The Prophet Jehu Rebukes Jehoshaphat

191 And Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate Jehovah? Therefore is wrath upon thee from Jehovah. 3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee; for thou hast put away the Asherahs out of the land, and hast directed thy heart to seek God.

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt in Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to Jehovah the God of their fathers.

5 And he set judges in the land throughout the fortified cities of Judah, city by city. 6 And he said to the judges, Take heed what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for Jehovah, who will be with you in the matter of judgment. 7 And now, let the terror of Jehovah be upon you; be careful what ye do, for there is no iniquity with Jehovah, nor respect of persons, nor taking of presents. 8 —And moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set some of the Levites and priests, and of the chief fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah and for causes.—And they returned to Jerusalem. 9 And he charged them saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of Jehovah faithfully and with a perfect heart. 10 And what cause soever comes to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against Jehovah, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren: this do and ye shall not trespass. 11 And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Jehovah, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, prince of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters; and ye have the Levites before you as officers. Be strong and do it, and Jehovah will be with the good.

The Victory over Moab and Ammon

201 And it came to pass after this [that] the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them certain of the Maonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 2 And they came and told Jehoshaphat saying, A great multitude is come against thee from beyond the sea, from Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask [help] of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah. 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court; 6 and he said, Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not thou God in the heavens, and rulest thou not over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in thy hand there is power and might, and none can withstand thee. 7 Hast not thou, our God, dispossessed the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and given it for ever to the seed of Abraham, thy friend? 8 And they have dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If evil come upon us, sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, and we stand before this house and before thee—for thy name is in this house—and cry unto thee in our distress, then thou wilt hear and save. 10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab, and those of mount Seir, amongst whom thou wouldest not let Israel go when they came out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned from them, and destroyed them not,) 11 behold, they reward us, in coming to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to possess. 12 Our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might in presence of this great company which cometh against us, neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee. 13 And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons.

14 And 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, upon him came the Spirit of Jehovah, in the midst of the congregation; 15 and he said, Be attentive, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat! Thus saith Jehovah unto you: Fear not, nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. 16 To-morrow go down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Ye shall not have to fight on this occasion: set yourselves, stand and see the salvation of Jehovah [who is] with you! Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, and Jehovah 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 down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah. 19 And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel with an exceeding loud voice.

20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth towards the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established; believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper! 21 And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those that should praise in holy splendour, as they went forth before the armed men, and say, Give thanks to Jehovah; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever! 22 And when they began the song of triumph and praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were smitten. 23 And the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to exterminate and destroy [them]; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 24 And Judah came on to the mountain-watch in the wilderness, and they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped. 25 And Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder the spoil of them, and they found among them in abundance, both riches with the dead bodies, and precious things, and they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away; and they were three days in plundering the spoil, it was so much. 26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah, for there they blessed Jehovah; therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Berachah, to this day. 27 And they returned, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies. 28 And they came to Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, to the house of Jehovah. 29 And the terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 And the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; and his God gave him rest round about.

The Reign of Jehoshaphat

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, daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of Jehovah. 33 Only, the high places were not removed; and as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers. 34 And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are inserted in the book of the kings of Israel. 35 And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined 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 Ezion-geber. 37 And Eliezer the son of Dodavah, of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has broken thy works. And the ships were broken, and could not go to Tarshish.

The Reign of Jehoram of Judah

211 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. 2 And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 And their father had given them great gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things, besides fortified cities in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn. 4 And Jehoram established himself over the kingdom of his father, and strengthened himself; and he slew all his brethren with the sword, and [certain] also of the princes of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah. 7 But Jehovah would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he had promised to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons. 8 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves. 9 And Jehoram went over with his captains, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots. 10 But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah the God of his fathers. 11 Moreover he made high places on the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah [thereto].

12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father's house who were better than thyself: 14 behold, Jehovah will smite with a great stroke thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance, 15 and thyself with sore sicknesses, with a disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. 16 And Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who [are] near the Ethiopians; 17 and they came up into Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was no son left him, except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons. 18 And after all this, Jehovah smote him in his bowels with an incurable sickness. 19 And it came to pass, from day to day, and at the time when the second year was drawing to a close, that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died in cruel sufferings. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being regretted. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.