2 Chronicles 19; 2 Chronicles 20; 2 Chronicles 21; 2 Chronicles 22; 2 Chronicles 23

1 And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him: Thou helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them that hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the Lord:

3 But good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the groves out of the land of Juda, and hast prepared thy heart to seek the Lord the God of thy fathers.

4 And Josaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again to the people from Bersabee to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord the God of their fathers.

5 And he set judges of the land in all the fenced cities of Juda, in every place.

6 And charging the judges, he said: Take heed what you do: for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever you judge, it shall redound to you.

7 Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor desire of gifts.

8 In Jerusalem also Josaphat appointed Levites, and priests and chiefs of the families of Israel, to judge the judgment and the cause of the Lord for the inhabitants thereof.

9 And he charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of the Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

10 Every cause that shall come to you of your brethren, that dwell in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wheresoever there is question concerning the law, the commandment, the ceremonies, the justifications: shew it them, that they may not sin against the Lord, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brethren: and so doing you shall not sin.

11 And Amarias the priest your high priest shall be chief in the things which regard God: and Zabadias the son of Ismahel, who is ruler in the house of Juda, shall be over those matters which belong to the king’s office: and you have before you the Levites for masters, take courage and do diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good things.

1 After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to fight against Josaphat.

2 And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying: There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of Syria, and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.

3 And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda.

4 And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord: and all came out of their cities to make supplication to him.

5 And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court,

6 And said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven, and rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength and power, and no one can resist thee.

7 Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

8 And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name, saying:

9 If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our afflictions, and thou wilt hear, and save us.

10 Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to pass, when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and slew them not,

11 Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the possession which thou hast delivered to us.

12 O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have not strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee.

13 And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and their wives, and their children.

14 And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude,

15 And he said: Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

16 To morrow you shall go down against them: for they will come up by the ascent named Sis, and you shall find them at the head of the torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel.

17 It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: to morrow you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.

18 Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell flat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him.

19 And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high.

20 And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.

21 And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever.

22 And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain.

23 For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed one another.

24 And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death.

25 Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies, stuff of various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and they took them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all, nor in three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great.

26 And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called that place the valley of Blessing until this day.

27 And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem returned, and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy, because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.

28 And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets into the house of the Lord.

29 And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.

30 And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace round about.

31 And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was five and thirty years old, when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Selahi.

32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa and departed not from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord.

33 But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had not yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers.

34 But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, first and last, are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books of the kings of Israel.

35 After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked.

36 And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tharsis: and they made the ships in Asiongaber.

37 And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to Josaphat, saying: Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the Lord hath destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they could not go to Tharsis.

1 And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead.

2 And he had brethren the sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jahiel, and Zacharias, and Azaria, and Michael, and Saphatias, all these were the sons of Josaphat king of Juda.

3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and pensions, with strong cities in Juda: but the kingdom he gave to Joram, because he was the eldest.

4 So Joram rose up over the kingdom of his father: and when he had established himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and some of the princes of Israel.

5 Joram was two and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

6 And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had done: for his wife was a daughter of Achab, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.

7 But the Lord would not destroy the house of David: because of the covenant which he had made with him: and because he had promised to give a lamp to him, and to his sons for ever.

8 In those days Edom revolted, from being subject to Juda, and made themselves a king.

9 And Joram went over with his princes, and all his cavalry with him, and rose in the night, and defeated the Edomites who had surrounded him, and all the captains of his cavalry.

10 However Edom revolted, from being under the dominion of Juda unto this day: at that time Lobna also revolted, from being under his hand. For he had forsaken the Lord the God of his fathers.

11 Moreover he built also high places in the cities of Juda, and he made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and Juda to transgress.

12 And there was a letter brought him from Eliseus the prophet, in which it was written: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Josaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Juda,

13 But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast made Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, imitating the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou hast killed thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than thyself,

14 Behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance.

15 And thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy bowels, till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day.

16 And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians.

17 And they came up into the land of Juda, and wasted it, and they carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, his sons also, and his wives: so that there was no son left him but Joachaz, who was the youngest.

18 And besides all this the Lord struck him with an incurable disease in his bowels.

19 And as day came after day, and time rolled on, two whole years passed: then after being wasted with a long consumption, so as to void his very bowels, his disease ended with his life. And he died of a most wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors.

20 He was two and thirty years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked not rightly, and they buried him in the city of David: but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son king in his place: for the rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in upon the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda reigned.

2 Ochozias was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri.

3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his mother pushed him on to do wickedly.

4 So he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Achab did: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

5 And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram the son of Achab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria, at Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram.

6 And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel: for he received many wounds in the foresaid battle. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda, went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel where he lay sick.

7 For it was the will of God against Ochozias that he should come to Joram: and when he was come should go out also against Jehu the son of Namsi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Achab.

8 So when Jehu was rooting out the house of Achab, he found the princes of Juda, and the sons of the brethren of Ochozias, who served him, and he slew them.

9 And he sought for Ochozias himself, and took him lying hid in Samaria: and when he was brought to him, he killed him, and they buried him: because he was the son of Josaphat, who had sought the Lord with all his heart. And there was no more hope that any one should reign of the race of Ochozias.

10 For Athalia his mother, seeing that her son was dead, rose up, and killed all the royal family of the house of Joram.

11 But Josabeth the king’s daughter took Joas the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain. And she hid him with his nurse in a bedchamber: now Josabeth that hid him, was daughter of king Joram, wife of Joiada the high priest, and sister of Ochozias, and therefore Athalia did not kill him.

12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years, during which Athalia reigned over the land.

1 And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the captains of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel the son of Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son of Adaias, and Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with them.

2 And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

3 And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house of God: and Joiada said to them: Behold the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.

4 And this is the thing that you shall do

5 A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, and of the porters shall be at the gates: and a third part at the king’s house: and a third at the gate that is called the Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the house of the Lord.

6 And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests, and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because they are sanctified: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches of the Lord.

7 And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with his arms; and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain; and let them be with the king, both coming in, and going out.

8 So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the high priest had commanded: and they took every one his men that were under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with those who had fulfilled the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the high priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were accustomed to succeed one another every week.\par

9 And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house of the Lord.

10 And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the altar, and the temple, round about the king.

11 And they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and they made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed him: and they prayed for him, and said: God save the king.

12 Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the Lord.

13 And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the entrance, and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing on instruments of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she rent her garments, and said: Treason, treason.

14 And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the chiefs of the army, said to them: Take her forth without the precinct of the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword. For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of the Lord

15 And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was come within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there.

16 And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the people, and the king, that they should be the people of the lord.

17 And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it: and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan the priest of Baal before the altars.

18 And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord, under the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the disposition of David.

19 He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in

20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought him through the upper gate into the king’s house, and set him on the royal throne.

21 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword