Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "There is a large army coming against you from Edom. They are coming from the other side of the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazazon Tamar!" (Hazazon Tamar is also called En Gedi.)
and said, "Lord God of our ancestors, you are the God in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms in all the nations. You have power and strength. No one can stand against you.
You are our God! You forced the people living in this land to leave. You did this in front of your people Israel. You gave this land to the descendants of Abraham forever. Abraham was your friend.
They said, 'If trouble comes to us—the sword, punishment, sicknesses, or famine—we will stand in front of this Temple and in front of you. Your name is on this Temple. We will shout to you when we are in trouble. Then you will hear and save us.'
"But now, here are men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. You would not let the Israelites enter their lands when they came out of Egypt. So the Israelites turned away and didn't destroy them.
Our God, punish those people. We don't have the strength to stop this large army that is coming against us. We don't know what to do! We are looking to you for help."
Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah. (Zechariah was the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah.) Jahaziel was a Levite from the family of Asaph. In the middle of the meeting,
Jahaziel said, "Listen to me King Jehoshaphat and everyone living in Judah and Jerusalem! The Lord says this to you: 'Don't be afraid or worry about this large army, because the battle is not your battle. It is God's battle!
Tomorrow, they will come up through the Ziz Pass. You must go down to them. You will find them at the end of the valley on the other side of Jeruel Desert.
You will not have to fight this battle. Just stand there and watch the Lord save you. Judah and Jerusalem, don't be afraid. Don't worry, the Lord is with you. So go out to stand against those people tomorrow.'"
Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat's army went out into Tekoa Desert. As they marched out, Jehoshaphat stood there saying, "Listen to me, men of Judah and Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will stand strong! Have faith in the Lord's prophets, and you will succeed!"
Jehoshaphat encouraged the men and gave them instructions. Then he had the temple singers stand up in their special clothes to praise the Lord. They marched in front of the army and sang praises. They sang the song, Praise the Lord Because His Faithful Love Will Last Forever!
As they began to sing and to praise God, the Lord set an ambush for the army from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come to attack Judah. The enemy was defeated!
The Ammonites and the Moabites started to fight the men from Mount Seir. After they killed them, the Ammonites and Moabites turned on themselves and killed each other.
The men from Judah arrived at the lookout point in the desert. They looked for the enemy's large army, but all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground. There were no survivors.
Jehoshaphat and his army came to take things from the bodies. They found many animals, riches, clothes, and other valuable things. It was more than Jehoshaphat and his men could carry away. There was so much that they spent three days taking everything from the dead bodies.
On the fourth day Jehoshaphat and his army met in the Valley of Beracah. They praised the Lord. That is why people still call that place, "The Valley of Beracah."
All the men from Judah and Jerusalem were very happy as they marched back to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat in the front. The Lord made them very happy when he defeated their enemy.
Jehoshaphat ruled over the country of Judah. He was 35 years old when he became king, and he ruled 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
Like his father Asa, Jehoshaphat was good and did everything that the Lord wanted, except he did not destroy the high places. Also, the people did not turn back to the God that their ancestors worshiped.
Everything else Jehoshaphat did, from beginning to end, is written in The Official Records of Jehu Son of Hanoni. It was copied and included in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel.
There was a man from the town of Mareshah named Eliezer son of Dodavahu. He spoke against Jehoshaphat and said, "Jehoshaphat, since you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have built." The ships were wrecked, so Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah were not able to send them to Tarshish.