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Jehoshaphat rules Judah as king
17 Asa's son Jehoshaphat became the next king of Judah. He made his kingdom strong to fight against Israel. 2 He put soldiers in all Judah's cities that had walls around them and in other places in Judah. He also put soldiers in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had taken power over.
3 Jehoshaphat obeyed the Lord as his ancestor David had done when he first ruled as king. So the Lord was with him to help him. Jehoshaphat did not worship the idols of Baal. 4 Instead, he served the God that his father had served. He obeyed the Lord's commands. He did not do the wrong things that Israel's people did. 5 The Lord gave Jehoshaphat power over the kingdom of Judah. All Judah's people brought gifts to him. So Jehoshaphat became rich and people respected him. 6 He served the Lord with all his strength. He removed from Judah the altars on the hills and the Asherah poles.
7 In the third year that Jehoshaphat ruled Judah as king, he sent his officers to teach people in all Judah's towns. The names of those officers were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah. 8 He sent these Levites to go with them: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent the priests, Elishama and Jehoram. 9 These men travelled everywhere in Judah to teach people. They took with them the book which was a copy of the Lord's law. They used it to teach people in all Judah's towns.
Jehoshaphat becomes very strong as king
10 The people in all the kingdoms around Judah were afraid of the Lord's power. So they did not want to fight a war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Some Philistines brought silver and other gifts to Jehoshaphat to make him happy. People from Arabia also brought gifts to him. They brought 7,700 male sheep and 7,700 male goats.
12 Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built strong buildings and places to store things everywhere in Judah. 13 He kept lots of things in Judah's towns. He had a big army of strong, brave soldiers in Jerusalem. 14 These are the groups of the soldiers in each clan:
From Judah's tribe, the officer who led the soldiers was Adnah. He had authority over 300,000 soldiers, in groups of 1,000.
15 The next officer was Jehohanan. He had authority over 280,000 soldiers.
16 After him, the next officer was Zikri's son, Amasiah. He himself chose to serve the Lord in this way. He had authority over 200,000 soldiers.
17 From Benjamin's tribe, the officer who led the soldiers was Eliada, a brave soldier. He had authority over 200,000 soldiers who had bows and arrows, as well as shields.
18 After him, the next officer was Jehozabad. He had authority over 180,000 soldiers who had their weapons ready to fight.
19 All these men served as the king's soldiers in Jerusalem. He also had soldiers that he put in Judah's other strong cities.
King Jehoshaphat becomes a friend of King Ahab
18 Jehoshaphat became very rich. People respected him very much. His son married Ahab's daughter, so he and Ahab became friends. 2 After some years, he went to visit Ahab in Samaria.[a] Ahab killed many sheep and cows to give honour to Jehoshaphat and the people who were with him. Ahab wanted to attack Ramoth Gilead, so he asked Jehoshaphat to help him.
3 King Ahab of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat of Judah, ‘Will you go with me to attack Ramoth Gilead?’ Jehoshaphat replied, ‘Yes, we should work together! Use my soldiers as if they belonged to you. My army will join with your army in the war.’ 4 Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Before we go to fight, we must ask the Lord what we should do.’
5 So the king of Israel brought together 400 prophets. He asked them, ‘Should we attack Ramoth Gilead, or not?’ They answered, ‘Yes, go and attack it, because the God will give it to you, our king.’
6 But Jehoshaphat then asked, ‘Is there any other prophet of the Lord that we could ask?’[b]
7 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man. We could ask him what the Lord wants us to do. But I do not like him, because he never says that anything good will happen to me. He always says that I will have trouble. He is Imlah's son, Micaiah.’
Jehoshaphat said, ‘The king should not talk like that.’
8 So the king of Israel said to one of his officers, ‘Bring Imlah's son Micaiah here quickly.’
9 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were each sitting on their thrones. They were wearing their royal clothes. They sat near the threshing floor at Samaria's city gate.[c] All the prophets stood in front of them and they were speaking messages from God. 10 Kenaanah's son Zedekiah had used iron to make sharp points like a bull's horns. He said, ‘This is what the Lord says: “With these sharp horns you will attack Syria's army. You will destroy them all.” ’[d]
11 All the other prophets were speaking the same message. They said, ‘Attack Ramoth Gilead. You will win the fight. The Lord will give the city to you, our king.’
12 The man who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, ‘All the other prophets are saying the same thing. They say that the king will win the fight. So you must agree with what they are saying. Promise that something good will happen.’
13 But Micaiah said, ‘I can only speak what my God tells me to say. As surely as the Lord lives, that is what I must do.’
14 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, ‘Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?’
Micaiah answered, ‘Yes, attack it. You will surely win the fight. You will take power over the city.’
15 Then King Ahab said to Micaiah, ‘I have already told you many times to tell me only what is true! You must promise to do this in the name of the Lord!’
16 Then Micaiah said, ‘I saw the whole army of Israel and they were walking about on the hills without any leader. They were like sheep with no shepherd as their guide. The Lord told me, “These people have no master. They should go home quietly and they should not fight.” ’
17 The king of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘I told you what he would say! He never says that anything good will happen to me. He only says that I will have trouble.’
18 Then Micaiah said, ‘So now listen to the Lord's message! I saw the Lord as he was sitting on his throne. The great crowd of his angels in heaven were standing around him, on his right side and on his left side. 19 The Lord asked, “Who will go and deceive King Ahab of Israel so that he attacks Ramoth Gilead and he dies there?” Many of the angels suggested different things. 20 Then a spirit came and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, “I will deceive Ahab.”
The Lord asked, “How will you do it?” 21 The spirit said, “I will give a message to all Ahab's prophets. I will cause them to speak lies.” The Lord said, “Go and deceive King Ahab, as you have said. He will do what you say.”
22 So you see what has happened. The Lord has sent a spirit to these prophets who serve you. This spirit has caused them to speak lies. The Lord has decided that terrible trouble will come on you.’
23 Then Kenaanah's son Zedekiah went to Micaiah. He hit Micaiah on his face. He asked Micaiah, ‘Do you say that the Lord's spirit has gone away from me and has spoken to you instead? How did he do that?’
24 Micaiah answered him, ‘One day, you will know which of us has spoken the truth. That will be the day that you go to hide in a room at the back of a house.’[e]
25 Then the king of Israel said to his men, ‘Take hold of Micaiah. Take him back to Amon, the city officer, and to Joash, the king's son. 26 Say to them, “The king commands you to put this man in prison. Feed him with only a little bread and water until I return safely from the battle.” ’
27 Micaiah said, ‘If you do return safely, it will show that I have not spoken the Lord's message.’ Then he said to all the people who were there, ‘Remember what I have said to King Ahab!’
Ahab and Jehoshaphat go to fight at Ramoth Gilead
28 So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to attack Ramoth Gilead. 29 King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, ‘When we go into the battle, I will wear ordinary clothes. People will not recognize me as the king. But you should wear your royal clothes.’ So the king of Israel went into the battle as if he was an ordinary soldier.
30 But the king of Syria had said to his chariot officers, ‘Only fight the king of Israel. Do not fight against anyone else, whoever they are.’ 31 The chariot officers saw King Jehoshaphat in his royal clothes. So they thought, ‘That is the king of Israel!’ They turned towards him to attack him. Jehoshaphat shouted out and the Lord helped him. God caused the officers to turn away from him. 32 The chariot officers realized that he was not the king of Israel. So they did not chase him any more.
33 Then a Syrian soldier shot an arrow into the air. He did not try to shoot at anyone, but the arrow hit the king of Israel. The arrow went through a space in the king's armour. The king commanded the man who drove his chariot, ‘Turn the chariot around. Take me away from the battle. An arrow has hit me.’ 34 The soldiers fought the battle all day. While they were fighting, King Ahab sat in his chariot where he could see the Syrian soldiers. Then, at sunset, he died.
25 God says this in the book of Hosea:
‘I will say to people who were not my people,
“Now you are my people.”
I will say to people that I did not love,
“I love you.” ’[a]
26 ‘God had said to them,
“You are not my people.”
In the same place where he said that,
people will now call them “Children of God, who lives for ever.” ’[b]
27 Also, Isaiah, God's prophet, said this about Israel's people:
‘There are so many of Israel's people, nobody can count them.
They are as many as the bits of sand on the shore of the sea.
But God will save only a few of them.
28 The Lord God will finish his work quickly.
He has warned his people what he will do.
And he will punish them completely.’[c]
29 Isaiah had already said this:
‘The Lord of great power has let some of our children live.
If he had not done that, no descendants would remain.
We would have become like the people in Sodom and Gomorrah.’[d]
30 So, we must think about what all this means. The Gentiles were not trying to become right with God. But some of them have now become right with him. God has accepted them as right, because they have believed in Jesus Christ. 31 But Israel's people tried to find a law that would make them right with God. But they failed to become right with God. 32 They failed because they refused to believe in Christ. Instead, they were trying to do certain things so that God would accept them. Because of that they fell to the ground. Their feet hit the stone which causes people to fall. 33 It says this in the Bible:
‘Look, I am putting a special stone in Zion.
That stone will cause people to fall to the ground.
It is a rock that will make them fall down.
But anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.’[e]
10 My Christian friends, I want God to save Israel's people. I want that very much. I pray to God that he will save them. 2 I can say this about them: They really want to serve God well. But they do not understand the right way to do this. 3 They have not understood the way that God accepts people. Instead, they tried to make their own way to become right with God. They refused to accept God's way that would make them right with him. 4 God gave his Law to Israel's people for a purpose. But Christ has finished that purpose. So now, every person who believes in Christ becomes right with God.
God wants to save everyone
5 Moses wrote about how God's Law could help people to be right with God. He said, ‘If a person obeys the rules in God's Law, then he will live by them.’[f] 6 But the Bible speaks also about another way. It shows how to become right with God because you trust him. It says: ‘Do not say to yourself, “Someone will have to go up into heaven.” ’ (That means: ‘Someone will have to bring Christ down from up there.’) 7 ‘Do not say to yourself either, “Someone will have to go down into the world below.” ’ (That means: ‘Someone will have to bring Christ up from the place where dead people are.’) 8 But the Bible says: ‘God's message is near you. You can talk about it, and you can think about it.’[g] That is the same message that we are teaching to people. We tell people to believe in Jesus Christ.
9 The message is this: You must say clearly that Jesus is the Lord. Also, you must believe deep inside yourself that God raised him to life again after his death. Then God will save you. 10 God accepts people as right with him when they believe like that, deep inside themselves. And when people say clearly that Jesus is Lord, God saves them. 11 It says in the Bible:
‘Everyone who believes in him will not be disappointed.’[h]
12 It says ‘everyone’. There is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. There is the same Lord for all of them. He helps everyone who asks him with many good things. 13 As it says in the Bible: ‘The Lord God will save everyone who asks him for help.’[i]
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
We trust God to help us[a]
20 May the Lord answer you
when you are in trouble and you call to him for help.
May Israel's great God keep you safe.
2 He will send help to you from his holy place,
from his temple in Zion.
3 He will remember the gifts that you have offered to him.
He will accept your burnt offerings
Selah
4 May God give to you
all the things that you really want.
He will help you to do everything that you want to do.
5 Then we will be happy and we will shout aloud
when you win against your enemies.
We will wave our flags to praise our God.
Yes, I pray that the Lord will do for you
everything that you ask him to do.
6 Now I know that the Lord will save
the king that he has chosen.
God will agree to help him from his holy place in heaven.
God will use his great power to make his king safe.
7 Some people hope that their chariots will keep them safe.
Other people trust their horses to save them.
But we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 Those people will fall down,
and they will not get up again.
But we will get up and stand again,
and we will be strong.
9 Lord, help the king to win against his enemies!
Please answer us when we ask you for help.
2 When the king is angry, he is as dangerous as a lion that roars.
If you make him angry, you will lose your life.
3 If you keep away from arguments, you will receive honour.
Only fools love to quarrel.
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