Read the Bible

¹ And it came to pass after this, that the sons of Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.² Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea from Edom; and, look, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi).³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek to Yahweh; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.⁴ And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek [help] of Yahweh: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh.⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh, before the new court;⁶ and he said, O Yahweh, the God of our fathers, are not you God in heaven? and are not you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.⁷ Did you not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever?⁸ And they dwelt therein, and have built you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying,⁹ If evil comes on us, the sword, 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 affliction, and you will hear and save.¹⁰ And now, look, the sons of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and did not destroy them;¹¹ look, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.¹² O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither do we know what to do: but our eyes are on you.¹³ And all Judah stood before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons.

¹⁴ Then on Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of Yahweh in the midst of the assembly;¹⁵ and he said, Listen, all Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and king Jehoshaphat: Thus says Yahweh to you, Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them: look, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.¹⁷ You shall not need to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; don't be afraid, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for Yahweh is with you.¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh.¹⁹ And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice.

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 you inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in Yahweh your God, so you shall be established; believe his prophets, so you shall prosper.²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those that should sing to Yahweh, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to Yahweh; for his loving-kindness [endures] forever.²² And when they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set ambushers against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that had come against Judah; and they were smitten.²³ For the sons of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, completely to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.²⁴ And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked on the multitude; and saw that they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.²⁵ And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found beasts of burden, in abundance, and riches, and clothing, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.²⁶ And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Yahweh: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah to this day.²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Yahweh had made them to rejoice over their enemies.²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets to the house of Yahweh.²⁹ And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Yahweh fought against the enemies of Israel.³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; for his God gave him rest round about.

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.³² And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and didn't turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh.³³ Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts to the God of their fathers.³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, look, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.³⁵ And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly:³⁶ and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works. And the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.