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.
02 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.
03 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to
seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout
all Judah.
04 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.
05 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of
Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord,
before the new court,
06 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?
07 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?
08 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a
sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
09 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.
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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.
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