1Now it happened after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for war.
2And they came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Aram; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).
3Then Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he set his face to seek Yahweh, and he proclaimed a fast over all Judah.
4And Judah gathered together to seek help from Yahweh; indeed, from all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh.
5Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh, before the new court,
6and he said: “Yahweh, God of our fathers, are you not God in the heavens? And you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations; in your hand are power and might, and there is none who can stand against you.
7Was it not you, our God, who dispossessed the inhabitants of this land from before your people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever?
8And they dwelt in it, and built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying,
9‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and we will cry out to you from our distress, and you will hear and save.’
10And now, behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab, and Mount Seir, whom you did not permit Israel to enter against when they came from the land of Egypt—for they turned away from them and did not destroy them—
11behold, they are repaying us by coming to drive us out from your possession, which you gave us to possess.
12Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power before this great multitude that is coming against us, and we do not know what we should do, but our eyes are on you.”
13And all Judah was standing before Yahweh, along with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14Then upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, the Levite from the sons of Asaph, the Spirit of Yahweh came, in the midst of the assembly,
15and he said: “Pay attention, all Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! Thus says Yahweh to you: ‘You yourselves, do not fear and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the wadi, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17It is not for you to fight in this. Take your stand, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them, and Yahweh will be with you.’”
18Then Jehoshaphat bowed low, face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh to worship Yahweh.
19And the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and from the sons of the Korahites, rose to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a great voice, upward.
20They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Trust in Yahweh your God, and you will be established; trust in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
21And he took counsel with the people, and he appointed singers to Yahweh and those praising in holy splendor, as they went out before the armed men, saying, “Give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love endures forever.”
22And at the time they began with the ringing cry and praise, Yahweh set ambushers against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming against Judah, and they were struck down.
23For the sons of Ammon and Moab took their stand against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to devote them to destruction and to exterminate them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, each helped to destroy his neighbor.
24When Judah came to the watchtower over the wilderness, they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses fallen to the ground, and there was no survivor.
25So Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder their spoil, and they found among them an abundance—both goods and, on the corpses, precious articles—and they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away. They spent three days plundering the spoil, for it was great.
26And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, for there they blessed Yahweh; therefore they called the name of that place the Valley of Berakah, to this day.
27Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem turned back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, to return to Jerusalem with joy, for Yahweh had given them joy over their enemies.
28And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets, to the house of Yahweh.
29And the dread of God came upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gave him rest on every side.
31So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
32He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the eyes of Yahweh.
33Only the high places were not removed, and the people had still not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.
34Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the words of Jehu son of Hanani, which were entered in the book of the kings of Israel.
35After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly.
36He allied himself with him to build ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships at Ezion-geber.
37Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has broken down what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.
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