2 Chronicles 21

1 Then Jehoshaphat died, and was buried where his ancestors were buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. Then his son Jehoram became the king [of Judah].

Jehoshaphat died was buried with his fore fathers in the City of David, and his son Jehoram took over as king.

2 His [younger] brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah.

His brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

3 Before Jehoshaphat died, he gave them gifts of silver and gold and other valuable things. He also appointed them to rule various cities in Judah that had walls around them. But he appointed Jehoram to be the king of Judah, because Jehoram was his oldest son.

Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and valuable items, as well as the fortified towns in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

4 After Jehoram was completely in control of his father’s kingdom, he had all of his [younger] brothers executed, along with some of the leaders of the nation.

But once Jehoram had secured the kingdom, he made sure of his position by killing all his brothers, along with some of the princes of Judah.

5 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.

Jehoram was thirty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.

6 But he did many of the [evil] things that the kings of Israel had done. He did many things that Yahweh considers to be evil, things that the family of Ahab had done, because he married one of Ahab’s daughters.

He followed the evil ways of the kings of Israel, and was as bad as Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab's daughters. He did evil in the Lord's sight.

7 However, because of the agreement that Yahweh had made with King David, Yahweh did not want to get rid of the descendants of David. He had promised that David’s descendants would always be the ones who ruled Judah.

However, Yet the Lord did not want to destroy David's line because of the agreement he had made with David, and he had promised that David's descendants would rule forever like an ever-burning lamp.

8 While Jehoram was ruling, the people of [the] Edom [region] rebelled against [the king of] Judah and appointed their own king.

During Jehoram's reign, Edom rebelled against Judah's rule and chose their own king.

9 So Jehoram and his officers and his men in chariots went to Edom. There, the army of Edom surrounded them. Jehoram escaped during the night.

So Jehoram crossed into Edom with his officers and all his chariot army. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he broke through during the night.

10 But the king of Judah was never able to regain control of Edom, and Edom is still not controlled by Judah. [The people in] Libnah [city between Judah and Philistia] also rebelled against Judah. Those things happened because Jehoram turned away from [obeying] Yahweh, the God whom his ancestors [belonged to].

From this time on Edom was in rebellion against Judah's rule, and remains so to this day. At the same time Libnah also rebelled against his rule, because he had abandoned the Lord, the God of his forefathers.

11 On the hilltops in Judah he had also built shrines [to worship idols], and had caused the people of Judah to stray away from Yahweh by worshiping foreign gods.

He also built high places on the mountains of Judah; he made the people of Jerusalem unfaithful to God and led Judah away from him.

12 One day, Jehoram received a letter from the prophet Elijah. Elijah had written this in the letter: “This is what Yahweh, the God whom your ancestor [King] David [worshiped], says: 'You have not done things that please me like your father Jehoshaphat did or what King Asa did.

Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet that said, “This is what the Lord, the God of David your forefather says, ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat, or Asa, king of Judah,

13 Instead, you have continually done the [evil things] that the kings of Israel have done. You have encouraged the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah to stop worshiping Yahweh, like the descendants of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, who were more righteous men than you are.

but instead you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and have made the people of Jerusalem unfaithful, and the people of Jerusalem as unfaithful as the family of Ahab. You have even killed your brothers, your father's family, who were better than you.

14 So now Yahweh is about to very severely punish the people in your kingdom and even your own children and your wives and everything that you own.

Watch out, for the Lord is going to hit your people hard—your sons, your wives, and all that you own.

15 And you yourself will have an intestinal disease that will continue to become worse, and you will suffer from it until you die.'”

You yourself will be struck with a terrible illness—a disease of the bowels which will get worse day by day until they come out.’”

16 Then Yahweh caused some men from the Philistia people-group and some Arabs who lived near the coast [of the Mediterranean Sea], where people from Ethiopia had settled, to become angry with Jehoram.

The Lord stirred up the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabians (who live near the Ethiopians) against Jehoram.

17 Their army invaded Judah and took away [from Jerusalem] all the valuable things that they found in the king’s palace, and even his sons and wives. His youngest son, Ahaziah, was the only one of his sons whom they did not take away.

They came and invaded Judah, and took away everything they found in the king's palace, along with his sons and his wives, so that only the youngest son Jehoahaz was left.

18 After that happened, Yahweh caused Jehoram to be afflicted with an intestinal disease that no one could cure.

After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with a disease of the bowels for which there was no cure.

19 About two years later, while he was in great pain, he died because of that disease. The people of Judah had made bonfires to honor his ancestors when they died, but they did not make a bonfire for Jehoram.

Day after day it grew worse, until after two full years passed his bowels came out because of his disease, and he died in agony. His people did not make a fire to honor him as they had done for his forefathers.

20 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. No one was sorry when he died. His corpse was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, but he was not buried where the other kings [of Judah] had been buried.

Jehoram was thirty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. When he died, no one mourned him. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal tombs.