2 Chronicles 20
1It
came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites,
came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
2Then
there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side
Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
3And
Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all
the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
5And
Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
6And 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?
7Art 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?
8And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name,
saying,
9If, 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.
10And 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;
11Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession,
which thou hast given us to inherit.
12O 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.
13And all
Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14Then 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;
15And 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.
16To morrow 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.
17Ye 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; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
19And
the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel
with a loud voice on high.
20And 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.
21And when he had consulted
with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that 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.
22And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23For 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.
24And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto
the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of 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 of the spoil, it was so much.
26And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for
there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the
forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
28And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house
of the LORD.
29And 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.
30So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
31And 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.
32And 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.
33Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared
their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
34Now
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.
35And
after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made
the ships in Eziongaber.
37Then 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, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.