Study Desk

So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

"Whenever any dispute comes to you from your countrymen who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them so that they will not be guilty before the LORD, and wrath will not come on you and your countrymen. This you shall do and you will not be guilty.

So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.

and he said, "LORD, God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You.

When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were struck down.

When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoils, they found much among them, including goods, garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were taking the spoils for three days because there was so much.

So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God gave him rest on all sides.

After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly in so doing.

So he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works." So the ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish.

So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time against his rule because he had abandoned the LORD God of his fathers.

and they came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king's house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

So after all this the LORD struck him in his intestines with an incurable sickness.

Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

So he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his own destruction.

So he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

He also searched for Ahaziah, and they caught him while he was hiding in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death, and buried him. For they said, "He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart." So there was no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain the power of the kingdom.

But Jehoshabeath the king's daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death.

So they seized her, and when she arrived at the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king's house, they put her to death there.

He stationed the gatekeepers of the house of the LORD, so that no one would enter who was in any way unclean.