2 Chronicles 20

20 ¹ Some time later, the Moabites and Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat to make war. ² Messengers came and reported to Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, En-gedi). ³ Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he resolved to seek our Father, and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ The people of Judah gathered to seek help from our Father; indeed, they came from every town of Judah to seek him.

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of our Father, in front of the new courtyard, ⁶ and he said: "O our Father, the God of our ancestors, are you not our Father in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, and no one can stand against you. ⁷ Our Father, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸ They have lived in it and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, ⁹ 'If disaster comes upon us — the sword of judgment, or plague, or famine — we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and we will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear and save.' ¹⁰ Now here are the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir, whose land you would not let Israel invade when they came out of Egypt, so that Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹ See how they repay us — coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. ¹² Our Father, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

¹³ All Judah stood there before our Father, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

¹⁴ Then, in the middle of the assembly, the Spirit of our Father came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and a descendant of Asaph. ¹⁵ He said: "Listen, all you people of Judah and all who live in Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat. This is what our Father says to you: 'Do not be afraid or terrified by this vast army, for the battle is not yours but our Father's. ¹⁶ Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley, facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight this battle. Take your positions, stand firm, and see the salvation our Father will bring you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or terrified. Tomorrow go out to face them, for our Father is with you.'"

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before our Father. ¹⁹ Then the Levites from the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise our Father, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ Early in the morning they set out for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and you who live in Jerusalem. Trust in your Father, and you will stand firm; trust in his prophets, and you will succeed."

²¹ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed singers to our Father to praise the splendor of his holiness as they went out ahead of the army, saying: "Give thanks to our Father, for his faithful love endures forever." ²² As they began to sing and praise, our Father set ambushes against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the people of Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them; and when they had finished off the people of Seir, they helped to slaughter one another.

²⁴ When the men of Judah came to the place overlooking the wilderness and looked toward the vast army, they saw only corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his people came to carry off the plunder, and among the bodies they found a great amount of goods, clothing, and valuables — more than they could carry away. There was so much plunder that it took them three days to collect it.

²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised our Father; so that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ^a a v26 The name Beracah means "blessing" — the valley was named for the praise Judah lifted to our Father there. ²⁷ Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for our Father had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They entered Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets, and went to the house of our Father. ²⁹ The dread of our Father fell upon all the kingdoms of the surrounding lands when they heard how our Father had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his Father had given him rest on every side.

A King Who Followed Our Father's Ways

³¹ Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² He followed the ways of his father Asa and did not turn from them, doing what was right in the eyes of our Father. ³³ The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.

³⁴ The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from beginning to end, are written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are included in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. ³⁶ He joined with him to build a fleet of trading ships, and they built the ships at Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, our Father has destroyed what you have made." The ships were wrecked and were not able to sail for Tarshish.