| 1: It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab,
and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites,
came against Jehoshaphat to battle. |
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| 2: Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There
cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side
Syria; and, behold, they be Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. |
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| 3:
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. |
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| 4: And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the
LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
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| 5: And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and
Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, |
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| 6: And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in
heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in
thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to
withstand thee? |
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| 7: Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of
this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham
thy friend for ever? |
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| 8: And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary
therein for thy name, saying, |
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| 9: If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or
pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence,
(for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction,
then thou wilt hear and help. |
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| 10: And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount
Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of
the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
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| 11: Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of
thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. |
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| 12: O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might
against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what
to do: but our eyes are upon thee. |
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| 13: And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones,
their wives, and their children. |
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| 14: Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah,
the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph,
came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; |
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| 15: And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the
battle is not yours, but God's. |
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| 16: To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by
the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before
the wilderness of Jeruel. |
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| 17: Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves,
stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and
Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for
the LORD will be with you. |
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| 18: And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground:
and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD,
worshipping the LORD. |
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| 19: And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of
the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel
with a loud voice on high. |
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| 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 ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD
your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye
prosper. |
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| 21: And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed
singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as
they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his
mercy endureth for ever. |
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| 22: And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set
ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which
were come against Judah; and they were smitten. |
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| 23: For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the
inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when
they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to
destroy another. |
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| 24: And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness,
they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies
fallen to the earth, and none escaped. |
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| 25: And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the
spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the
dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for
themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in
gathering of the spoil, it was so much. |
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| 26: And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley
of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the
same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. |
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| 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 the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. |
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| 28: And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and
trumpets unto the house of the LORD. |
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| 29: And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those
countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies
of Israel. |
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| 30: So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him
rest round about. |
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| 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.
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| 32: And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not
from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD. |
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| 33: Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the
people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
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| 34: Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last,
behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is
mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. |
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| 35: And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself
with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: |
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| 36: And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to
Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. |
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| 37: Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied
against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with
Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that
they were not able to go to Tarshish. |
