1   It happened some time afterwards that the Moabites, the Ammonites, and some of the Meunites ^note made war on Jehoshaphat. 2   News was brought to him that a great horde of them was attacking him from beyond the Dead Sea, from Edom, ^note and was already at Hazazontamar, which is En-gedi. 3   Jehoshaphat in his alarm resolved to seek guidance of the Lord and proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4   Judah gathered together to ask counsel of the Lord; from every city of the land they came to consult him. 5   Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord, in front of the New Court, 6   and said, ‘O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? Thou rulest over all the kingdoms of the nations; in thy hand are strength and power, and there is none who can withstand thee. 7   Didst not thou, O God our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land in favour of thy people Israel, and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham thy friend? 8   So they lived in it and have built a sanctuary in it in honour of thy name and said, 9   “Should evil come upon us, war or flood, ^note pestilence or famine, we will stand before this house and before thee, for in this house is thy Name, and we will cry to thee in our distress and thou wilt hear and save.” 10   Thou didst not allow Israel, when they came out of Egypt, to enter the land of the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the people of the hill-country of Seir, so they turned aside and left them alone and did not destroy them. 11   Now see how these people repay us: they are coming to drive us out of thy possession which thou didst give to us. 12   Judge them, O God our God, for we have no strength to face this great horde which is invading our land; we know not what we ought to do; we lift our eyes to thee.’

13   So all Judah stood there before the Lord, with their dependants, their wives and their children. 14   Then, in the midst of the assembly, the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah,

The kings from Rehoboam to Ahaz son of Jeiel, 15   son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the line of Asaph, and he said, ‘Attend, all Judah, all inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat; this is the word of the Lord to you: “Have no fear; do not be dismayed by this great horde, for the battle is in God's hands, not yours. 16   Go down to meet them tomorrow; they will come up by the Ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17   It is not you who will fight this battle; stand firm and wait, and you will see the deliverance worked by the Lord: he is on your side, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; go out tomorrow to face them; for the Lord is on your side.”’ 18   Jehoshaphat bowed his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to make obeisance to him. 19   Then the Levites of the lines of Kohath and Korah stood up and praised the Lord the God of Israel with a mighty shout.

20   So they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and, as they were starting, Jehoshaphat took his stand and said, ‘Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: hold firmly to your faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will prosper.’ 21   After consulting with the people, he appointed men to sing to the Lord and praise the splendour of his holiness ^note as they went before the armed troops, and they sang:

  Give thanks to the Lord,
  for his love endures for ever.

22   As soon as their loud shouts of praise were heard, the Lord deluded the Ammonites and Moabites and the men of the hill-country of Seir, who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23   It turned out that the Ammonites and Moabites had taken up a position against the men of the hill-country of Seir, and set themselves to annihilate and destroy them; and when they had exterminated the men of Seir, they savagely attacked one another. 24   So when Judah came to the watch-tower in the wilderness and looked towards the enemy horde, there they were all lying dead upon the ground; none had escaped. 25   When Jehoshaphat and his men came to collect the booty, they found a large number of cattle, ^note goods, clothing, ^note and precious things, which they plundered until they could carry away no more. They spent three days collecting the booty, there was so much of it. 26   On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, ^note the name that it bears to this day because they blessed the Lord there. 27   Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned home to the city in triumph; for the Lord had given them cause to triumph over their enemies. 28   They entered Jerusalem

The kings from Rehoboam to Ahaz with lutes, harps, and trumpets playing, and went into the house of the Lord. 29   So the dread of God fell upon the rulers of every country, when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel; 30   and the realm of Jehoshaphat was at peace, God giving him security on all sides.

31    ^noteThus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years; his mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 32   He followed in the footsteps of Asa his father and did not swerve from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 33   But the hill-shrines were allowed to remain, and the people did not set their hearts upon the God of their fathers. 34   The other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, from first to last, are recorded in the history of Jehu son of Hanani, which is included in the annals of the kings of Israel.

35   Later Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; 36   he did wrong in joining with him to build ships for trade with Tarshish; these were built in Ezion-geber. 37   But Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah denounced Jehoshaphat with this prophecy: ‘Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will bring your work to nothing.’ So the ships were wrecked and could not make the voyage to Tarshish.

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