2 Chronicles 19-23

II Chronicles 19

¹And Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

²And Jehu the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate Jehovah? Therefore is wrath upon thee from Jehovah.

³Nevertheless there are good things found in thee; for thou hast put away the Asherahs out of the land, and hast directed thy heart to seek God.

⁴And Jehoshaphat dwelt in Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to Jehovah the God of their fathers.

⁵And he set judges in the land throughout the fortified cities of Judah, city by city.

⁶And he said to the judges, Take heed what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for Jehovah, who will be with you in the matter of judgment.

⁷And now, let the terror of Jehovah be upon you; be careful what ye do, for there is no iniquity with Jehovah, nor respect of persons, nor taking of presents.

⁸-- And moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set some of the Levites and priests, and of the chief fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah and for causes. -- And they returned to Jerusalem.

⁹And he charged them saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of Jehovah faithfully and with a perfect heart.

¹⁰And what cause soever comes to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against Jehovah, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren: this do and ye shall not trespass.

¹¹And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Jehovah, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, prince of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters; and ye have the Levites before you as officers. Be strong and do it, and Jehovah will be with the good.

II Chronicles 20

¹And it came to pass after this that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them certain of the Maonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

²And they came and told Jehoshaphat saying, A great multitude is come against thee from beyond the sea, from Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.

³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.

⁴And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.

⁵And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;

⁶and he said, Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not thou God in the heavens, and rulest thou not over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in thy hand there is power and might, and none can withstand thee.

⁷Hast not thou, our God, dispossessed the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and given it for ever to the seed of Abraham, thy friend?

⁸And they have dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

⁹If evil come upon us, sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, and we stand before this house and before thee -- for thy name is in this house -- and cry unto thee in our distress, then thou wilt hear and save.

¹⁰And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab, and those of mount Seir, amongst whom thou wouldest not let Israel go when they came out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned from them, and destroyed them not,)

¹¹behold, they reward us, in coming to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to possess.

¹²Our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might in presence of this great company which cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee.

¹³And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons.

¹⁴And upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, upon him came the Spirit of Jehovah, in the midst of the congregation;

¹⁵and he said, Be attentive, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat! Thus saith Jehovah unto you: Fear not, nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

¹⁶To-morrow go down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

¹⁷Ye shall not have to fight on this occasion: set yourselves, stand and see the salvation of Jehovah who is with you! Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, and Jehovah will be with you.

¹⁸And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah.

¹⁹And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel with an exceeding loud voice.

²⁰And they rose early in the morning, and went forth towards the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established; believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper!

²¹And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those that should praise in holy splendour, as they went forth before the armed men, and say, Give thanks to Jehovah; for his loving-kindness endureth for ever!

²²And when they began the song of triumph and praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were smitten.

²³And the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to exterminate and destroy them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴And Judah came on to the mountain-watch in the wilderness, and they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped.

²⁵And Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder the spoil of them, and they found among them in abundance, both riches with the dead bodies, and precious things, and they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away; and they were three days in plundering the spoil, it was so much.

²⁶And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah, for there they blessed Jehovah; therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Berachah, to this day.

²⁷And they returned, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

²⁸And they came to Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, to the house of Jehovah.

²⁹And the terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel.

³⁰And the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; and his God gave him rest round about.

³¹And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.

³²And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of Jehovah.

³³Only, the high places were not removed; and as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly.

³⁶And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

³⁷And Eliezer the son of Dodavah, of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has broken thy works. And the ships were broken, and could not go to Tarshish.

II Chronicles 21

¹And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

²And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

³And their father had given them great gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things, besides fortified cities in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn.

⁴And Jehoram established himself over the kingdom of his father, and strengthened himself; and he slew all his brethren with the sword, and certain also of the princes of Israel.

⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

⁶And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah.

⁷But Jehovah would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he had promised to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons.

⁸In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves.

⁹And Jehoram went over with his captains, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots.

¹⁰But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah the God of his fathers.

¹¹Moreover he made high places on the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.

¹²And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the 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,

¹³but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father's house who were better than thyself:

¹⁴behold, Jehovah will smite with a great stroke thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance,

¹⁵and thyself with sore sicknesses, with a disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

¹⁶And Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who are near the Ethiopians;

¹⁷and they came up into Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was no son left him, except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸And after all this, Jehovah smote him in his bowels with an incurable sickness.

¹⁹And it came to pass, from day to day, and at the time when the second year was drawing to a close, that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died in cruel sufferings. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being regretted. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

II Chronicles 22

¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead; for the band of men that came in the camp with the Arabians had slain all the elder ones. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

²Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Athaliah, daughter of Omri.

³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

⁴And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah like the house of Ahab; for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

⁵He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, to the war against Hazael the king of Syria at Ramoth-Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

⁶And he returned to be healed in Jizreel because of the wounds that were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jizreel; for he was sick.

⁷But his coming to Joram was from God the complete ruin of Ahaziah. And when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

⁸And it came to pass when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that attended upon Ahaziah, and he slew them.

⁹And he sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he had hid himself in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart. And in the house of Ahaziah there was no one who was able to hold the kingdom.

¹⁰And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose up and exterminated all the royal seed of the house of Judah.

¹¹But Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not slay him;

¹²and he was with them hid in the house of God six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

II Chronicles 23

¹And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of the hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

²And they went about in Judah and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel; and they came to Jerusalem.

³And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as Jehovah has said of the sons of David.

⁴This is the thing which ye shall do: a third part of you that come in on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be keepers of the doors;

⁵and a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of Jehovah.

⁶But let none come into the house of Jehovah except the priests and those of the Levites that do the service; they shall go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of Jehovah.

⁷And the Levites shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes into the house shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.

⁸And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go forth on the sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest did not liberate the divisions.

⁹And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of the hundreds king David's spears and shields and targets, which were in the house of God.

¹⁰And he set all the people, every man with his javelin in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, toward the altar and the house, by the king round about.

¹¹And they brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, Long live the king!

¹²And Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, and she came to the people into the house of Jehovah.

¹³And she looked, and behold, the king stood on his dais at the entrance, and the princes and the trumpets were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets; and the singers were there with the instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. And Athaliah rent her garments, and said, Conspiracy! Conspiracy!

¹⁴And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, let him be slain with the sword; for the priest said, Ye shall not put her to death in the house of Jehovah.

¹⁵And they made way for her, and she went through the entrance of the horse-gate into the king's house, and they put her to death there.

¹⁶And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be the people of Jehovah.

¹⁷And all the people went into the house of Baal, and broke it down; and they broke his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

¹⁸And Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of Jehovah under the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had set by classes over the house of Jehovah to offer up Jehovah's burnt-offerings, as it is written in the law of Moses, -- with rejoicing and with singing according to the directions of David.

¹⁹And he set the doorkeepers at the gates of the house of Jehovah, that no one unclean in anything should enter in.

²⁰And he took the captains of the hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of Jehovah; and they came through the upper gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

²¹And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they had slain Athaliah with the sword.