2 Crônicas 20

¹ It came to pass after this also, [that] the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them [other] beside theThat is, who copied the Ammonites in language and apparel. The Hebrews thought that they were the Amalekites, but as it appeared by (2Ch_20:10) they were the Idumeans of mount Seir.Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

² Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond theCalled the Dead sea, where God destroyed the five cities because of their sin.sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they [be] in Hazazontamar, which [is] Engedi.

³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himselfThis declares what the fear of the godly is, which is the prick to stir them to prayer and to depend on the Lord, while it moves the wicked either to seek after worldly means and policies or else to fall into despair.to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

⁴ And Iudah gathered them selues together to aske counsel of the Lord: they came euen out of all the cities of Iudah to inquire of the Lord,

⁵ And Iehoshaphat stoode in the Congregation of Iudah and Ierusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court,

⁶ And saide, O Lorde God of our fathers, art not thou God in heauen? And reignest not thou on all the kingdomes of the heathen? And in thine hande is power and might, and none is able to withstand thee.

⁷ [Art] not thou our God, [who] didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, andHe grounds his prayer on God's power, by which he is able to help and also on his mercy, which he will continue toward his, as he has once chosen them and began to show his graces toward them.gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

⁸ And they dwelt therein, and haue built thee a Sanctuarie therein for thy Name, saying,

⁹ If, [when] evil cometh upon us, [as] theMeaning war which comes by God's just judgments for our sins.sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy nameThat is, it is here called on and you declared your presence and favour.[is] in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

¹⁰ And now beholde, the children of Ammon and Moab, and mount Seir, by whome thou wouldest not let Israel goe, when they came out of the land of Egypt: but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not:

¹¹ Behold, I say, they reward vs, in coming to cast vs out of thine inheritance, which thou hast caused vs to inherit.

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 eyesWe only put our trust in you, and wait for our deliverance from heaven.[are] upon thee.

¹³ And all Judah stoodThat is, before the ark of the covenant.before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

¹⁴ Then 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, cameWho was moved by the Spirit of God to prophecy.the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

¹⁵ And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for theThey fight against God and not against you, therefore he will fight for you.battle [is] not yours, but God's.

¹⁶ To morowe goe yee downe against them: beholde, they come vp by the cleft of Ziz, and ye shall finde them at the ende of the brooke before the wildernesse of Ieruel.

¹⁷ Ye shall not neede to fight in this battell: stand still, moue not, and behold the saluation of the Lord towardes you: O Iudah, and Ierusalem, feare ye not, neither be afraid: to morow goe out against them, and the Lord wilbe with you.

¹⁸ And JehoshaphatDeclaring his faith and obedience to the word of the Lord, and giving thanks for the deliverance promised.bowed his head with [his] face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

¹⁹ And the Leuites of the children of the Kohathites and of the childre of the Corhites stood vp to prayse the Lord God of Israel with a loude voyce on hie.

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 hisGive credit to their words and doctrine.prophets, so shall ye prosper.

²¹ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say,This was a psalm of thanksgiving which they used commonly to sing when they praised the Lord for his benefits, and was made by David, (Psa. 136:1-26).Praise the LORD; for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

²² And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, andMeaning, the Idumeans who dwelt in mount Seir.mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

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 toThus the Lord according to Jehoshaphat's prayer declared his power, when he delivered his by causing their enemies to kill one another.destroy another.

²⁴ And when Iudah came towarde Mizpah in the wildernes, they looked vnto the multitude: & behold, the carkeises were fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

²⁵ And when Iehoshaphat & his people came to take away the spoyle of them, they founde among them in abundance both of substance and also of bodies laden with precious iewels, which they tooke for themselues, till they could cary no more: they were three dayes in gathering of the spoyle: for it was much.

²⁶ And on the fourth day theyTo give thanks to the Lord for the victory: and therefore the valley was called Berachah, that is, blessing or thanksgiving, which was also called the valley of Jehoshaphat, (Joe_3:2, Joe_3:12) because the Lord judged the enemies according to Jehoshaphat's prayer.assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

²⁷ Then euery man of Iudah and Ierusalem returned with Iehoshaphat their head, to goe againe to Ierusalem with ioy: for the Lorde had made them to reioyce ouer their enemies.

²⁸ And they came to Ierusalem with viols and with harpes, and with trumpets, euen vnto the house of the Lord.

²⁹ And theHe declares by this that the works of God always bring comfort or deliverance to his, and fear or destruction to his enemies.fear of God was on all the kingdoms of [those] countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

³⁰ So the kingdom of Iehoshaphat was quiet, and his God gaue him rest on euery side.

³¹ And Iehoshaphat reigned ouer Iudah, and was fiue and thirtie yeere olde, when he began to reigne: and reigned fiue and twentie yeere in Ierusalem, and his mothers name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

³² And he walked in the way ofMeaning, in his virtues, and those ways in which he followed God.Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD.

³³ Howbeit the high places wereIf the great care and diligence of this good king was not able to utterly abolish all the superstition of this people, but they still retained it, how much less are they able to reform evil, who either have little zeal, or not as he had: though here he was not to be excused?not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Concerning the rest of the actes of Iehoshaphat first and last, beholde, they are written in the booke of Iehu the sonne of Hanani, which is mentioned in the booke of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ Yet after this did Iehoshaphat King of Iudah ioyne himselfe with Ahaziah King of Israel, who was giuen to do euill.

³⁶ And he ioyned with him, to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the shippes in Ezion Gaber.

³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hastThus God would not have his join in company with idolaters and wicked men.joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.