Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming!<n id="1" /> When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands.<n id="2" /> They bypassed them and did not destroy them.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem.<n id="1" /> His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, &#8220;Because<n id="1" /> you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the <sc>Lordsc> will shatter what you have made.&#8221; The ships were wrecked and unable to go to sea.<n id="2" />p>

But the <sc>Lordsc> was unwilling to destroy David&#8217;s dynasty<n id="1" /> because of the promise<n id="2" /> he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty.<n id="3" />p>

He followed their advice and joined Ahab&#8217;s son King Joram<n id="1" /> of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syria<n id="2" /> at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram.

<p class="bodytext">God brought about Ahaziah&#8217;s downfall through his visit to Joram.<n id="1" /> When Ahaziah<n id="2" /> arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the <sc>Lordsc> had commissioned<n id="3" /> to wipe out Ahab&#8217;s family.<n id="4" />

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria.<n id="1" /> They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,<n id="2" /> &#8220;He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the <sc>Lordsc> with his whole heart.&#8221; There was no one in Ahaziah&#8217;s family strong enough to rule in his place.<n id="3" />p>

God&#8217;s Spirit energized<n id="1" /> Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, &#8220;This is what God says: &#8216;Why are you violating the commands of the <sc>Lordsc>? You will not be prosperous! Because you have rejected the <sc>Lordsc>, he has rejected you!&#8217;&#8221;

When they withdrew, they left Joash<n id="1" /> badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to<n id="2" /> the son<n id="3" /> of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus<n id="4" /> he died and was buried in the City of David,<n id="5" /> but not in the tombs of the kings.

<p class="bodytext">Amaziah assembled the people of Judah<n id="1" /> and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of a thousand and the commanders of units of a hundred for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age<n id="2" /> equipped with spears and shields.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">But a prophet<n id="1" /> visited him and said: &#8220;O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the <sc>Lordsc> is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.<n id="2" />

Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle<n id="1" /> raided<n id="2" /> the cities of Judah from Samaria<n id="3" /> to Beth Horon. They killed<n id="4" /> 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.p>

<p class="bodytext">When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people<n id="1" /> of Seir and made them his personal gods.<n id="2" /> He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices.

He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God&#8217;s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.p>

They confronted<n id="1" /> King Uzziah and said to him, &#8220;It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the <sc>Lordsc>. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed<n id="2" /> and the <sc>Lordsc> God will not honor you!&#8221;

King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,<n id="1" /> afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.p>

Uzziah passed away<n id="1" /> and was buried near his ancestors<n id="2" /> in a cemetery<n id="3" /> belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.)<n id="4" /> His son Jotham replaced him as king.p>

They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah.<n id="1" /> The king<n id="2" /> told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the <sc>Lordsc>.

Messengers<n id="1" /> delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.p> <p class="bodytext">This royal edict read:<n id="2" /> &#8220;O Israelites, return to the <sc>Lordsc> God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return<n id="3" /> to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria.<n id="4" />

For if you return to the <sc>Lordsc>, your brothers and sons will be shown mercy by their captors and return to this land. The <sc>Lordsc> your God is merciful and compassionate; he will not reject you<n id="1" /> if you return to him.&#8221;p>