New American Standard Bible 1995

International Standard Version

1Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat.

1Sometime after these events, the Moabites and the Ammonites, accompanied by some other descendants of Ammon, attacked Jehoshaphat and started a war.

2Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi)."

2Jehoshaphat's military advisors came and informed him, "We've been attacked by a vast invasion force from Aram, beyond the Dead Sea. Be advised—they've already reached Hazazon-tamar, also known as En-gedi."

3Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

3In mounting fear, Jehoshaphat devoted himself to seek the LORD. He proclaimed a period of fasting throughout all of the territory of Judah,

4So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.

4and the tribe of Judah assembled together to seek the LORD. People came from all of the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.

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

5Jehoshaphat stood among the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the LORD's Temple in the vicinity of the new court

6and he said, "O LORD, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You.

6and said: "LORD God of our ancestors, you are the God who lives in heaven, are you not? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, don't you? In your own hands you grasp both strength and power, don't you? As a result, no one can oppose you, can they?

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

7You are our God, who expelled the former inhabitants of this land right in front of our people Israel, aren't you? Then you gave it to your friend Abraham's descendant forever, didn't you?

8"They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying,

8They lived in it and have built there a sanctuary for your name, where they said,

9Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.'

9If evil comes upon us, such as war as punishment, disease, or famine and we stand in your presence in this Temple (because your Name is in this Temple) and cry out to you in our distress, then you will hear and deliver.'

10"Now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them),

10Now therefore look! The Ammonites, the Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, whom you would not permit Israel to attack when they arrived from the land of Egypt—since they turned away from them and did not eliminate them—

11see how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance.

11Look how they're rewarding us! They're coming to drive us from your property that you gave us to be our inheritance.

12"O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You."

12Our God, you are going to punish them, aren't you? We have no strength to face this vast multitude that has come against us, nor do we know what to do, except that our eyes are on you."

13All Judah was standing before the LORD, with their infants, their wives and their children.

13All of Judah was standing in the LORD's presence, along with their little babies, their wives, and their children.

14Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph;

14Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Zechariah's son Jahaziel, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a descendant of Levi from the descendants of Asaph in the middle of the assembly, and he said:

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

15"Pay attention, everyone in Judah, in Jerusalem, and you, too, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Stop being afraid, and stop being discouraged because of this vast invasion force, because the battle doesn't belong to you, but to God.

16'Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel.

16Tomorrow you are to go down to attack them. Pay attention, now—they'll be coming up near the ascent of Ziz. You'll find them at the end of the valley that looks out over the Jeruel wilderness.

17You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you."

17You won't be fighting in this battle. Take your stand, but stand still, and watch the LORD's salvation on your behalf, Judah and Jerusalem! Never fear and never be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, since the LORD is with you.'"

18Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.

18Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the assembled inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem fell face down in the LORD's presence and worshipped the LORD.

19The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

19Descendants of Levi from the descendants of Kohath and from the descendants of Korah stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel in a very loud voice that ascended to heaven.

20They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed."

20The army got up early the next morning and headed out into the wilderness of Tekoa. Jehoshaphat stood up and addressed them. "Listen to me, you inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem," he said. "Have faith in the LORD your God and you'll be established! Have faith in his prophets and you'll succeed!"

21When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, "Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

21After he had consulted with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed some choir members to sing to the LORD and to praise him in sacred splendor as they marched out in front of the armed forces. They kept saying "Give thanks to the LORD, because his gracious love is eternal!"

22When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.

22Right on time, as they began to sing and praise, the LORD ambushed the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who had attacked Judah, and they were defeated.

23For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

23The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them, and after they had finished with the inhabitants of Mount Seir, they worked on destroying one another!

24When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped.

24When the army of Judah arrived at the remotest watchtower in the wilderness, they looked around at the invasion force, and to their surprise, there were dead bodies lying all around on the ground—not one had escaped!

25When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.

25Later on, when Jehoshaphat and his army arrived to collect the spoils of war, they discovered there were far more goods, garments, and other valuable items to collect than they could carry off in a single day. There was so much material that it took three days to finish their collection efforts.

26Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore they have named that place "The Valley of Beracah " until today.

26Three days later, they assembled together in the Beracah Valley, where they blessed the LORD, which is why the name of that place is called Beracah Valley to this day.

27Every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

27Then they all returned with joy to Jerusalem, every soldier from Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at the head of the procession, because the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.

28They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres and trumpets to the house of the LORD.

28They proceeded directly to the LORD's Temple, carrying lyres, harps, and trumpets.

29And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.

29Fear of God seized all of the kingdoms in the surrounding territories when they heard that the LORD had battled Israel's enemies.

30So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God gave him rest on all sides.

30As a result, Jehoshaphat's kingdom enjoyed peace, because his God had provided rest for him all around.

31Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

31Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, having become king at the age of 35. He reigned in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

32He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not depart from it, doing right in the sight of the LORD.

32He followed the example of his father Asa and never departed from it, practicing what the LORD considered to be right.

33The high places, however, were not removed; the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

33However, the high places were not removed, since the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their ancestors.

34Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first to last, behold, they are written in the annals of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

34The rest of Jehoshaphat's accomplishments, from first to last, are recorded in the annals of Hanani's son Jehu, which appears in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

35After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly in so doing.

35Sometime later, King Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into a military alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, acting wickedly by doing so.

36So he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

36He also agreed with King Ahaziah to build ships to sail toward Tarshish, which they built in Ezion-geber.

37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, "Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works." So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.

37But Dodavahu's son Eliezer from Mareshah prophesied in opposition to Jehoshaphat, "Because you have entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your efforts." So the ships were destroyed and were never able to sail for Tarshish.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.