CHAPTER 20

¹And it happened afterward that the Moabites and the Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat to do battle. ²And [people] came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude has come against you from the other side of the sea, from Edom, and here they are in Hazazron-Tamar, which is Ein-Gedi. ³And Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned to inquire of the LORD and proclaimed a fast for all Judah. ⁴And Judah gathered to seek the LORD, even from all the towns of Judah did they come to seek the LORD. ⁵And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah in the house of the LORD in front of the New Court. ⁶And he said, “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens, and You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand are power and might, and none can stand up against You? ⁷Have not You, O our God, dispossessed the dwellers of this land before Your people Israel and have given it forever to the seed of Abraham who loved you? ⁸And they settled within it and built in it for You a sanctuary for Your name, saying, ⁹‘If evil comes upon us, sword or flood or pestilence or famine, we shall stand before this house and before You, for Your name is in this house, and cry out to You from our straits, and You will listen and rescue.’ ¹⁰And now, look, the Ammonites and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel come among them when they came from the land of Egypt, for they swerved away from them and did not destroy them—¹¹and, look, they are paying us back by coming to drive us out of our inheritance that You gave us. ¹²Our God, will You not judge against them? For we have no strength before this great multitude coming against us, and we do not know what we should do, for our eyes are upon You.” ¹³And all Judah were standing before the LORD, their little ones, their wives, and their children, too. ¹⁴And the spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah son of Benaiah son of Jeiel son of Mattaniah the Levite of the sons of Asaph in the assembly. ¹⁵And he said, “Listen closely, all Judah and dwellers of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus said the LORD of you: You, do not fear and do not be terrified by this great multitude, for not yours is the battle but God’s. ¹⁶Tomorrow, go down against them. They are about to come up the Ascent of Ziz, and you shall encounter them at the end of the wadi facing the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷It is not for you to do this battle. Take your stance, stand still, and see God’s rescue of you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear and do not be terrified. Tomorrow sally forth before them, and the LORD will be with you.” ¹⁸And Jehoshaphat bowed, face to the ground, and all Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem prostrated themselves before the LORD to bow down to the LORD. ¹⁹And the Levites, of the Kohathites and of the Korahites, arose to praise the LORD God of Israel in a very loud voice. ²⁰And they awoke early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa, and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and dwellers of Jerusalem. Trust in the LORD your God and staunchly trust in His prophets and prosper.” ²¹And he counseled with the troops and stationed choristers for the LORD and praise-sayers for the holy majesty as they went out before the vanguard, saying,

“Acclaim the LORD,

for His kindness is forever.”

²²And as they were beginning with glad song and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the Ammonites and Moab and Mount Seir who were coming to Judah, and they were routed. ²³And the Ammonites and Moab stood against the dwellers of Mount Seir to wipe them out and to destroy them, and when they had finished off the dwellers of Seir, each aided his brother to destroy his fellow. ²⁴And Judah had come to Mizpah, to the wilderness, and they turned to the multitude, and there they were, corpses fallen to the ground, and there were no survivors. ²⁵And Jehoshaphat and his troops came to plunder their booty, and they found among them in abundance possessions and garments and precious vessels, and they despoiled them beyond carrying, and three days were they plundering the booty, for it was great. ²⁶And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Blessing, for there they had blessed the LORD. Therefore have they called the name of the place the Valley of Blessing to this day. ²⁷And all the men of Judah and Jerusalem came back with Jehoshaphat at their head to come back to Jerusalem in rejoicing, for the LORD had given them joy over their enemies. ²⁸And they came to Jerusalem with lutes and with lyres and with trumpets to the house of the LORD. ²⁹And the terror of the LORD was upon all the kingdoms of the lands where they heard that the LORD had done battle with Israel’s enemies. ²³And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was peaceful, and his God granted him respite all around. ³¹And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³²And he went in the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it, to do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. ³³Only the high places were not removed, and the people still did not ready their heart for the God of their fathers. ³⁴And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, early and late, are written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are included in the book of the kings of Israel. ³⁵And afterward Jehoshaphat joined forces with Ahaziah king of Israel—he acted wickedly. ³⁶And he joined forces with him to build ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-Geber. ³⁷And Eliezer son of Dodavah from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “As you have joined forces with Ahaziah, the LORD shall wreck what you have made.” And the ships were broken up and were unable to go to Tarshish.