2 Chronicles 20

1Sometime later the Moabite and Ammonite soldiers came to make war against King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Also other people also came with the Ammonites.

2Some people came to Jehoshaphat and said: There are a lot of men who have come here to attack you. They have come from the other side of the Dead Sea, out of Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazontamar (that is, Engedi) 2 Chronicles 20: 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he asked the Lord what he should do. Jehoshaphat told all the people in Judah to fast.

4The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord what they must do. They came from all the towns of Judah to ask the Lord to help them.

5Jehoshaphat went and stood in the new courtyard of the temple in front of the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem.

6Jehoshaphat prayed and said: Lord, God of our grandfathers, You are the God in heaven. You rule over all the lands and all the nations. You are strong and powerful, and no one can stand against You.

7You are our God, You chased away the people who lived in this land before and You gave this land to your people of Israel. You gave this land to the family of your friend Abraham.

8We came to live here and we built a temple for You and we said:

9When we suffer or trouble comes, the sword, punishment, sicknesses, or famine, we will stand in front of this Temple and in front of God. Your name is on this Temple. We will pray to you when we are in trouble. Then you will hear and save us.

10Now the people from Ammon and Moab and the people from Mount Seir have come to attack us. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, You did not let the people of Israel go into these lands to defeat them. You said the Israelites must turn away from them and the Israelites did not kill those people.

11But now the people from Ammon and Moab and the people from Mount Seir have come to attack us. They want to chase us away from this land that You gave us.

12You are our God, please punish them, We don’t have the strength to stop this large army that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, and that is why we are asking You to help us.

13All the men of Judah were standing there before the Lord, with their babies, their wives and their children.

14Then the Spirit of the Lord went into Jahaziel in front of the congregation. Jahaziel was the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and a descendant of Asaph.

15Then Jahaziel said, Listen to me King Jehoshaphat and everyone living in Judah and Jerusalem! The Lord says this to you: Don’t be afraid or discourage about this large army, because the battle is not your battle. It is God’s battle!

16Tomorrow morning you must go down to them. They will climb up the cliff of Ziz. When you get there, they will be at the end of the valley near the side of the Jeruel Desert.

17You will not have to make war yourselves. You can just stand and look how the Lord will save you. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not be discourage, and do not be afraid. Go to them tomorrow. The Lord will be with you.

18Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem bowed down before the Lord and worship the Lord.

19Then the Levites from the Kohath and Korah families stood up and started to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. They sang very loudly.

20Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat’s army went out into the desert of Tekoa. As they marched out, Jehoshaphat stood there saying, Listen to me, men of Judah and Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will stand strong! Have faith in his prophets, and you will succeed!

21Jehoshaphat encouraged the men and gave them instructions, and then Jehoshaphat appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in their holy priestly attire, as they went out before the army and said, Praise and give thanks to the LORD, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever.

22As they began to sing and to praise God, the Lord set an ambush for the army from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come to attack Judah. The enemy was defeated!

23Then the people of Ammon and Moab started to attack the people from mount Seir and they killed all of them. And then people from Ammon and Moab started to kill each other.

24The men from Judah arrived at the lookout point in the desert. They looked for the enemy’s large army, but all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground. There were no alived.

25Jehoshaphat and his men came and took things from the dead bodies of the enemy. They found many animals, riches, clothes, and other valuable things. It was more than Jehoshaphat and his men could carry away. There was so much that they spent three days taking everything from the dead bodies.

26After they gather for three days the next day they came together in the Berachah Valley and they praised the Lord. This is why people today still say that is the ‘Berachah Valley.

27Then Jehoshaphat walked in front of the men of Judah and Jerusalem and they all went back to Jerusalem. All of them were very happy because the Lord had made them happy when He defeated their enemies.

28Then Jehoshaphat and the men returned they went to the temple and they played their harps, viol and trumpets.

29People in all the surrounding kingdoms became afraid of God when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel

30That is why there was peace for Jehoshaphat’s kingdom. God brought him rest from the enemies that were all around him.

31Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah. Jehoshaphat ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother’s name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.

32Jehoshaphat listened to the Lord and he lived in the right way like his father Asa had done and he did not stop serving the Lord. He did what the Lord said was right.

33Only the high places for pagan sacrifices were not removed, for the people did not listen to the God of their grandfathers.

34The other things that Jehoshaphat did, from the time when he became king to the end, are written in the history of Jehu, son of Hanani, in the book of the kings of Israel.

35King Jehoshaphat of Judah later made an agreement with Ahaziah, king of Israel. Ahaziah was a bad man who did evil things.

36Jehoshaphat made an agreement with Ahaziah to build boats for him that could go to Tarshish. They built the boats in Ezion-Geber.

37But a man of God, Eliezer, son of Dodavahu from the town of Mareshah, came to Jehoshaphat and gave him a message from God. Eliezer said, Jehoshaphat, since you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have built. The ships were wrecked, so Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah were not able to send them to Tarshish.