2 Chronicles 21

1 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].

And Jehoshaphat went to rest with his fathers, and his body was put into the earth in the town of David. And Jehoram his son became king in his place.

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

And he had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel.

3 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.

And their father gave them much silver and gold and things of great value, as well as walled towns in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, because he was the oldest.

4 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.

Now when Jehoram had taken his place over his father's kingdom, and had made his position safe, he put all his brothers to death with the sword, as well as some of the princes of Israel.

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

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.

6 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.

He went in the ways of the kings of Israel, and did as the family of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

7 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.

But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on the family of David, because of the agreement he had made with David, when he said he would give to him and to his sons a light for ever.

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

In his time Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, and took a king for themselves.

9 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.

Then Jehoram went over with his captains and all his war-carriages ... made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him ... on the captains of the war-carriages.

10 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].

So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, to this day: and at the same time Libnah made itself free from his rule; because he was turned away from the Lord, the God of his fathers.

11 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.

And more than this, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, teaching the people of Jerusalem to go after false gods, and guiding Judah away from the true way.

12 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.

And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, The Lord, the God of your father David, says, Because you have not kept to the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or the ways of Asa, king of Judah,

13 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.

But have gone in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go after false gods, as the family of Ahab did: and because you have put to death your father's sons, your brothers, who were better than yourself:

14 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.

Now, truly, the Lord will send a great destruction on your people and your children and your wives and everything which is yours:

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

And you yourself will undergo the cruel pains of a disease in your stomach, so that day by day your inside will be falling out because of the disease.

16 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.

Then the Philistines and the Arabians, who are by Ethiopia, were moved by the Lord to make war on Jehoram;

17 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.

And they came up against Judah, forcing a way into it, and took away all the goods in the king's house, as well as his sons and his wives; so that he had no son but only Jehoahaz, the youngest.

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

And after all this the Lord sent on him a disease of the stomach from which it was impossible for him to be made well.

19 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.

And time went on, and after two years, his inside falling out because of the disease, he came to his death in cruel pain. And his people made no burning for him like the burning made for his fathers.

20 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.

He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years: and at his death he was not regretted; they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.