Chapter 20
Chapter 20 of 2nd Chronicles of the Bible, King James Version. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. 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. And 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 Hazazontamer, which is in Gedai. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 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. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the before the new court, 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?
Art thou not our God, who dost drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham, thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If when evil cometh upon us, as a 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, when thou wilt hear and help. 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. Behold, I say, how they reward us to come out to cast us out of thy possession, which
thou hast given us to inherit. 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. And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their
children. Then upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Baneah, the son of Jaiel, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And he said, Harken 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. Tomorrow go ye down against them, behold they come up by the Clift of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 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. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. 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.
And the Levites and the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korheites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on Haim. 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. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord that should praise the beauty of his holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord for his mercy, and doeth forever. 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. 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, everyone helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude,
and behold, they were dead bodies, fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among both riches with 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. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Barakah, for they blessed the Lord. Therefore, the name of this place was called the Valley of Barakah unto this day. And 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. And they came to Jerusalem with salt trees and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. 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.
So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about. 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 Shilhah, 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, And after this did Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, join himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did very wickedly. And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. And they made ships in Isiom Gabor.
Then Eliezer, the son of Dodavah of Maresha, 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. End of chapter 20
