2 Chronicles 20
20
1Then, after this, the Moabites and Ammonites, as well as some of the Meunites,#20:1. “Meunites”: according to some manuscripts of the Septuagint. The Hebrew repeats the word “Ammonites.” came to attack Jehoshaphat. 2Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A large army is coming to fight you from Edom,#20:2. “From Edom,” more likely than “from Aram,” as most Hebrew manuscripts read. from the other side of the Dead Sea. They have already reached Hazazon-tamar,” (otherwise called En-gedi).
3Jehoshaphat was afraid, and went to ask the Lord what to do. He also ordered everyone throughout Judah to fast. 4So 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. 5Jehoshaphat stood before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at the Temple, in front of the new courtyard, 6and 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! 7Our God, didn't you drive out before your people Israel those who were living in this land? Didn't you give this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever? 8They are living in the land and have built a Temple for you here to honor you, saying, 9‘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.’#20:9. See 6:24-30.
10Look, 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. 11See how they're rewarding us, coming to steal the land you gave us to possess forever! 12Our 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.”
13All the men of Judah stood before the Lord, together with their wives and children and babies. 14Then 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. 15He 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! 16Tomorrow 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. 17But 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!”
18Jehoshaphat 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. 19Then the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, shouting loudly.
20They 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.”
21After 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!”
22As 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. 23The 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.#20:23. “They turned on each other, destroying themselves”: literally, “each helped his neighbor to destruction.” 24So 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.
25When Jehoshaphat and his people came to collect the plunder, they found a great deal of cattle, equipment, clothing,#20:25. “Clothing”: Some manuscripts and the Vulgate. Most manuscripts have “corpses.” and other valuable articles, more than they could carry. It took three days to collect the plunder because there was so much of it. 26On 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.
27Then 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. 28They entered Jerusalem and went straight to the Temple of the Lord, accompanied by music from harps, lyres, and trumpets.
29All the kingdoms around were in awe of God when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.#20:29. See 17:10. 30Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were at peace, for God gave him rest—there were no attacks from any direction.
31So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, having become king when he was thirty-five years old, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi. 32Jehoshaphat followed the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it. He did what was right in the Lord's sight. 33However, the high places were not removed, and the people were not committed to the God of their forefathers. 34The 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.
35Later in his life, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did wicked things. 36They agreed to work together and send ships to Tarshish.#20:36. A joint trading venture. The ships were built in Ezion-geber. 37But 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.
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2 Chronicles 20: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com