During Jehoshaphat’s Rule |
2 Chronicles 17:1-19 2 Chronicles in [Smaller Chunks] |
[Asa’s] son, Jehoshaphat [ruled] in his [place] & strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed [troops] in all the fenced cities of Judah & put [military posts] in the land of Judah & the cities of Ephraim, which his father, Asa, had [captured.] |
And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he first walked in the [earlier paths] of David, [his forefather] & [didn’t turn to] Baalim. [Jehoshaphat] sought the Lord God of his father & [followed] in His commandments & [didn’t follow the actions] of Israel. |
[1 Kings 12:28-29 [Upon this] the king took counsel & made 2 calves of gold & said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem [to sacrifice.] [See,] your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the Land of Egypt. And he [put] the one in BethEl & he put the other in Dan.] |
Therefore, the Lord [established] the kingdom in [Jehoshaphat's] hand. And all [of] Judah brought Jehoshaphat presents & he had [an] abundance of riches & honor. An [Jehoshaphat’s] heart was [uplifted] in the ways of the Lord. [Also,] he took away the high places & groves out of Judah. |
[Deuteronomy 12:2-3 You shall [totally] destroy all the places, [in which] these nations, [that] you shall possess, served their gods, upon the high mountings & upon the hills & under every green tree. And you shall overthrow their altars & break [down] their pillars & burn their groves with fire. And you shall [cut] down the [carved] images of their gods & destroy the names of them out of that place.] |
In the 3rd year [Jehoshaphat ruled,] he sent to his princes & even: BenHail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethaneel & Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. [2 Chronicles 15:3 Now for a long [time,] Israel had been without the true God & without a teaching priest & without the Law.] |
He sent Levites with them, even: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah & Tob Adonijah, Levites. And with them priests: Elishama & Jehoram. |
And they taught in Judah & had the book of the [Lord’s] Law with them. [They] went throughout all the cities of Judah & taught the people. And the fear [respect] of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the land [around] Judah, so they [didn’t] make [any] war [against] Jehoshaphat. |
Also, some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents & silver as tribute. And the Arabians brought him flocks [with] 7,700 rams & 7,700 [male] goats. And Jehoshaphat [grew] exceedingly great & he built in Judah: castles & [storage] cities & he had [many] businesses in [Judah’s] cities. |
And the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem. These are the numbers of [those] according to the [families] of their [forefathers.] [From] Judah, the captains of 1,000’s: Adnah [was] the leader & 300,000 mighty men of valor with him. |
Next to him was Jehohanan, the [leader] & 280,000 with him. And next to him was Amasiah, [Zichri’s] son, who willingly offered himself to the Lord & with him [were] 200,000 mighty men of valor. |
And of Benjamin; Eliada, a mighty man of valor & 200,000 men armed with bow & shield with him. |
And next to him was Jehozabad & 180,000 ready [men,] prepared for war with him. These waited on the king, [in addition to] those whom the king put in the fenced cities throughout Judah. |