|
Chapter 20 |
| 1 |
It 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. |
| 2 |
Then 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. |
| 3 | And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD,
and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. |
| 4 | And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of
the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. |
| 5 | And Jehoshaphat stood in
the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the
new court, |
| 6 | And 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? |
|
7 | Art 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? |
| 8
| And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for
thy name, saying, |
| 9 | If,
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. |
| 10 | And 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; |
| 11 | Behold, I
say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou
hast given us to inherit. |
| 12 |
O 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. |
| 13 | And
all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their
children. |
| 14 | Then 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; |
| 15
| And 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. |
| 16 | To 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. |
| 17 | Ye 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. |
| 18 | And 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. |
| 19 |
And 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. |
| 20 | And 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. |
|
21 | And 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. |
| 22 | And 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. |
| 23 | For 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. |
| 24 | And 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. |
|
25 | And 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. |
| 26 | And
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. |
| 27 | Then 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. |
| 28 | And they came to Jerusalem with
psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. |
| 29 | And 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. |
| 30 |
So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round
about. |
| 31 | And
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. |
| 32 | And 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. |
| 33 | Howbeit the high places
were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto
the God of their fathers. |
| 34 |
Now 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. |
| 35 |
And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of
Israel, who did very wickedly: |
| 36
| And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and
they made the ships in Eziongaber. |
|
37 | Then 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. |
