Daily Text and Bible Reading: Thursday, May 23 [Press play below]

19.1 Then King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned safely to his own house in Jerusalem.
19.2 Jehu the son of Hanani the visionary went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat: “Is it the wicked you should be helping, and is it those who hate Jehovah you should love? Because of this the indignation of Jehovah is against you.
19.3 Nevertheless, there are good things that have been found in you, because you cleared out the sacred poles from the land and you have prepared your heart to search for the true God.”
19.4 Jehoshaphat continued living in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to the mountainous region of Ephraim, to bring them back to Jehovah the God of their forefathers.
19.5 He also appointed judges throughout the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city.
19.6 And he said to the judges: “Pay attention to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for Jehovah, and he is with you when you pass judgment.
19.7 Now let the fear of Jehovah be upon you. Be careful about what you do, for with Jehovah our God there is no injustice, no partiality, no bribe-taking.”
19.8 In Jerusalem also, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and the priests and some of the heads of the paternal houses of Israel to serve as judges for Jehovah and to settle legal cases for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19.9 And he commanded them: “This is what you should do in the fear of Jehovah, with faithfulness and a complete heart:
19.10 Whenever your brothers living in their cities bring a legal case that involves the shedding of blood or a question about a law, a commandment, regulations, or judgments, you should warn them so that they may not become guilty before Jehovah; otherwise his indignation will come against you and your brothers. This is what you should do, so that you may not incur guilt.
19.11 Here is Amariah the chief priest who is over you for every matter of Jehovah. Zebadiah the son of Ishmael is the leader of the house of Judah for every matter pertaining to the king. And the Levites will serve as officers for you. Be strong and act, and let Jehovah be with those who do what is good.”

20.1 Afterward the Moabites and the Ammonites, together with some of the Ammonim, came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.
20.2 So Jehoshaphat was told: “A large crowd has come against you from the region of the sea, from Edom, and there they are in Hazazon-tamar, that is, En-gedi.”
20.3 At that Jehoshaphat became afraid, and he resolved to search for Jehovah. So he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
20.4 The people of Judah then gathered together to inquire of Jehovah; they came from all the cities of Judah to consult Jehovah.
20.5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of Jehovah before the new courtyard,
20.6 and he said: “O Jehovah the God of our forefathers, are you not God in the heavens; do you not have dominion over all the kingdoms of the nations? In your hand are power and might, and no one can stand against you.
20.7 O our God, did you not drive away the inhabitants of this land from before your people Israel and then give it as a lasting possession to the offspring of your friend Abraham?
20.8 And they settled in it, and they built for you there a sanctuary for your name, saying,
20.9 ‘If disaster should come on us, whether by sword, adverse judgment, pestilence, or famine, let us stand before this house and before you (for your name is in this house) and call to you for help out of our distress, and may you hear and save us.’
20.10 Now here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and the mountainous region of Seir, whom you did not allow Israel to invade when they came out of the land of Egypt. They turned away from them and did not annihilate them.
20.11 Now they are repaying us by coming in to drive us out from your possession that you gave us as an inheritance.
20.12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless before this large crowd that is coming against us; and we do not know what we should do, but our eyes are toward you.”
20.13 Meanwhile, all those of Judah were standing before Jehovah, along with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
20.14 Then in the middle of the congregation, the spirit of Jehovah came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah son of Benaiah son of Jeiel son of Mattaniah the Levite of the sons of Asaph.
20.15 He said: “Pay attention, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat! Here is what Jehovah says to you, ‘Do not be afraid or be terrified because of this large crowd, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
20.16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will be coming up by the pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley before the wilderness of Jeruel.
20.17 You will not need to fight this battle. Take your position, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah in your behalf. O Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid or be terrified. Tomorrow go out against them, and Jehovah will be with you.’”
20.18 At once Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah to worship Jehovah.
20.19 Then the Levites who were descendants of the Kohathites and the Korahites rose up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel with a very loud voice.
20.20 They rose up early the next morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said: “Listen to me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Put faith in Jehovah your God so that you may be able to stand firm. Put faith in his prophets, and you will be successful.”
20.21 After he consulted with the people, he appointed men to sing to Jehovah and to offer praise in holy adornment as they went out ahead of the armed men, saying: “Give thanks to Jehovah, for his loyal love endures forever.”
20.22 When they began joyfully singing praises, Jehovah set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and the mountainous region of Seir who were invading Judah, and they struck each other down.
20.23 And the Ammonites and the Moabites turned against the inhabitants of the mountainous region of Seir to destroy and annihilate them; and when they finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
20.24 But when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness and looked toward the crowd, there they saw their carcasses fallen to the ground; there were no survivors.
20.25 So Jehoshaphat and his people came to carry off the spoil from them, and they found among them an abundance of goods, clothing, and desirable articles, which they stripped off for themselves until they could carry no more. It took three days to carry off the spoil, for it was abundant.
20.26 On the fourth day they congregated together at the Valley of Beracah, for there they praised Jehovah. That is why they named that place Valley of Beracah—until today.
20.27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with rejoicing, for Jehovah had made them rejoice over their enemies.
20.28 So they came into Jerusalem with stringed instruments, harps, and trumpets and went to the house of Jehovah.
20.29 And the dread of God came upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Jehovah had fought against the enemies of Israel.
20.30 Thus the kingdom of Jehoshaphat had no disturbance, and his God continued to give him rest on every side.
20.31 And Jehoshaphat continued reigning over Judah. He was 35 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
20.32 He kept walking in the way of his father Asa. He did not deviate from it, and he did what was right in Jehovah’s eyes.
20.33 However, the high places were not removed, and the people had not yet prepared their heart for the God of their forefathers.
20.34 As for the rest of the history of Jehoshaphat, from beginning to end, there it is written among the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which were included in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
20.35 After this King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who acted wickedly.
20.36 So he made him his partner in making ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber.
20.37 However, Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Maresha spoke prophetically against Jehoshaphat, saying: “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, Jehovah will destroy your works.” So the ships were wrecked, and they were unable to go to Tarshish.

21.1 Then Jehoshaphat was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David; and his son Jehoram became king in his place.
21.2 His brothers, Jehoshaphat’s sons, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all of these were the sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel.
21.3 And their father had given them many gifts in silver and gold, and valuable things, along with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn.
21.4 When Jehoram had taken control of the kingdom of his father, he strengthened his position by killing all his brothers with the sword, as well as some of the princes of Israel.
21.5 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.
21.6 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as those of the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter had become his wife; and he kept doing what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes.
21.7 But Jehovah did not want to bring the house of David to ruin for the sake of the covenant that he had made with David, since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons always.
21.8 In his days Edom revolted against Judah and then set up its own king.
21.9 So Jehoram and his commanders crossed over with all his chariots, and he rose up by night and defeated the Edomites who were surrounding him and the chariot commanders.
21.10 But Edom has kept up its revolt against Judah to this day. Libnah also revolted against him at that time, because he had abandoned Jehovah the God of his forefathers.
21.11 He had also made high places on the mountains of Judah to cause the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit spiritual prostitution, and he led Judah astray.
21.12 Eventually a written message came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying: “This is what Jehovah the God of David your forefather says, ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or in the ways of King Asa of Judah.
21.13 But you walk in the way of the kings of Israel and cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit spiritual prostitution like the prostitution of the house of Ahab, and you even killed your own brothers, the household of your father, who were better than you.
21.14 Therefore, Jehovah is dealing a great blow to your people, to your sons, to your wives, and to all your possessions.
21.15 And you will suffer with many sicknesses, including a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out because of the disease, day after day.’”
21.16 Then Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines and the Arabs who were near the Ethiopians.
21.17 So they invaded Judah, forcing their way in, and carried off all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, as well as his sons and his wives; and the only son left to him was Jehoahaz, his youngest son.
21.18 And after all of this, Jehovah afflicted him with an incurable disease in his intestines.
21.19 Some time later, when two full years had passed, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died while suffering severely from his disease; and his people did not make a burning for him like the burning that was made for his forefathers.
21.20 He was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted it when he died. So they buried him in the City of David, but not in the burial places of the kings.

22.1 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the marauder band that came with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older ones. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram began to reign as king of Judah.
22.2 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri.
22.3 He too walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother became his adviser in acting wickedly.
22.4 And he kept doing what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, like the house of Ahab, for they became his advisers after the death of his father, to his destruction.
22.5 He followed their advice and went with Jehoram the son of King Ahab of Israel to wage war against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth-gilead, where the archers wounded Jehoram.
22.6 He returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that they had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram the king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Jehoram the son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
22.7 But God brought about the downfall of Ahaziah by his coming to Jehoram; and when he came, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the grandson of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to do away with the house of Ahab.
22.8 When Jehu began to execute judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, ministers of Ahaziah, and he killed them.
22.9 Then he looked for Ahaziah; they captured him where he was hiding in Samaria, and they brought him to Jehu. Then they put him to death and buried him, for they said: “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who searched for Jehovah with all his heart.” There was no one of the house of Ahaziah who had the power to rule the kingdom.
22.10 When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son had died, she rose up and destroyed the entire royal line of the house of Judah.
22.11 However, Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king took Jehoash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in an inner bedroom. Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram (she was the wife of Jehoiada the priest and a sister of Ahaziah) managed to keep him concealed from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.
22.12 He remained with them for six years, hidden at the house of the true God, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.