass [north of En-Gedi]. You will meet them at the end of the gorge near the Jeruel Desert.
To-morrow, go ye down against them, for lo! there they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, —and ye shall find them at the end of the ravine, facing the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 But you will not need to fight this battle. You soldiers from Jerusalem and other places in Judah, just take your positions, and then stand still and watch [what will happen]. You will see Yahweh rescue you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. March toward them tomorrow, and Yahweh will be with you.’”
It is not, for you, to fight in this matter, —take your station, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear, nor be dismayed, to-morrow, go ye out to meet them, and, Yahweh, will be with you.
18 Jehoshaphat prostrated himself with his face touching the ground, and all the people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah [who were there] knelt down to worship Yahweh.
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head, with his face to the ground, —and, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell down before Yahweh, prostrating themselves unto Yahweh.
19 Then some descendants of Levi who were descendants of both Kohath and Korah stood up and loudly praised Yahweh, the God whom the Israelis [belonged to].
And Levites—of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to offer praise unto Yahweh, God of Israel, with an exceedingly loud voice.
20 Early the next morning the army left to go to the desert near Tekoa [town]. While they were leaving, Jehoshaphat stood up and said to the people, “You people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah, listen to me! Trust in Yahweh our God; if you do that, you will be strong. Trust in [what] his prophets [have said]; if you do that, you will be successful.”
So they rose early in the morning, and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa, —and, as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Trust ye in Yahweh your God, and ye shall be trusted, Trust ye in his prophets, and ye shall prosper.
21 Then, after consulting with some of the people, he appointed some men to go in front of the army, singing to Yahweh and praising him because of his being holy and wonderful. They were singing, “Thank Yahweh, because he faithfully loves us forever.”
And, when he had given counsel unto the people, he appointed such as should sing unto Yahweh, and offer praise with holy adorning, —as they should be going forth before the armed men, that they should be saying, O give thanks unto Yahweh, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.
22 When they began to sing and praise Yahweh, Yahweh caused the soldiers from Ammon and Moab and Edom who were invading Judah to panic, with the result that they were defeated.
And, when they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh had set liers-in-wait against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who were coming against Judah, and they were smitten.
23 The soldiers from Ammon and Moab started to fight against the soldiers from Edom, and they completely annihilated the soldiers from Edom. After they finished slaughtering the men from Edom, they started to attack each other.
Then rose up the sons of Ammon and Moab against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, —and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to cut off, every man his neighbour.
24 When the soldiers from Judah came to the place where they could look down over the desert, they looked toward that huge army [of their enemies], and they saw only corpses lying on the ground. No one had survived.
So when, Judah, came near the watch-tower of the wilderness, —they turned towards the multitude, and lo! there they were, dead bodies fallen to the earth, with none to escape.
25 So Jehoshaphat and his soldiers went to take the possessions of their enemies, and they saw that there was a lot of equipment and clothing and other valuable things; there was more than they could carry away. There were very many things, with the result that it took three days for them to collect it all.
And, when Jehoshaphat and his people came near to plunder the spoil of them, they found among them, in abundance, both riches and dead bodies and precious jewels, and they stripped off for themselves, beyond what they could carry away, —and they were three days plundering the spoil, for great it was.
26 The following day they gathered in Beracah Valley and praised Yahweh there. That is why that valley is still called Beracah, [which means praise.]
And, on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the vale of Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh, —on this account, was the name of that place called The Vale of Beracah—unto this day.
27 Then while Jehoshaphat led them, all the soldiers who were from Jerusalem and other places in Judah returned to Jerusalem. They were happy because Yahweh had enabled them to defeat their enemies.
Then turned every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with, Jehoshaphat, at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy, —for Yahweh had caused them to rejoice over their enemies.
28 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they went to the temple, [playing] harps and lutes and trumpets.
So they came to Jerusalem, with harps and with lyres, and with trumpets, —unto the house of Yahweh.
29 People in the kingdoms of the nearby countries became very afraid when they heard how Yahweh had fought against the enemies of the Israelis.
And it came to pass that, the dread of God, was upon all the kingdoms of the countries, -when they heard, that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 Then there was peace in the kingdom that was ruled by Jehoshaphat, because God had caused the surrounding nations not to attack it.
So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, —for his God, gave him rest, round about.
31 Jehoshaphat continued to rule Judah. He was 35 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, —thirty-five years old, was he when he began to reign, and, twenty-five years, reigned he in Jerusalem, and the, name of his mother, was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
32 He did things that were pleasing to Yahweh, like his father Asa had done, and he did not stop doing those things.
And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and turned not from it, —doing that which was right, in the eyes of Yahweh.
33 But he did not get rid of the shrines on the hilltops, and many of the people still did not faithfully do what the God whom their ancestors belonged to wanted.
Howbeit, the high places, were not taken away, —for as yet, the people, had not fixed their heart unto the God of their fathers.
34 A record of the other things that Jehoshaphat did while he ruled, from when he began to rule until he died, is in the scrolls written by [the prophet] Jehu, the son of Hanani. They are also in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel.
But, the rest of the story of Jehoshaphat, first and last, lo! there it is written in the story of Jehu son of Hanani, which hath been added to the book of the Kings of Israel.
35 During his reign, Jehoshaphat made a treaty with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, who was a very wicked king.
Yet, after this, did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, —he, was lawless in his doings;
36 They agreed that their workers would build a fleet of ships to use to buy and sell [things with other countries]. After those ships were built at Ezion-Geber [on the Gulf of Aqaba],
and he joined with him, to make ships to go unto Tarshish, —and they made ships in Ezion-geber,
37 Eliezer the son of Dodavahu from Mareshah [city] warned Jehoshaphat. He said, “You have made an alliance with Ahaziah, [who is a wicked king]. Therefore, Yahweh will destroy the ships that your workers have made.” And the ships were wrecked, and were not able to sail to other countries.
Then prophesied, Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, against Jehoshaphat, saying, —Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Yahweh hath broken in pieces thy works. So the ships were wrecked, and were not able to go unto Tarshish.
