2 Chronicles 20 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~850 BC, during the reign of Jehoshaphat of Judah
Location
Jerusalem for the national prayer assembly, then the Desert of Tekoa and the Pass of Ziz descending toward the wilderness near En Gedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea
Audience
Post-exile Jews with no standing army, being shown a battle won without fighting
Situation
A coalition of Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites marches on Judah, and Jehoshaphat calls a national fast and prays publicly at the temple. A Levite named Jahaziel says the battle belongs to God, singers go out ahead of the troops, and the invaders destroy each other before Judah arrives.
Key Background
The invaders came up the western shore of the Dead Sea through En Gedi, a spring-fed oasis and the only viable ascent from that stretch of shoreline into the Judean hills, which is why the exact route is named. Moab and Ammon lay east of the Dead Sea and were related peoples with long-standing territorial claims against Israel. Calling a public fast was the standard emergency response to invasion, drought, or plague, gathering the whole population including children so that the community stood before God as a single body. Placing unarmed singers in front of an army inverts the usual battle order, where the strongest troops led.
After this, the and — along with some of the — came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.
Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, "A massive army is coming against you from the from Edom. They're already at Hazazon-tamar" — that is,
Jehoshaphat was He to Yahweh, and he proclaimed a throughout all of Judah.
The people of Judah to seek Yahweh. They came from every city in Judah to seek him.
Jehoshaphat stood in the of Judah and Jerusalem, in the of in front of the new courtyard,
and he said: "Yahweh, God of our ancestors — aren't you the God who is in the heavens? Don't you over all the kingdoms of the nations? In your hand there is and might, and no one can stand against you.
Aren't you our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before people Israel and gave it to the descendants of Abraham,
They settled in it and built you a house there, a for saying,
'If disaster comes on us — whether the of or plague, or famine — we will stand before this house and before you (for your name is in this house), and we will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear and us.'
"Now look — the people of Ammon, Moab, and whose territory you did not let Israel invade when they came out of Egypt — they turned away from them and did not destroy them —
look how they're repaying us! They're coming to drive us out of the land you gave us as an
God, won't you on them? Because we have no power against this massive army that is coming against us. We don't know what to do — but are on you."
All of Judah was standing before Yahweh — even their their wives, and their children.
Then the of came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah — a Levite from the descendants of — right there in the middle of the assembly.
He said, "Listen, all of Judah, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what Yahweh says to you: be be by this massive army. This is not — it's
Tomorrow, go down against them. They'll be coming up the of and you'll find them at the end of the valley, facing the of
You won't need to fight this battle. and watch the that Yahweh will accomplish for you, Judah and Jerusalem. Don't be afraid. Don't be overwhelmed. Go out to face them tomorrow, and Yahweh will be with you.'"
Jehoshaphat with to the and all of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell on their faces before Yahweh, Yahweh.
Then the Levites — from the and the — stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with an
They got up early in the morning and went out toward the of As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! in Yahweh your God and you'll in his prophets and you'll succeed."
After consulting with the people, he appointed singers to Yahweh who would praise him, in the for as they went out ahead of the army, saying: "Give thanks to Yahweh, because lasts forever."
At the moment they began singing and praising, Yahweh set against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had invaded Judah, and they were
The Ammonites and Moabites turned on the people of Mount Seir, them. And when they had finished with the people of Seir, they turned on each other and destroyed themselves.
When Judah arrived at the over the wilderness and turned to face the massive army — there was nothing but dead bodies fallen on the ground. Not a had
When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the they found among the bodies an enormous amount of goods, clothing, and valuable items. They stripped off more than they could carry. It took three days to haul away the — that's how much there was.
On the fourth day they assembled in the of — and that's what they called it, because there they Yahweh. That is why that place is called the of to this day.
Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem turned back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with — because Yahweh had given them over their enemies.
They came to Jerusalem with and and went to the house of Yahweh.
The of fell on all the kingdoms of the surrounding lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel.
Jehoshaphat's kingdom was at peace. His God gave him on every side.
Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
He in the of his father Asa and did not turn away from it, doing what was in the of
However, the were not removed — the people still had not their on the God of their ancestors.
The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from beginning to end — they are written in the of of which are included in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an with Ahaziah king of Israel, who
He partnered with him to build ships to go to They built the ships at
Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah Jehoshaphat: "Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh will what you've made." And the ships were and were unable to go to Tarshish.