2 Chronicles 20

New King James Version

Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir Defeated

20 It happened after thisthatthe people of^(A)Moab with the people of^(B)Ammon, andotherswith them besides the^(C)Ammonites,^[a]came to battle against Jehoshaphat.² Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from^[b]Syria; and they are^(D)in Hazazon Tamar” (whichis^(E)En Gedi).³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set^[c]himself to^(F)seek theLord, and^(G)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.⁴ So Judah gathered together to ask^(H)helpfrom theLord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek theLord.

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of theLord, before the new court,⁶ and said: “OLordGod of our fathers,areYou not^(I)God in heaven, and^(J)do Younotrule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and^(K)in Your handis there notpower and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?⁷ AreYou not^(L)our God,who^(M)drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham^(N)Your friend forever?⁸ And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,^9 (O)‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your^(P)nameisin this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’¹⁰ And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You^(Q)would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but^(R)they turned from them and did not destroy them—¹¹ here they are, rewarding us^(S)by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.¹² O our God, will You not^(T)judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but^(U)our eyesareupon You.”

¹³ Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before theLord.

¹⁴ Then^(V)the Spirit of theLordcame 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, in the midst of the assembly.¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says theLordto you:^(W)‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude,^(X)for the battleisnot yours, but God’s.¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the^[d]brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.^17 (Y)You will notneedto fight in thisbattle.Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of theLord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them,^(Z)for theLordiswith you.”

¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat^(AA)bowed his head withhisface to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before theLord, worshiping theLord.¹⁹ Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise theLordGod of Israel with voices loud and high.

²⁰ So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem:^(AB)Believe in theLordyour God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”²¹ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to theLord,^(AC)and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

²² Now when they began to sing and to praise,^(AF)theLordset ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.²³ For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroythem.And when they^[e]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir,^(AG)they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and thereweretheir dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.

²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the^[f]dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.²⁶ And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of^[g]Berachah, for there they blessed theLord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day.²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for theLordhad^(AH)made them rejoice over their enemies.²⁸ So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of theLord.²⁹ And^(AI)the fear of God was on all the kingdoms ofthosecountries when they heard that theLordhad fought against the enemies of Israel.³⁰ Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his^(AJ)God gave him rest all around.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign^(AK)

^31 (AL)So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah.He wasthirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s namewasAzubah the daughter of Shilhi.³² And he walked in the way of his father^(AM)Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doingwhat wasright in the sight of theLord.³³ Nevertheless^(AN)the^[h]high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not^(AO)directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed theyarewritten in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani,^(AP)whichismentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ After this^(AQ)Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel,^(AR)who acted very^(AS)wickedly.³⁶ And he allied himself with him^(AT)to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.³⁷ But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, theLordhas destroyed your works.”^(AU)Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go^(AV)to Tarshish.