2 Chronicles 20
1 And 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.
Then, after this, the Moabites and Ammonites, as well as some of the Meunites, came to attack Jehoshaphat.
2 And 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.
Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A large army is coming to fight you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. They have already reached Hazazon-tamar,” (otherwise called En-gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
Jehoshaphat was afraid, and went to ask the Lord what to do. He also ordered everyone throughout Judah to fast.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask [help] of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.
So the people of Judah gathered in Jerusalem to pray to the Lord—in fact, they came from all the towns of Judah to commit themselves to him.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;
Jehoshaphat stood before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at the Temple, in front of the new courtyard,
6 and 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.
and said, “Lord, God of our forefathers, aren't you the God of heaven? Don't you rule over all earthly kingdoms? You possess strength and power, and no one can stand against you!
7 Hast 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?
Our God, didn't you drive out before your people Israel those who living in this land? Didn't you give this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever?
8 And they have dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
They are living in the land and have built a Temple for you here to honor you, saying,
9 If 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.
‘If disaster strikes us, whether it's invasion or judgment, disease or famine, we will stand in front of this Temple and before you, for this Temple is yours. We will cry out to you to help us in our suffering, and you will hear us and save us.’
10 And 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, )
Look, here come the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, those very countries you did not let Israel invade when they came out of Egypt. Israel left them alone and did not destroy them.
11 behold, they reward us, in coming to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to possess.
See how they're rewarding us, coming to steal the land you gave us to possess forever!
12 Our 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.
Our God, won't you punish them, because we don't have the power to confront such a great army that is marching against us? We don't know what to do. We're looking to you for help.”
13 And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons.
All the men of Judah stood before the Lord, together with their wives and children and babies.
14 And 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;
Then the Spirit of the Lord came over Jahaziel while he was standing there in the assembly. He was the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from the descendants of Asaph.
15 and 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.
He said, “Listen, everyone from Judah, people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord has to say to you: Don't be afraid or discouraged because of this large army. This isn't your battle—it's God's!
16 To-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.
Tomorrow march down to face them. You will see them coming up the pass at Ziz—you'll find them at the end of the valley in front of the desert of Jeruel.
17 Ye 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.
But you do not need to fight this battle. Just stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem! Don't be afraid or discouraged! March down to face them, for the Lord is with you!”
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah.
Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell to the ground before the Lord, worshiping him.
19 And 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.
Then the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, shouting loudly.
20 And 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!
They got up early the next morning and went to the desert of Tekoa. As they left, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem. Trust in the Lord your God, and you will be vindicated; trust in his prophets, and you will be successful.”
21 And 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!
After discussion with the people, he appointed singers to praise the Lord for his glorious, holy goodness. They led the way at the front of the army, singing, “Praise the Lord, for his trustworthy love lasts forever!”
22 And 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.
As soon as they started singing and praising, the Lord ambushed the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming to attack Judah, and they were defeated.
23 And 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.
The men of Ammon and Moab turned on the men from Mount Seir, killing all of them. Once they'd finished wiping out the army from Seir, they turned on each other, destroying themselves.
24 And 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.
So when the men of Judah came to the watchtower in the desert, they looked out to see the enemy army and all they saw were corpses lying on the ground! No one had escaped.
25 And 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.
When Jehoshaphat and his people came to collect the plunder, they found a great deal of cattle, equipment, clothing, and other valuable articles, more than they could carry. It took three days to collect the plunder because there was so much of it.
26 And 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.
On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing. They gave it this name because this was where they blessed the Lord. It is still called the Valley of Blessing to this day.
27 And 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.
Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem celebrated as they returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, full of joy for the Lord's victory over their enemies.
28 And they came to Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, to the house of Jehovah.
They entered Jerusalem and went straight to the Temple of Lord, accompanied by music from harps, lyres, and trumpets.
29 And the terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel.
All the kingdoms around were in awe of God when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 And the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; and his God gave him rest round about.
Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were at peace, for God gave him rest—there were no attacks from any direction.
31 And 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.
So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, having become king when he was thirty-five years, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.
32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of Jehovah.
Jehoshaphat followed the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it. He did what was right in the Lord's sight.
33 Only, the high places were not removed; and as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
However, the high places were not removed, and the people were not committed to the God of their forefathers.
34 And 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.
The rest of what Jehoshaphat did, from beginning to end, is written down in the chronicles of Jehu, son of Hanani, recorded 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.
Later in his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did wicked things.
36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.
They agreed to work together and send ships to Tarshish. The ships were built in Ezion-geber.
37 And 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.
But Eliezer, son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you're doing.” The ships were wrecked and couldn't sail to Tarshish.
