< 2 Chronicles 20 >

1 Aftir these thingis the sones of Moab, and the sones of Amon, and with hem of Idumeis, weren gaderid togidere to Josaphat, for to fiyte ayens hym.
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.
2 And messangeris camen, and schewiden to Josaphat, seiden, A greet multitude of tho placis that ben biyondis the see, and of Sirie, is comun ayens thee; and, lo! thei stonden in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.
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.
3 Forsothe Josaphat was aferd by drede, and `yaf hym silf al for to preye `the Lord, and prechide fastynge to al Juda.
Then became Jehoshaphat afraid, and he directed his face to seek the Lord; and he proclaimed a fast over all Judah.
4 And Juda was gaderid togidere for to preye the Lord, but also alle men camen fro her citees for to biseche hym.
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.
5 And whanne Josaphat hadde stonde in the myddis of the cumpeny of Juda and of Jerusalem, in the hows of the Lord, bifor the newe large place,
And Jehoshaphat stood forward in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court.
6 he seide, Lord God of oure fadris, thou art God in heuene, and thou art lord of alle rewmes of folkis; strengthe and power ben in thin hond, `and noon may ayenstonde thee.
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.
7 Whether not thou, oure God, hast slayn alle the dwelleris of this lond bifor thi puple Israel, and hast youe it to the seed of Abraham, thi freend, withouten ende?
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.
8 And thei dwelliden therynne, and bildiden therinne a seyntuarie to thi name, and seiden,
And they have dwelt therein, and have built for thee therein a sanctuary for thy name, saying,
9 If yuelis comen on vs, the swerd of doom, pestilence, and hungur, we schulen stonde bifor this hows withouten ende in thi siyt, in which hows thi name is clepid, and we schulen crie to thee in oure tribulaciouns; and thou schalt here vs, and schalt make vs saaf.
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.
10 Now therfor lo! the sones of Amon and of Moab and the hil of Seir, bi whiche thou grauntidist not to the sones of Israel for to passe, whanne thei yeden out of Egipt, but thei bowiden awei fro hem, and killiden not hem,
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: —
11 thei doon ayenward, and enforsen to caste vs out of the possessioun, which thou, oure God, hast youe to vs;
And behold, they recompense us, by coming to drive us out of thy inheritance, which thou hast given us to possess.
12 therfor whether thou schalt not deme hem? Treuli in vs is not so greet strengthe, that we moun ayenstonde this multitude, that felde yn on vs; but sithen we witen not what we owen to do, we `han oneli this residue, that we dresse oure iyen to thee.
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].
13 Sotheli al Juda stood bifor the Lord, with her litle children and wyues and fre children.
And all Judah were standing before the Lord, also their little ones, their wives, and their sons.
14 Forsothe Hiaziel, the sone of Zacarie, sone of Ananye, sone of Hieyel, sone of Machanye, was a dekene, and of the sones of Asaph, on whom the Spirit of the Lord was maad in the myddis of the cumpeny,
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;
15 and he seide, Al Juda, and ye that dwellen in Jerusalem, and thou, king Josaphat, perseyue ye, the Lord seith these thingis to you, Nyle ye drede, nether be ye aferd of this multitude, for it is not youre batel, but Goddis batel.
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.
16 To morewe ye schulen stie `ayens hem; for thei schulen stie bi the side of the hil, `bi name Seys, and ye schulen fynde hem in the hiynesse of the stronde, which is ayens the wildirnesse of Jheruhel.
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.
17 For it schulen not be ye, that schulen fiyte; but oneli stonde ye trustili, and ye schulen se the help of the Lord on you. A! Juda and Jerusalem, nyle ye drede, nether be ye aferd; to morewe ye schulen go out ayens hem, and the Lord schal be with you.
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.
18 Therfor Josaphat, and Juda, and alle the dwelleris of Jerusalem, felden lowli on the erthe bifor the Lord, and worschypiden hym.
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.
19 Forsothe the dekenes of the sones of Caath, and of the sones of Chore, herieden the Lord God of Israel with greet vois an hiy.
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.
20 And whanne thei hadden rise eerli, thei yeden not bi the deseert of Thecue; and whanne thei `hadden gon forth, Josaphat stood in the myddis of hem, and seide, Juda and alle the dwelleris of Jerusalem, here ye me; bileue ye in `youre Lord God, and ye schulen be sikur; bileue ye to hise prophetis, and alle prosperitees schulen come.
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.
21 And he yaf counsel to the puple, and he ordeynede the syngeris of the Lord, that thei schulden herye hym in her cumpanyes, and that thei schulden go bifor the oost, and seie with acordynge vois, Knouleche ye to the Lord, for he is good; for his merci is `in to the world.
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.
22 And whanne thei bigunnen to synge heriyngis, the Lord turnede the buyschementis of hem `in to hem silf, that is, of the sones of Amon and of Moab and of the hil of Seir, that yeden out to fiyte ayens Juda; and thei weren slayn.
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.
23 For whi the sones of Amon and of Moab risiden togidere ayens the dwelleris of the hil of Seir, to sle, and to do awey hem; and whanne thei hadden do this in werk, thei weren `turned also `in to hem silf, and felden doun togidere bi woundis ech of othere.
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.
24 Certis whanne Juda was comun to the denne, that biholdith the wildirnesse, he siy afer al the large cuntrei ful of deed bodies, and that noon was left, that miyte ascape deeth.
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.
25 Therfor Josaphat cam, and al the puple with hym, to drawe awey the spuylis of deed men, and thei founden among the deed bodies dyuerse purtenaunce of houshold, and clothis, and ful preciouse vessels; and thei rauyischiden in dyuerse maneres, so that thei myyten not bere alle thingis, nether thei myyten take awei the spuylis bi thre daies, for the greetnesse of prey.
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.
26 Sotheli in the fourthe dai thei weren gaderid togidere in the valey of Blessyng; `forsothe for thei blessiden the Lord there, thei clepiden that place the valei of Blessyng `til in to present dai.
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.
27 And ech man of Juda turnede ayen, and the dwelleris of Jerusalem, and Josaphat bifor hem, in to Jerusalem with greet gladnesse; for the Lord God hadde youe to hem ioye of her enemyes.
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.
28 And thei entriden in to Jerusalem with sawtrees, and harpis, and trumpis, in to the hows of the Lord.
And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and with harps and with trumpets unto the house of the Lord.
29 Forsothe the drede of the Lord felde on alle the rewmes of londis, whanne thei hadden herd, that the Lord hadde fouyte ayens the enemies of Israel.
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.
30 And the rewme of Josaphat restide; and the Lord yaf `pees to hym `bi cumpas.
So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat had repose, and his God gave him rest all round about.
31 Therfor Josaphat regnede on Juda; and he was of fyue and thritti yeer, whanne he bigan to regne; sotheli he regnede fyue and twenti yeer in Jerusalem; and the name of his modir was Azuba, the douytir of Selathi.
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.
32 And he yede in the weie of Asa his fadir, and bowide not fro it, and he dide what euer thingis weren plesaunt bifor the Lord.
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.
33 Netheles he dide not awei hiy thingis; yit the puple hadde not dressid her herte to the Lord God of her fadris.
Nevertheless the high-places were not removed; for the people had not yet directed their heart firmly unto the God of their fathers.
34 Forsothe the residue of the formere and the laste dedis of Josaphat ben writun in the book of Hieu, the sone of Anany, which he ordeynede in the book of kyngis of Israel.
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.
35 After these thingis Josaphat, kyng of Juda, made frendschipis with Ocozie, kyng of Israel, whose werkis weren ful yuele;
And after this did Jehoshaphat the king of Judah connect himself with Achazyah the king of Israel, the same who acted very wickedly;
36 and he was parcener that thei maden schippis, that schulden go in to Tharsis; and thei maden o schip in to Asiongaber.
And he connected himself with him to make ships to go to Tharshish: and they made ships in 'Ezyon-geber.
37 Sotheli Eliezer, sone of Dodan, of Maresa, profesiede to Josaphat, and seide, For thou haddist boond of pees with Ocozie, the Lord smoot thi werkis; and the schippis ben brokun, and myyten not go in to Tharsis.
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.

< 2 Chronicles 20 >