2 Chronicles 15; 2 Chronicles 16; 2 Chronicles 17; 2 Chronicles 18

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2 Chronicles 15

1 When God's spirit came upon Azariah, Oded's son,
2 he confronted Asa: "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin," he said. "The LORD is with you as long as you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Instruction.
4 But in their time of trouble they turned to the LORD, Israel's God. They sought him and found him!
5 At that time, it wasn't safe to travel because great turmoil affected all the inhabitants of the area.
6 Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, as God troubled them with every kind of problem.
7 But as for you, be brave and don't lose heart, because your work will be rewarded!"
8 As soon as Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah, Oded's son, he felt brave and removed the detestable idols from all of Judah and Benjamin, as well as from the cities he had captured in Ephraim's highlands, and he repaired the LORD's altar that stood before the LORD's entrance hall.
9 Then Asa gathered all Judah and Benjamin, along with those who were living among them as immigrants from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, because many people from Israel had joined up with him when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
10 They gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's rule.
11 On that day they sacrificed to the LORD part of the loot they had taken: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
12 They made a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and all their being.
13 They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the LORD, Israel's God, would be put to death, whether young or old, male or female.
14 They swore this to the LORD with a loud voice, shouts of joy, and blasts from trumpets and horns.
15 All Judah was delighted with the solemn pledge because they had sworn it with all their hearts. When they enthusiastically sought God, he was found by them, and the LORD gave them peace on every side.
16 Asa the king even removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother because she had made an image of Asherah. Asa cut down her image, pulverized it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
17 Although the shrines weren't removed from Israel, Asa nevertheless remained committed with all his heart throughout his life.
18 He brought into God's temple the various silver and gold objects that he and his father had dedicated.
19 There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's rule.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible

2 Chronicles 16

1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's rule, Israel's King Baasha attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent Judah's King Asa from moving into that area.
2 Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the LORD's temple and the royal palace and sent them to Aram's King Ben-hadad, who ruled in Damascus, with the following message:
3 "Let's make a covenant similar to the one between our fathers. Since I have already sent you silver and gold, break your covenant with Israel's King Baasha so that he will leave me alone."
4 Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent his army commanders against the cities of Israel, attacking Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store-cities of Naphtali.
5 As soon as Baasha learned of this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work.
6 Then King Asa had all Judah carry away the stone and timber that Baasha was using to build Ramah, and King Asa used it to build Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Judah's King Asa and said to him, "Because you relied on Aram's king and not on the LORD your God, the army of Aram's king has slipped out of your grasp.
8 Weren't the Cushites and the Libyans a vast army with chariots and horsemen to spare? Still, when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your power,
9 because the LORD's eyes scan the whole world to strengthen those who are committed to him with all their hearts. Your foolishness means that you will have war on your hands from now on."
10 Asa was angry with the seer. Asa was so mad he threw Hanani in jail and took his anger out on some of the people.
11 The rest of Asa's deeds, from beginning to end, are written in the official records of Israel's and Judah's kings.
12 In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, Asa developed a severe foot disease. But even in his illness he refused to seek the LORD and consulted doctors instead.
13 In the forty-first year of his rule, Asa lay down with his ancestors
14 He was buried in the tomb he had prepared for himself in David's City, and was laid on a bed filled with sweet spices and various kinds of perfume, with a huge fire made in his honor.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible

2 Chronicles 17

1 Asa's son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king. Jehoshaphat strengthened his position against Israel
2 by stationing troops in the fortified cities of Judah and placing soldiers throughout the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the earlier ways of his father by not seeking Baal.
4 Instead, he sought the God of his father, and unlike Israel, he followed God's commandments.
5 The LORD gave him firm control over the kingdom, and all Judah brought Jehoshaphat tribute, so that he had abundant riches and honor.
6 Jehoshaphat took pride in the LORD's ways and again removed the shrines and the sacred poles from Judah.
7 In the third year of his rule, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah.
8 They were accompanied by the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, and by the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
9 They taught throughout Judah. They brought with them the LORD's Instruction scroll as they made their rounds to all the cities of Judah, teaching the people.
10 All the kingdoms surrounding Judah were afraid of the LORD and didn't wage war against Jehoshaphat.
11 Some of the Philistines brought a load of silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat. The Arabians also brought flocks to Jehoshaphat: seventy-seven hundred rams and seventy-seven hundred goats.
12 As Jehoshaphat grew increasingly powerful, he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah
13 and had many supplies in the cities of Judah. He also had an army of mighty warriors in Jerusalem,
14 registered by their clans as follows: Judah's officers over units of a thousand included Commander Adnah with three hundred thousand soldiers;
15 next to him was Commander Jehohanan with two hundred eighty thousand soldiers;
16 at his side was Amasiah, Zichri's son, who volunteered for the LORD with two hundred thousand soldiers.
17 From Benjamin came a valiant warrior: Eliada, together with two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield;
18 next to him was Jehozabad, together with one hundred eighty thousand soldiers.
19 These were the individuals who served the king in addition to those the king placed in the fortified cities throughout Judah.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible

2 Chronicles 18

1 Even though Jehoshaphat already had great wealth and honor, he allied himself with Ahab through marriage.
2 A few years later, while Jehoshaphat was visiting Ahab in Samaria, Ahab slaughtered many sheep and oxen for Jehoshaphat and those who were with him in order to persuade him to attack Ramoth-gilead.
3 "Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?" Israel's King Ahab asked Judah's King Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat replied, "I and my people will be united with you and your people in battle.
4 But," Jehoshaphat said to Israel's king, "first, let's see what the LORD has to say."
5 So Israel's king gathered four hundred prophets and asked them, "Should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?" "Attack!" the prophets answered. "God will hand it over to the king."
6 But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there any other prophet of the LORD around whom we could ask?"
7 "There's one other man who could ask the LORD for us," Israel's king told Jehoshaphat, "but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad. His name is Micaiah, Imlah's son." "The king shouldn't speak like that!" Jehoshaphat said.
8 So Israel's king called an officer and ordered, "Bring Micaiah, Imlah's son, right away."
9 Now Israel's king and Judah's King Jehoshaphat were sitting on their thrones dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor beside the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them.
10 Zedekiah, Chenaanah's son, made iron horns for himself and said, "This is what the LORD says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans until there's nothing left of them!"
11 The other prophets agreed: "Attack Ramoth-gilead and win! The LORD will hand it over to the king!"
12 Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Listen, the prophets all agree that the king will succeed. You should say the same thing they say and prophesy success."
13 But Micaiah answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will say only what God tells me to say."
14 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war with Ramoth-gilead or not?" "Attack and win!" Micaiah answered. "The LORD will hand it over to the king."
15 But the king said, "How many times must I demand that you tell me the truth when you speak in the LORD's name?"
16 Then Micaiah replied, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd! And then the LORD said: ‘They have no master. Let them return safely to their own homes.'"
17 Then Israel's king said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you? He never prophesies anything good about me, only bad."
18 Then Micaiah said, "Listen now to the LORD's word: I saw the LORD enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed at his right and at his left.
19 The LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Israel's King Ahab so that he attacks Ramoth-gilead and dies there?' There were several suggestions,
20 until one particular spirit approached the LORD and said, ‘I will persuade him.' ‘How?' the LORD asked.
21 ‘I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. The LORD agreed: ‘You will succeed in persuading him! Go ahead!'
22 So now, since the LORD placed a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, it is the LORD who has pronounced disaster against you!"
23 Zedekiah, Chenaanah's son, approached Micaiah and slapped him on the cheek. "Just how did the LORD's spirit leave me to speak to you?" he asked.
24 Micaiah answered, "You will find out on the day you try to hide in an inner room."
25 "Arrest him," ordered Israel's king, "and turn him over to Amon the city governor and to Joash the king's son.
26 Tell them, ‘The king says: Put this man in prison and feed him minimum rations of bread and water until I return safely.'"
27 "If you ever return safely," Micaiah replied, "then the LORD wasn't speaking through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, every last one of you!"
28 So Israel's king and Judah's King Jehoshaphat attacked Ramoth-gilead.
29 Israel's king said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself when we go into battle, but you should wear your royal attire." When the king of Israel had disguised himself, they entered the battle.
30 Meanwhile, Aram's king had commanded his chariot officers, "Don't bother with anyone big or small. Fight only with Israel's king."
31 When the chariot officers saw Jehoshaphat, they assumed that he must be Israel's king, so they turned to attack him. But when Jehoshaphat cried out, the LORD helped him, and God lured them away from him.
32 When the chariot officers realized that he wasn't Israel's king, they stopped chasing him.
33 Someone, however, randomly shot an arrow that struck Israel's king between the joints in his armor. "Turn around and get me out of the battle," the king told his chariot driver. "I've been hit!"
34 While the battle raged all that day, Israel's king stood propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. But that evening he died, just as the sun was going down.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible