20:1 It came to pass after this also, [that] the children of
Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them [others] besides
the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
20:2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There
cometh a great multitude against thee 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 proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
20:4 And Judah assembled, to ask [help] of the LORD: even from
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, [art] not thou God in
heaven? and rulest thou [not] over all the kingdoms of the
heathen? and in thy hand [is there not] power and might, so
that none is able to withstand thee?
20:7 [Art] not thou our God, [who] didst drive out the
inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it
to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
20:8 And they dwelt in it, and have built thee a sanctuary in it
for thy name, saying,
20:9 If, [when] evil cometh upon us, [as] the sword, judgment,
or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in
thy presence, (for thy name [is] in this house,) and cry to
thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
20:10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount
Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade, when they came
from the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and
destroyed them not;
20:11 Behold, [I say], [how] they reward us, to come to cast us
out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
20:12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might
against this great company that cometh against us; neither know
we what to do: but our eyes [are] upon thee.
20:13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little
ones, their wives, and their children.
20:14 Then upon Jehaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of
Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of
the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of
the congregation;
20:15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD to
you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great
multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but God's.
20:16 To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by
the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the
brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
20:17 Ye shall not [need] to fight in this [battle]: set
yourselves, stand ye [still], and see the salvation of the LORD
with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed;
to-morrow go out against them: for the LORD [will be] with you.
20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with [his] face to the
ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell
before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.
20:19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of
the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God
of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20:20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into
the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat
stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be
established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed
singers to the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of
holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise
the LORD; for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
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 were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the
inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy [them]:
and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every
one helped to destroy another.
20:24 And when Judah came towards the watch-tower in the
wilderness, they looked to 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 the
spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches
with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped
off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they
were three days in gathering the spoil, it was so much.
20:26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the
valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore
the name of the same place hath been called, The valley of
Berachah, to this day.
20:27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and
Jehoshaphat in the 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 to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and
trumpets to the house of the LORD.
20:29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of [those]
countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the
enemies of Israel.
20:30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave
him rest on all sides.
20:31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: [he was] thirty and
five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty
and 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 departed
not from it, doing [that which was] right in the sight of the
LORD.
20:33 But 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, who [is] mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
20:35 And 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 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied
against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself
with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships
were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
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