2 Chronicles 20
1 It came about after this, that the people of Moab and Ammon, and with them some Meunites came against Jehoshaphat to do battle.
Later [armies from] Moab and Ammon and some soldiers from [the] Meun [area in Edom] came [to fight] against Jehoshaphat’s [army].
2 Then some came who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A large multitude is coming against you from beyond the Dead Sea, from Edom. See, they are in Hazezon Tamar,” that is, Engedi.
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.
3 Jehoshaphat became afraid and set himself to seek Yahweh. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
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.
4 Judah gathered together to seek Yahweh; they came to seek Yahweh from all the cities of Judah.
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.
5 Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, at the house of Yahweh, in front of the new courtyard.
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in front of the people of Judah in front of the new courtyard of the temple,
6 He said, “Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven? Are you not the ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so no one is able to resist you.
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.
7 Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham?
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.
8 They lived in it and built you a holy place in it for your name, saying,
We have lived here and have built a temple where we, your people, worship you. We said,
9 'If disaster comes on us—the sword, judgment, or disease, or famine—we will stand before this house, and before you (for your name is in this house), and we will cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear us and save us.'
'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.'
10 See now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt; instead, Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.
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].
11 See how they are rewarding us; they are coming to drive us out of your land that you have given us to inherit.
[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]
12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great army that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
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.”
13 All Judah stood before Yahweh, with their little ones, wives, and children.
All the men of Judah and their wives and children and babies were standing there in the presence of Yahweh [while Jehoshaphat prayed].
14 Then in the middle of the assembly, the Spirit of Yahweh came on Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, the Levite, one of the sons of Asaph.
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,
15 Jahaziel said, “Listen, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what Yahweh says to you, 'Do not fear; do not be discouraged because of this great army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.
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].
16 You must go down against them tomorrow. See, they are coming up by way of the pass of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
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.
17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand in your positions, stand still, and see the rescue of Yahweh with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear nor be discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for Yahweh is with you.'”
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.’”
18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping him.
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.
19 The Levites, those of the descendants of the Kohathites and Korahites, stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
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].
20 Early in the morning they arose and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Trust in Yahweh your God, and you will be supported. Trust in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
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.”
21 After he consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to Yahweh and who praised him for his majestic splendor as they went out before the army, saying, “Give thanks to Yahweh, for his covenant faithfulness endures forever.”
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.”
22 When they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set men in ambush against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who were coming against Judah. They were defeated.
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.
23 For the people of Ammon and Moab rose to fight the inhabitants of Mount Seir, in order to completely kill them and destroy them. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Mount Seir, they all helped to destroy each other.
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.
24 When Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked out on the army. Behold, they were dead, fallen to the ground; none had escaped.
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.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take plunder from them, they found among them abundant goods, clothing, and valuable articles, which they took for themselves, more than they could carry away. It took them three days to carry off the plunder, there was so much of it.
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.
26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah. There they praised Yahweh, so the name of that place is the “Valley of Berakah” to this day.
The following day they gathered in Beracah Valley and praised Yahweh there. That is why that valley is still called Beracah, [which means praise.]
27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in their lead, to go again to Jerusalem with joy, for Yahweh had made them rejoice over their enemies.
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.
28 They came to Jerusalem and to the house of Yahweh with lyres, harps, and trumpets.
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they went to the temple, [playing] harps and lutes and trumpets.
29 The terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the nations when they heard that Yahweh had fought against Israel's enemies.
People in the kingdoms of the nearby countries became very afraid when they heard how Yahweh had fought against the enemies of the Israelis.
30 So Jehoshaphat's kingdom was quiet, for his God gave him peace all around him.
Then there was peace in the kingdom that was ruled by Jehoshaphat, because God had caused the surrounding nations not to attack it.
31 Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
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.
32 He walked in the ways of Asa, his father; he did not turn away from them; he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh.
He did things that were pleasing to Yahweh, like his father Asa had done, and he did not stop doing those things.
33 However, the high places were not taken away. The people still had not directed their hearts to the God of their ancestors.
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.
34 As for the other matters concerning Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu son of Hanani, which is recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.
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.
35 After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who committed much wickedness.
During his reign, Jehoshaphat made a treaty with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, who was a very wicked king.
36 He allied himself with him to build ships to go to Tarshish. They built the ships at Ezion Geber.
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],
37 Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat; he said, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your projects.” The ships were wrecked so that they were not able to sail.
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.
