2 Chronicles 19:1-2

19:1 When King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned home safely to Jerusalem, ¹  19:2 the prophet ²  Jehu son of Hanani confronted him; ³  he said to King Jehoshaphat, “Is it right to help the wicked and be an ally of those who oppose the Lord? ⁴  Because you have done this the Lord is angry with you! ⁵ 

2 Chronicles 25:15-16

25:15 The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following ⁶  these gods ⁷  that could not deliver their own people from your power?” ⁸  25:16 While he was speaking, Amaziah ⁹  said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!” ¹⁰  So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that the Lord has decided ¹¹  to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

2 Chronicles 25:1

Amaziah’s Reign

25:1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. ¹²  His mother was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 20:13

20:13 All the men of Judah ¹³  were standing before the Lord, along with their infants, wives, and children.

2 Chronicles 20:22

20:22 When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked ¹⁴  the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir ¹⁵  who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

2 Chronicles 20:1-2

The Lord Gives Jehoshaphat Military Success

20:1 Later the Moabites and Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites, ¹⁶  attacked Jehoshaphat. 20:2 Messengers ¹⁷  arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, ¹⁸  from the direction of Edom. ¹⁹  Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).”

2 Chronicles 20:14-15

20:14 Then in the midst of the assembly, the Lord’s Spirit came upon Jachaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph. 20:15 He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, ²⁰  residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic ²¹  because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

² tn Or “seer.”

³ tn Heb “went out to his face.”

⁴ tn Heb “and love those who hate the Lord?”

⁵ tn Heb “and because of this upon you is anger from before the Lord.”

⁶ tn Heb “seeking,” perhaps in the sense of “consulting [an oracle from].”

⁷ tn Heb “the gods of the people.”

⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”

¹¹ tn The verb יָעַץ (ya’ats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yo’ets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (’etsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”

¹² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹³ tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the men of Judah.

¹⁴ tn Heb “set ambushers against.” This is probably idiomatic here for launching a surprise attack.

¹⁵ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.”

¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has “Ammonites,” but they are mentioned just before this. Most translations, following some mss of the LXX, read “Meunites” (see 1 Chr 26:7; so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

¹⁷ tn Heb “they”; the implied referent (messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Heb “the Sea”; in context (“from the direction of Edom”) this must refer to the Dead Sea, which has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NEB, NLT).

¹⁹ tc Most Hebrew mss read “from Aram” (i.e., Syria), but this must be a corruption of “Edom,” which is the reading of the LXX and Vulgate.

²⁰ tn Heb “all Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah. Unlike the previous instance in v. 13 where infants, wives, and children are mentioned separately, this reference appears to include them all.

²¹ tn Or perhaps “don’t get discouraged.”