The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Some time later, the people of Mo'av and the people of 'Amon with other 'Amonim came up to fight Y'hoshafat.
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Now after this, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunim, made war against Jehoshaphat.
2 Y'hoshafat was told, "A huge army from beyond the [Dead] Sea, from Aram, is on its way to fight you; right now they are in Hatzatzon-Tamar" (that is, 'Ein-Gedi).
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And they came to Jehoshaphat with the news, saying, A great army is moving against you from Edom across the sea; and now they are in Hazazon-tamar (which is En-gedi).
3 Y'hoshafat was frightened, so he determined to seek ADONAI. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Y'hudah,
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Then Jehoshaphat, in his fear, went to the Lord for directions, and gave orders all through Judah for the people to go without food.
4 and Y'hudah assembled to seek help from ADONAI; they came from all the cities of Y'hudah to seek ADONAI.
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And Judah came together to make prayer for help from the Lord; from every town of Judah they came to give worship to the Lord.
5 Standing in front of the new courtyard in the house of ADONAI, among those assembled from Y'hudah and Yerushalayim,
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And Jehoshaphat took his place in the meeting of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new open space,
6 he said: "ADONAI, God of our ancestors, you alone are God in heaven. You rule all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and strength, so that no one can withstand you.
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And said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hands are power and strength so that no one is able to keep his place against you.
7 You, our God, drove out those living in the land ahead of your people Isra'el and gave it forever to the descendants of Avraham your friend.
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Did you not, O Lord our God, after driving out the people of this land before your people Israel, give it to the seed of Abraham, your friend, for ever?
8 They lived in it, built you a sanctuary in it for your name, and said,
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And they made it their living-place, building there a holy house for your name, and saying,
9 'If calamity strikes us, such as war, judgment, disease or famine, we will stand before this house - that is, before you, since your name is in this house - and cry to you in our distress; and you will hear us and rescue us.'
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If evil comes on us, the sword, or punishment, or disease, or need of food, we will come to this house and to you, (for your name is in this house,) crying to you in our trouble, and you will give us salvation in answer to our cry.
10 "So now, see: the people of 'Amon, Mo'av and Mount Se'ir, whom you would not let Isra'el invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, so that they turned away from them and did not destroy them,
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And now, see, the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, whom you kept Israel from attacking when they came out of Egypt, so that turning to one side they did not send destruction on them:
11 are now repaying us [evil]; they have come to throw us out of your possession, which you gave us as an inheritance.
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See now, how as our reward they have come to send us out of your land which you have given us as our heritage.
12 Our God! Won't you execute judgment against them? For we haven't strength enough to defeat this huge horde coming against us, and we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you."
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O our God, will you not be their judge? for our strength is not equal to this great army which is coming against us; and we are at a loss what to do: but our eyes are on you.
13 All Y'hudah stood before ADONAI with their little ones, their wives and their children.
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And all Judah were waiting before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then, in the middle of the assembly, the Spirit of ADONAI came upon Yachzi'el the son of Z'kharyahu, the son of B'nayah, the son of Ye'i'el, the son of Matanyah the Levi, from the descendants of Asaf.
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Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph;
15 He said, "Listen, all Y'hudah, you who live in Yerushalayim and King Y'hoshafat: here is what ADONAI is saying to you: 'Don't be afraid or distressed by this great horde; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
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And he said, Give ear, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat: the Lord says to you, Have no fear and do not be troubled on account of this great army; for the fight is not yours but God's.
16 Tomorrow, go down against them. They will be coming up by the ascent of Tzitz, and you will find them at the end of the vadi, before the Yeru'el Desert.
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Go down against them tomorrow: see, they are coming up by the slope of Ziz; at the end of the valley, before the waste land of Jeruel, you will come face to face with them.
17 You won't even need to fight this battle! Just take your positions, Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, stand still, and watch how ADONAI will deliver you! Don't be afraid or distressed; tomorrow, go out against them; for ADONAI is with you.'"
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There will be no need for you to take up arms in this fight; put yourselves in position, and keep where you are, and you will see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: have no fear and do not be troubled: go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.
18 Y'hoshafat bowed his head with his face to the ground; while all Y'hudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim fell down before ADONAI, worshipping ADONAI;
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Then Jehoshaphat went down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem gave worship to the Lord, falling down before him.
19 and the L'vi'im from the descendants of the K'hati and the descendants of the Korchi, stood up and praised ADONAI the God of Isra'el at the top of their voices.
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And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites and the Korahites, got to their feet and gave praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice.
20 The next morning, they rose early and went out into the T'koa Desert. As they left, Y'hoshafat stood and said, "Listen to me, Y'hudah and you inhabitants of Yerushalayim! "Trust in ADONAI your God, and you will be safe. Trust in his prophets, and you will succeed."
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And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you.
21 After consulting with the people, he appointed those who would sing to ADONAI and praise the splendor of his holiness as they went out ahead of the army, saying, "Give thanks to ADONAI, for his grace continues forever."
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And after discussion with the people, he put in their places those who were to make melody to the Lord, praising him in holy robes, while they went at the head of the army, and saying, May the Lord be praised, for his mercy is unchanging for ever.
22 Then, during the time when they were singing and praising, ADONAI brought a surprise attack against the people of 'Amon, Mo'av and Mount Se'ir who had come to fight Y'hudah; and they were defeated.
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And at the first notes of song and praise the Lord sent a surprise attack against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome.
23 What happened was that the people of 'Amon and Mo'av began attacking those people who lived by Mount Se'ir, to kill and destroy them completely; and when they had finished off the people from Se'ir, they set to work slaughtering one another.
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And the children of Ammon and Moab made an attack on the people of Mount Seir with a view to their complete destruction; and when they had put an end to the people of Seir, everyman's hand was turned against his neighbour for his destruction.
24 So when Y'hudah reached the watchtower overlooking the desert, they looked toward the horde; and there in front of them were corpses fallen to the ground; none had escaped.
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And Judah came to the watchtower of the waste land, and looking in the direction of the army, they saw only dead bodies stretched on the earth; no living man was to be seen.
25 Y'hoshafat and his army came to take the spoil from them and found among them personal property in abundance and corpses with precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves until they couldn't carry any more. They took three days just to collect the spoil, there was so much.
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And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much.
26 On the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of B'rakhah [blessing], where they blessed ADONAI; hence that place is called the Valley of B'rakhah to this day.
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On the fourth day they all came together in the Valley of Blessing, and there they gave blessing to the Lord; for which cause that place has been named the Valley of Blessing to this day.
27 Then they returned, everyone from Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, with Y'hoshafat leading them joyfully back to Yerushalayim; for ADONAI had caused them to rejoice over their enemies.
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Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem went back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, coming back to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them glad over their haters.
28 They came to Yerushalayim with lyres, lutes and trumpets and went to the house of ADONAI.
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So they came to Jerusalem with corded instruments and wind-instruments into the house of the Lord.
29 A panic from God was on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that ADONAI had fought against the enemies of Isra'el.
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And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had news of how the Lord made war on those who came against Israel.
30 So Y'hoshafat's rule was a quiet one, because his God gave him rest all around.
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So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for the Lord gave him rest on every side.
31 Y'hoshafat ruled over Y'hudah; he was thirty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled twenty-five years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was 'Azuvah the daughter of Shilchi.
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And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for twenty-five years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
32 He lived in the manner of Asa his father and did not turn away from it, doing what was right from ADONAI's perspective;
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He went in the ways of his father Asa, not turning away, but doing right in the eyes of the Lord.
33 although the high places were not taken away, and the people had not yet set their hearts toward the God of their ancestors.
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The high places, however, were not taken away, and the hearts of the people were still not true to the God of their fathers.
34 Other activities of Y'hoshafat, from beginning to end, are written in the records of Yehu the son of Hanani, which have been inserted in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
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Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, they are recorded in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which were put in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 It was after this that Y'hoshafat joined up with Achazyah king of Isra'el, who was acting very wickedly.
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After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became friends with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did much evil:
36 He joined together with him to build large ships capable of going to Tarshish; they made the ships in 'Etzyon-Gever.
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Together they made ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber.
37 Then Eli'ezer the son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Y'hoshafat: "Because you joined yourself with Achazyah, ADONAI is wrecking your project."And the ships were wrecked, so that they couldn't go to Tarshish.
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Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.