AFV2020 - II Chronicles - 20

20:1  Then it came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon came in, and with them others besides the Ammonites, to battle against Jehoshaphat.

20:2  And some came in and spoke to Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude has come against you from beyond the sea on this side of Syria. And behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar, which is En Gedi."

20:3  And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the LORD, and called for a fast throughout all Judah.

20:4  And Judah gathered themselves to ask of the LORD. Even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD before the new court,

20:6  And said, "O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And is there not power and might in Your hand, so that none is able to withstand You?

20:7  Are You not our God? Did You not drive out the people of this land before Israel and give it to the seed of Your friend Abraham forever?

20:8  And they lived in it. And they have built You a temple in it for Your name, saying,

20:9  'If evil comes upon us, whether the sword, judgment, or plague, or famine, and we stand before this house and in Your presence (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our affliction, then You will hear and help.'

20:10  And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them,

20:11  Behold, they reward us by coming to cast us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

20:12  O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no might against this great company which comes against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

20:13  And all Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

20:14  And the Spirit of the LORD came 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, in the midst of the congregation.

20:15  And he said, "Listen, all Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

20:16  Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz. And you shall find them at the end of the valley before the wilderness of Jeruel.

20:17  You shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves and stand, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD will be with you."

20:18  And Jehoshaphat bowed his face to the ground. And all Judah and the people of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.

20:19  And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

20:20  And they rose up early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and so you shall be established. Believe His prophets, and so you shall prosper."

20:21  And when he consulted with the people, he appointed singers to the LORD and praisers to praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, "Praise the LORD, for His steadfast love endures forever."

20:22  And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah. And they were beaten,

20:23  For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the people of Mount Seir to completely kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the people of Seir, everyone helped to destroy one another.

20:24  And when Judah came to the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked at the multitude. And behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped!

20:25  And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them in abundance both riches and precious jewels in great number among the dead bodies 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.

20:26  Now on the fourth day they gathered themselves in the Valley of Blessing, for there they blessed the LORD. And the name of the same place was called the Valley of Blessing until this day.

20:27  And they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

20:28  And they came into Jerusalem with harps, and with lyres, and with silver trumpets to the house of the LORD.

20:29  And a terror from God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

20:30  And then the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about.

20:31  And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

20:32  And he walked in the way of Asa his father and did not depart from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

20:33  Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts to the God of their fathers.

20:34  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which were taken up in the book of the kings of Israel.

20:35  Then after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel who did very wickedly.

20:36  And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. And they made the ships in Ezion Geber.

20:37  And Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has broken your works." And the ships were broken so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.