2 Chronicles Chapter 20
Showing all 37 verses for 2 Chronicles Chapter 20.
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"It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. "
"After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, together with some other peoples, came to make war against Jehoshaphat."
Trouble can arrive even when you're doing everything right - that's not a sign I've abandoned you, it's simply part of life. What matters most is how you respond when it comes.
"Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. "
"Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, 'A huge army is coming against you from the far side of the Dead Sea, from the direction of Edom - they're already at Hazazon-tamar, that is, Engedi.'"
I don't want you to minimise real danger or pretend everything's fine when it isn't - facing a threat honestly, right away, is the first step towards handling it well.
"And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. "
"Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he made up his mind to seek the LORD, and he called for a fast across the whole of Judah."
It's completely alright to be afraid - I'm not asking you to pretend otherwise. What I want is for your fear to turn you towards seeking help and clarity, not away into isolation or denial.
"And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. "
"So the people of Judah gathered together to ask the LORD for help, coming in from every city across the land to seek him."
You don't have to face your hardest moments alone - gathering with others who care, and seeking help together, is itself a source of real strength. Don't isolate yourself when things get hard; let people stand with you.
"And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, "
"Jehoshaphat stood up in front of the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem, at the temple, in front of the new courtyard."
You don't have to have all the answers to lead well - sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is let others see you honestly seeking help. Vulnerability, shown openly, can strengthen rather than weaken trust.
"And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? "
"He prayed, 'LORD, God of our ancestors, aren't you God in heaven? Don't you rule over every nation on earth? Power and strength are in your hands, and no one can stand against you.'"
When you're overwhelmed, I want you to first remind yourself of what's actually trustworthy and strong in your life, before you even get to describing what's wrong. Perspective changes everything about how a problem feels.
"Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? "
"'Aren't you our God, who drove out the people living in this land ahead of your people Israel, and gave it permanently to the descendants of your friend Abraham?'"
When you're afraid, remember the times things have already worked out, the promises already kept in your life - let your history with what's trustworthy build your confidence for what's ahead.
"And they therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"'They settled there, and built you a sanctuary there for your name, saying...'"
A well-thought-out appeal, grounded in real facts and history, carries more weight than a vague cry - I want you to bring your whole mind as well as your heart when you seek help.
"If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. "
"'...if disaster comes upon us - war, judgement, disease, or famine - and we stand in front of this temple, in your presence, and cry out to you in our trouble, you will hear us and help.'"
When you're in trouble, it's alright to remind yourself - and even to remind me - of what's already been promised. Trust isn't naive; it can be built on solid, remembered ground.
"And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; "
"'Now look - the Ammonites, Moabites, and people of Mount Seir - the very peoples you wouldn't let Israel attack when they came out of Egypt, so Israel turned away and left them alone.'"
It hurts most when kindness is repaid with hostility - I understand that pain deeply. But don't let someone else's ingratitude poison your own willingness to have shown kindness in the first place; that choice was still right.
"Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. "
"'Just look how they're repaying us - coming to drive us out of the land you gave us as our inheritance.'"
It's alright to tell me plainly when something feels unjust - bring your honest grievances into the open rather than burying them. Naming what hurts is often the first step to peace about it.
"O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. "
"'Our God, won't you judge them? We have no strength to face this huge army, and we don't know what to do - but our eyes are on you.'"
It's alright not to know what to do. I don't need you to have the answers - I need you to keep your eyes open and attentive, trusting that help is possible even when you can't see the way through yet.
"And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. "
"The whole community of Judah stood there before the LORD - including their little ones, their wives, and their children."
The most meaningful moments of turning towards what matters are often shared ones, with everyone included - don't leave the vulnerable people in your life out of the moments that matter most.
"Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; "
"Then, in the middle of the assembled crowd, the Spirit of the LORD came upon a man named Jahaziel - a Levite descended from Asaph."
Don't assume help or wisdom only comes from important, famous people - sometimes the answer you need comes through an ordinary person standing right beside you. Stay open to unexpected sources of insight.
"And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. "
"He said, 'Listen, everyone in Judah and Jerusalem, and you too, King Jehoshaphat - this is what the LORD says: Don't be afraid or discouraged because of this huge army, because this battle isn't yours to fight - it's God's.'"
Some of the weight you're carrying was never meant to be yours alone - I want you to learn to hand over what's genuinely beyond your control, and trust that you're not facing your hardest battles by yourself.
"To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. "
"'Tomorrow, go down to face them - they'll be coming up through the Pass of Ziz, and you'll find them at the end of the valley, in front of the wilderness of Jeruel.'"
Trusting me doesn't mean doing nothing - it means moving forward with real, practical steps while trusting the outcome isn't entirely on your shoulders. Faith and action belong together.
"Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. "
"'You won't even need to fight in this battle - just take your positions, stand firm, and watch the LORD rescue you. Don't be afraid or discouraged - the LORD will be with you.'"
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do isn't fighting harder - it's standing firm, staying calm, and trusting that not everything depends on your own strength. Presence and steadiness matter more than you think.
"And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. "
"Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down before the LORD in worship."
When things go well or hope arrives, pause and be genuinely grateful before rushing on - gratitude received well makes room for more good things to follow.
"And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. "
"The Levites from the families of Kohath and Korah stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a loud voice."
Use whatever specific gifts or skills you have to express your gratitude and confidence, whatever those gifts happen to be - real thankfulness doesn't have to look the same for everyone.
"And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. "
"Early the next morning, they set out towards the wilderness of Tekoa, and as they went Jehoshaphat said, 'Trust the LORD your God, and you'll stand firm; trust his prophets, and things will go well for you.'"
What you genuinely believe shapes how steady you can stand when things get hard - I want your trust to be in something solid, so that you can face difficulty without being shaken loose.
"And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. "
"After talking it over with the people, he appointed singers to walk out ahead of the army, praising the LORD in worship, singing, 'Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.'"
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can lead with is genuine gratitude and trust, even when it feels exposed or vulnerable to do so. Confidence expressed openly can itself be a kind of strength.
"And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. "
"The moment they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the Ammonites, Moabites, and people of Mount Seir, and they were struck down."
There is real power in choosing gratitude and trust even before you see the outcome - sometimes that posture itself changes everything, in ways you couldn't have engineered yourself.
"For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. "
"The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the people of Mount Seir and set out to wipe them out; and once they'd finished off Seir, they turned on each other and destroyed one another."
Alliances or plans built on greed or hostility towards others often carry the seeds of their own collapse - you don't always have to fight what threatens you; sometimes it's enough to stand firm and let it unravel on its own.
"And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. "
"When Judah's army reached the watchtower overlooking the wilderness, they looked out at the huge army and saw only dead bodies scattered on the ground - no one had survived."
Not every hard thing you're bracing yourself for will require the fight you expect - sometimes you'll arrive to find it's already been handled, and all that's left is to notice and be grateful.
"And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. "
"Jehoshaphat and his people went to collect the plunder and found an enormous amount of wealth and valuable jewellery among the bodies - so much that they couldn't carry it all, and it took them three days to gather it."
Sometimes what looks like pure threat turns out, in the end, to leave you better off than before it arrived - I want you to stay open to the possibility that hard seasons can end somewhere genuinely good.
"And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. "
"On the fourth day, they gathered together in a valley and blessed the LORD there - which is why that place is still called the Valley of Berachah (meaning 'Blessing') to this day."
Take time to mark and remember the moments when things go well, rather than just rushing on to the next thing - gratitude that's actually paused over tends to run deeper and last longer.
"Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. "
"Then every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned home, with Jehoshaphat leading the way, going back to Jerusalem full of joy, because the LORD had given them reason to celebrate over their enemies."
Let your joy be shared, not just kept for yourself - the best celebrations are ones where everyone who went through the hard thing together gets to celebrate together too.
"And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. "
"They arrived in Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets, going straight to the temple."
Bring your thanks back to the same place, the same relationship, where you brought your need - gratitude and asking aren't separate transactions, they're part of one ongoing trust.
"And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. "
"News of this spread, and a deep respect for God settled over all the surrounding kingdoms once they heard that the LORD himself had fought against Israel's enemies."
How you handle your own hardest moments, with honesty and trust, can quietly affect far more people than you realise - your integrity in private moments has a wider ripple than you might expect.
"So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. "
"So Jehoshaphat's kingdom enjoyed peace, because his God gave him rest on every side."
Real peace tends to follow honest engagement with hard things, not running from them. I want you to trust that seasons of rest do come, even after seasons that felt truly frightening.
"And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. "
"Jehoshaphat ruled over Judah - he was thirty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi."
A life well-lived isn't only remembered by its dramatic highlights - the ordinary, steady years matter too, and I value the whole of someone's life, not just its peak moments.
"And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD. "
"He followed the example of his father Asa and didn't stray from it, doing what was right in the LORD's eyes."
I judge the whole shape of your life, not just your worst moments - genuine, sustained faithfulness counts for something real, even alongside mistakes you've made along the way.
"Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. "
"However, the illegitimate local worship sites weren't removed, because the people still hadn't fully committed their hearts to the God of their ancestors."
You can't force someone else's heart to change, even with the best structures and good intentions - lasting change has to be wanted, not just permitted from the outside.
"Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. "
"The rest of what Jehoshaphat did, from beginning to end, is recorded in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are included in the book of the kings of Israel."
Keep honest people near you, even the ones who've corrected you in the past - their honesty is exactly what makes them trustworthy to keep speaking into your life going forward.
"And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: "
"After all this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah teamed up again with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who was a genuinely wicked ruler."
Growth isn't a straight line, and old patterns can creep back even after real progress - I don't expect perfection from you, just a willingness to keep noticing and correcting course when you slip.
"And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber. "
"He partnered with Ahaziah to build a fleet of trading ships bound for Tarshish, and they built them at Ezion-geber."
A good goal doesn't automatically justify a bad partnership - check who you're building your ambitions alongside, because that choice shapes whether the outcome actually holds up.
"Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish. "
"Then Eliezer son of Dodavah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, 'Because you allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has wrecked what you built.' And the ships were destroyed, never able to sail to Tarshish."
I don't shield you from every consequence of choices you already know better than to make - but I also never stop being willing to speak honestly to you about it, the way I did the first time. Learning sometimes takes more than one lesson, and that's alright too.