1And after this it came to be that the children of Mo’aḇ and the children of Ammon came in, and with them some of the peoples, against Yehoshaphat to battle.

2And they came and spoke to Yehoshaphat, saying, “A great army is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Aram. And see, they are in Ḥatsatson Tamar,” which is Ěn Geḏi.

3And Yehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek יהוה, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Yehuḏah.

4And Yehuḏah gathered to inquire of יהוה, even from all the cities of Yehuḏah they came to seek יהוה.

5And Yehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, in the House of יהוה, in front of the new courtyard,

6and said, “O יהוה Elohim of our fathers, are You not Elohim in the heavens, and do You not rule over all the reigns of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to stand against You?

7“Are You not our Elohim? You have driven out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Yisra’ĕl, and gave it to the seed of Aḇraham Your friend forever.

8“And they dwell in it, and have built You a set-apart place in it for Your Name, saying,

9‘If evil does come upon us, such as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or scarcity of food, we shall stand before this House and in Your presence – for Your Name is in this House – and cry out to You in our distress, and You do hear and save.’

10“And now, see, the children of Ammon and Mo’aḇ, and Mount Sĕ‛ir, whom You would not let Yisra’ĕl invade when they came out of the land of Mitsrayim, for they turned from them and did not destroy them,

11and see, they are repaying us by coming in to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.

12“O our Elohim, would You not judge them? For we are powerless against this great army that is coming against us. And we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

13And all Yehuḏah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before יהוה.

14And the Spirit of יהוה came upon Yaḥazi’ĕl son of Zeḵaryahu, son of Benayah, son of Ye‛i’ĕl, son of Mattanyah, a Lĕwite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly,

15and he said, “Listen, all Yehuḏah, and you inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and Sovereign Yehoshaphat! Thus said יהוה to you, ‘Do not fear, nor be afraid of the face of this great army, for the battle is not yours, but Elohim’s.

16‘Go down against them tomorrow. See, they are coming up by the ascent of Tsits, and you shall find them at the end of the wadi before the Wilderness of Yeru’ĕl.

17‘It is not for you to fight in this. Position yourselves, stand still and see the deliverance of יהוה with you, O Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim!’ Do not be afraid nor fear, go out against them tomorrow, for יהוה is with you.”

18And Yehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Yehuḏah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim fell down before יהוה, to bow themselves before יהוה.

19And the Lĕwites, of the children of the Qehathites and of the children of the Qorḥites stood up to praise יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl with exceedingly loud voice.

20And they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Teqowa. And as they went out, Yehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Yehuḏah and you inhabitants of Yerushalayim: Trust in יהוה your Elohim and be steadfast, trust His prophets and prosper.”

21And after consulting with the people, he appointed those who should sing to יהוה, and who should praise the splendour of set-apartness, as they went out before the army and were saying, “Give thanks to יהוה, for His kindness is everlasting.”

22And when they began singing and praising, יהוה set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Mo’aḇ, and Mount Sĕ‛ir, who had come against Yehuḏah, and they were smitten.

23Then the children of Ammon and Mo’aḇ stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Sĕ‛ir to destroy and annihilate them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Sĕ‛ir, they helped to destroy one another.

24And when Yehuḏah came at the lookout in the wilderness, they looked toward the army and saw their dead bodies, lying on the ground, and none had escaped.

25And Yehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, and they found among them a great amount of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could take away. And they were three days plundering the spoil, for it was much.

26And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beraḵah, for there they blessed יהוה. Therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Beraḵah to this day.

27Then they returned, every man of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, with Yehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Yerushalayim with joy, for יהוה had made them rejoice over their enemies.

28And they came to Yerushalayim, with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the House of יהוה.

29And the fear of Elohim was on all the reigns of the lands when they heard that יהוה had fought against the enemies of Yisra’ĕl.

30Then the reign of Yehoshaphat was at peace, for his Elohim gave him rest on all sides.

31Thus Yehoshaphat reigned over Yehuḏah – thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Azuḇah the daughter of Shilḥi.

32And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the eyes of יהוה.

33Only, the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts for the Elohim of their fathers.

34And the rest of the acts of Yehoshaphat, the first and the last, see, they are written in the book of Yĕhu son of Ḥanani, which is mentioned in the book of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl.

35And after this Yehoshaphat sovereign of Yehuḏah joined himself with Aḥazyah sovereign of Yisra’ĕl. He did wrong in doing so.

36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Etsyon Geḇer.

37Then Eli‛ezer son of Doḏawahu of Marĕshah prophesied against Yehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined yourself with Aḥazyahu, יהוה shall break up your work.” And the ships were wrecked, so that they were unable to go to Tarshish.