II Chronicles 20 God Gives Jehoshaphat Victory Over His Enemies

 II Chronicles 20

God Gives Jehoshaphat Victory Over His Enemies

1 And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the children of Ammon, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.

2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude cometh against thee from beyond the sea, and from Syria: and, behold, they are at Hatshon-tamar, which is Engerdi.

3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set himself to seek the LORD; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

4 And Judah gathered together to seek help of the LORD; and they came out of all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.

5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court.

6 And he said, Ah! O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? For you are ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in your hand there is power and might, and no one can withstand you.

7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?

8 So they dwelt therein and built a sanctuary there for your name, saying,

9 If evil comes upon us, the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house. We will cry out to you in our trouble, and you will hear and save us. 

10 Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab, and the children of Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel pass through when they came out of the land of Egypt, but you turned away from them and did not destroy them, 

11 behold, they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of your inheritance, which you have given us to inherit.

 12 Oh, our God, will you not judge them? For we have no strength against this great multitude that is coming against us, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 

13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their women, and their children. 

14 Then 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.

15 He said, "Listen, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat. Thus says the Lord to you: Do not be afraid or dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

16 Tomorrow you will go down against them; behold, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley, opposite the wilderness of Jeruel.

17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand still, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you.

 18 Then Jehoshaphat fell facedown on the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.

19 Then the Levites, the Kohathites and the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice.

20 Early in the morning they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper.”

21 Then he took counsel with the people and appointed singers for the Lord, to praise the holy Majesty, going out before the armed men, and saying, “Praise the Lord, for his mercy endures forever.”

 22 And at the time that they began to rejoice and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were routed.

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to destroy and to annihilate them; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped one another to destroy one another.

24 Then Judah came to the watchtower in the wilderness; and they looked at the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies lying on the ground, and not one escaped.

25 And Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder their spoil, and found therein in abundance goods and dead bodies, and precious vessels, and took for themselves so much that they could not carry away any more: and they plundered the spoil for three days, for it was so much. 

26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Beracah, to this day.

27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned, with Jehoshaphat at their head, to come to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.

28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries, harps, and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.

29 And the fear of God fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands, when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.

30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave him rest all around.

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. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shil.

32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.

33 Nevertheless the high places were not removed, because the people had not yet prepared their hearts for the God of their fathers.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, are they not written in the record of Jehu the son of Hanani, who wrote them in the book of the kings of Israel?

35 But after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did all wickedness.

36 And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made ships at Ezion-geber.

37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works, so that they have not been able to go to Tarshish.