1 Depois disso, os moabitas e os amonitas, com alguns dos meunitas, entraram em guerra contra Josafá.
2 Então informaram a Josafá: "Um exército enorme vem contra ti de Edom, do outro lado do mar Morto. Já está em Hazazom-Tamar, isto é, En-Gedi".
3 Alarmado, Josafá decidiu consultar o Senhor e proclamou um jejum em todo o reino de Judá.
4 Reuniu-se, pois, o povo, vindo de todas as cidades de Judá para buscar a ajuda do Senhor.
5 Então Josafá levantou-se na assembléia de Judá e de Jerusalém, no templo do Senhor, na frente do pátio novo,
6 e orou: "Senhor, Deus dos nossos antepassados, não és tu o Deus que está nos céus? Tu governas sobre todos os reinos do mundo. Força e poder estão em tuas mãos, e ninguém pode opor-se a ti.
7 Não és tu o nosso Deus, que expulsaste os habitantes desta terra perante Israel, teu povo, e a deste para sempre aos descendentes de teu amigo Abraão?
8 Eles a têm habitado e nela construíram um santuário em honra do teu nome, dizendo:
9 ‘Se alguma desgraça nos atingir, seja o castigo da espada, seja a peste, seja a fome, nós nos colocaremos em tua presença diante deste templo, pois ele leva o teu nome, e clamaremos a ti em nossa angústia, e tu nos ouvirás e nos salvarás’.
10 "Mas agora, aí estão amonitas, moabitas e habitantes dos montes de Seir, cujos territórios não permitiste que Israel invadisse quando vinha do Egito; por isso os israelitas se desviaram deles e não os destruíram.
11 Vê agora como estão nos retribuindo, ao virem expulsar-nos da terra que nos deste por herança.
12 Ó nosso Deus, não irás tu julgá-los? Pois não temos força para enfrentar esse exército imenso que está nos atacando. Não sabemos o que fazer, mas os nossos olhos se voltam para ti".
13 Todos os homens de Judá, com suas mulheres e seus filhos, até os de colo, estavam ali de pé, diante do Senhor.
14 Então o Espírito do Senhor veio sobre Jaaziel, filho de Zacarias, neto de Benaia, bisneto de Jeiel e trineto de Matanias, levita e descendente de Asafe, no meio da assembléia.
15 Ele disse: "Escutem, todos os que vivem em Judá e em Jerusalém e o rei Josafá! Assim lhes diz o Senhor: ‘Não tenham medo nem fiquem desanimados por causa desse exército enorme. Pois a batalha não é de vocês, mas de Deus.
16 Amanhã, desçam contra eles. Eles virão pela subida de Ziz, e vocês os encontrarão no fim do vale, em frente do deserto de Jeruel.
17 Vocês não precisarão lutar nessa batalha. Tomem suas posições; permaneçam firmes e vejam o livramento que o Senhor lhes dará, ó Judá, ó Jerusalém. Não tenham medo nem se desanimem. Saiam para enfrentá-los amanhã, e o Senhor estará com vocês’ ".
18 Josafá prostrou-se, rosto em terra, e todo o povo de Judá e de Jerusalém prostrou-se em adoração perante o Senhor.
19 Então os levitas descendentes dos coatitas e dos coreítas levantaram-se e louvaram o Senhor, o Deus de Israel, em alta voz.
20 De madrugada partiram para o deserto de Tecoa. Quando estavam saindo, Josafá lhes disse: "Escutem-me, Judá e povo de Jerusalém! Tenham fé no Senhor, o seu Deus, e vocês serão sustentados; tenham fé nos profetas dele e vocês terão a vitória".
21 Depois de consultar o povo, Josafá nomeou alguns homens para cantarem ao Senhor e o louvarem pelo esplendor de sua santidade, indo à frente do exército, cantando: "Dêem graças ao Senhor, pois o seu amor dura para sempre".
22 Quando começaram a cantar e a entoar louvores, o Senhor preparou emboscadas contra os homens de Amom, de Moabe e dos montes de Seir que estavam invadindo Judá, e eles foram derrotados.
23 Os amonitas e os moabitas atacaram os dos montes de Seir para destruí-los e aniquilá-los. Depois de massacrarem os homens de Seir, destruiram-se uns aos outros.
24 Quando os homens de Judá foram para o lugar de onde se avista o deserto e olharam para o imenso exército, viram somente cadáveres no chão; ninguém havia escapado.
25 Então, Josafá e os seus soldados foram saquear os cadáveres e encontraram entre eles grande quantidade de equipamentos e roupas, e também objetos de valor; passaram três dias saqueando, mas havia mais do que eram capazes de levar.
26 No quarto dia eles se reuniram no vale de Beraca, onde louvaram o Senhor. Por isso até hoje ele é chamado vale de Beraca.
27 Depois sob a liderança de Josafá, todos os homens de Judá e de Jerusalém voltaram alegres para Jerusalém, pois o Senhor lhes enchera de alegria, dando-lhes vitória sobre os seus inimigos.
28 Entraram em Jerusalém e foram ao templo do Senhor, ao som de liras, harpas e cornetas.
29 O temor de Deus veio sobre todas as nações, quando souberam como o Senhor havia lutado contra os inimigos de Israel.
30 E o reino de Josafá manteve-se em paz, pois o seu Deus lhe concedeu paz em todas as suas fronteiras.
31 Assim Josafá reinou sobre Judá. Ele tinha trinta e cinco anos de idade quando se tornou rei, e reinou vinte e cinco anos em Jerusalém. O nome da sua mãe era Azuba, filha de Sili.
32 Ele andou nos caminhos de Asa, seu pai, e não se desviou deles; fez o que o Senhor aprova.
33 Contudo, não acabou com os altares idólatras, e o povo ainda não havia firmado o coração no Deus dos seus antepassados.
34 Os demais acontecimentos do reinado de Josafá, do início ao fim, estão escritos nos relatos de Jeú, filho de Hanani, e incluídos nos registros históricos dos reis de Israel.
35 Posteriormente, Josafá, rei de Judá, fez um tratado com Acazias, rei de Israel, que tinha vida ímpia.
36 Era um tratado para a construção de navios mercantes. Depois de serem construídos os navios em Eziom-Geber,
37 Eliézer, filho de Dodava de Maressa, profetizou contra Josafá, dizendo: "Por haver feito um tratado com Acazias, o Senhor destruirá o que você fez". Assim, os navios naufragaram e não puderam sair para negociar.
1 Now after this, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunim, made war against Jehoshaphat.
2 And they came to Jehoshaphat with the news, saying, A great army is moving against you from Edom across the sea; and now they are in Hazazon-tamar (which is En-gedi).
3 Then Jehoshaphat, in his fear, went to the Lord for directions, and gave orders all through Judah for the people to go without food.
4 And Judah came together to make prayer for help from the Lord; from every town of Judah they came to give worship to the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat took his place in the meeting of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new open space,
6 And said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hands are power and strength so that no one is able to keep his place against you.
7 Did you not, O Lord our God, after driving out the people of this land before your people Israel, give it to the seed of Abraham, your friend, for ever?
8 And they made it their living-place, building there a holy house for your name, and saying,
9 If evil comes on us, the sword, or punishment, or disease, or need of food, we will come to this house and to you, (for your name is in this house,) crying to you in our trouble, and you will give us salvation in answer to our cry.
10 And now, see, the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, whom you kept Israel from attacking when they came out of Egypt, so that turning to one side they did not send destruction on them:
11 See now, how as our reward they have come to send us out of your land which you have given us as our heritage.
12 O our God, will you not be their judge? for our strength is not equal to this great army which is coming against us; and we are at a loss what to do: but our eyes are on you.
13 And all Judah were waiting before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14 Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph;
15 And he said, Give ear, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat: the Lord says to you, Have no fear and do not be troubled on account of this great army; for the fight is not yours but God's.
16 Go down against them tomorrow: see, they are coming up by the slope of Ziz; at the end of the valley, before the waste land of Jeruel, you will come face to face with them.
17 There will be no need for you to take up arms in this fight; put yourselves in position, and keep where you are, and you will see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: have no fear and do not be troubled: go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.
18 Then Jehoshaphat went down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem gave worship to the Lord, falling down before him.
19 And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites and the Korahites, got to their feet and gave praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice.
20 And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you.
21 And after discussion with the people, he put in their places those who were to make melody to the Lord, praising him in holy robes, while they went at the head of the army, and saying, May the Lord be praised, for his mercy is unchanging for ever.
22 And at the first notes of song and praise the Lord sent a surprise attack against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome.
23 And the children of Ammon and Moab made an attack on the people of Mount Seir with a view to their complete destruction; and when they had put an end to the people of Seir, everyman's hand was turned against his neighbour for his destruction.
24 And Judah came to the watchtower of the waste land, and looking in the direction of the army, they saw only dead bodies stretched on the earth; no living man was to be seen.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much.
26 On the fourth day they all came together in the Valley of Blessing, and there they gave blessing to the Lord; for which cause that place has been named the Valley of Blessing to this day.
27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem went back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, coming back to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them glad over their haters.
28 So they came to Jerusalem with corded instruments and wind-instruments into the house of the Lord.
29 And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had news of how the Lord made war on those who came against Israel.
30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for the Lord gave him rest on every side.
31 And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for twenty-five years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
32 He went in the ways of his father Asa, not turning away, but doing right in the eyes of the Lord.
33 The high places, however, were not taken away, and the hearts of the people were still not true to the God of their fathers.
34 Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, they are recorded in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which were put in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became friends with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did much evil:
36 Together they made ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber.
37 Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.