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

² And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.

³ Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the Asherah poles out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.”

⁴ And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers.

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

⁶ and said to the judges, “Take heed what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the matter of judgment.

⁷ Therefore now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Take heed and do it; for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.”

⁸ Moreover in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat set some of the Levites and some of the priests and some of the chief of the fathers of Israel for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.

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

¹⁰ And whatsoever cause shall come to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them, that they trespass not against the Lord, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren. This do, and ye shall not trespass.

¹¹ And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good.”

20 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them others besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

² Then there came some who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side of Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.”

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

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

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

⁶ and said, “O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? And rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee?

⁷ Art not Thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend for ever?

⁸ And they dwelt therein, and have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying,

⁹ ‘If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house and in Thy presence (for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help.’

¹⁰ And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom Thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not”

¹¹ behold, I say, how they reward us by coming to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit.

¹² O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.”

¹³ And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

¹⁴ Then 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, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation.

¹⁵ And he said, “Hearken ye, all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat! Thus saith the Lord unto you: ‘Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

¹⁶ Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the Wilderness of Jeruel.

¹⁷ Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.

¹⁹ And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went forth into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God; so shall ye be established. Believe His prophets; so shall ye prosper.”

²¹ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord who should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever.”

²² And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were smitten.

²³ For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to slay and destroy them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

²⁴ And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

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

²⁶ And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the Valley of Berachah [that is, Blessing], for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of the same place was called The Valley of Berachah unto this day.

²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.

²⁹ And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.

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

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

³² And he walked in the way of Asa his father and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

³³ However the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

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

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

³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.” And the ships were broken up, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

21 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

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

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

⁴ Now when Jehoram had risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with the sword, and others also of the princes of Israel.

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

⁶ And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for he had the daughter of Ahab as wife; and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

⁷ However the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and as He promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.

⁸ In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king.

⁹ Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him; and he rose up by night and smote the Edomites who compassed him about and the captains of the chariots.

¹⁰ So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers.

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

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

¹³ but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, who were better than thyself,

¹⁴ behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people and thy children and thy wives and all thy goods.

¹⁵ And thou shalt have great sickness with a disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.’”

¹⁶ Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and of the Arabians who were near the Ethiopians.

¹⁷ And 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 not a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

¹⁹ And it came to pass that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness; so he died of grievous diseases. And his people made no burning for him like the burning of his fathers.

²⁰ Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years and departed without being desired. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings.

22 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead, for the band of men who came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned.

² Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri.

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

⁴ Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

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

⁶ And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which 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 Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by his coming to Joram; for when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

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

⁹ And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him (for he had hid in Samaria) and brought him to Jehu. And when they had slain him, they buried him, “because,” said they, “he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep the kingdom still.

¹⁰ But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed of the house of Judah.

¹¹ But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in a 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 slew him not.

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

23 And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds into a covenant with him: 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.

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

³ And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.

⁴ This is the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be keepers of the doors;

⁵ and 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 the Lord.

⁶ But let none come into the house of the Lord save the priests and those who minister of the Levites. They shall go in, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord.

⁷ And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death; but be ye with the king when he cometh in and when he goeth out.”

⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

⁹ Moreover, Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears and bucklers and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God.

¹⁰ And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “God save the king.”

¹² Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the Lord.

¹³ And she looked, and behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entrance, and the princes and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the host, and said unto them, “Take her forth among the ranks. And whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword.” For the priest said, “Slay her not in the house of the Lord.”

¹⁵ So they laid hands on her; and when she had come to the entrance of the Horse Gate by the king’s house, they slew her there.

¹⁶ And Jehoiada made a covenant between him and between all the people and between the king, that they should be the Lord’S people.

¹⁷ Then all the people went to the house of Baal and broke it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

¹⁸ Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.

¹⁹ And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in.

²⁰ And he took the captains of 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 the Lord; and they came through the High Gate into the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

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