Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

37 While Jesus¹ was speaking, ^ha Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see ⁱthat he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, ^j“Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of ^kgreed and wickedness. 40 ^lYou fools! ^jDid not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But ^mgive as alms those things that are within, and behold, ⁿeverything is clean for you.

42 ^o“But woe to you Pharisees! For ^pyou tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect ^qjustice and ^rthe love of God. ^sThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For ^tyou love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! ^uFor you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

45 One of ^vthe lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you ^wlawyers also! For ^xyou load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 ^yWoe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 ^zSo you are witnesses and you ^aconsent to the deeds of ^byour fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also ^cthe Wisdom of God said, ^d‘I will send them ^eprophets and apostles, ^fsome of whom they will ^gkill and persecute,’ 50 so that ^hthe blood of all the prophets, shed ⁱfrom the foundation of the world, may be ^jcharged against this generation, 51 from the blood of ^kAbel to the blood of ^lZechariah, who perished between ^mthe altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be ^jrequired of this generation. 52 Woe to you ⁿlawyers! ^oFor you have taken away the key of ^pknowledge. You ^qdid not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 ^rlying in wait for him, ^sto catch him in something he might say.

8 ^min flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ⁿwho do not know God and on those who ^odo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of ^peternal destruction, ^qaway from¹ the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 ^rwhen he comes on ^sthat day ^tto be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^utestimony to you ^vwas believed. 11 To this end we ^walways pray for you, that our God may ^xmake you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^ywork of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^zmay be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Great Is the Lord

¹ A Song of Praise. Of David.

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer

1 After this ⁱthe Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites,¹ came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom,² from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in ^jHazazon-tamar” (that is, ^kEngedi). 3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face ^lto seek the Lord, and ^mproclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not ⁿGod in heaven? You ^orule over all the kingdoms of the nations. ^pIn your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, ^qdrive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of ^rAbraham your friend? 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ^s‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,³ or pestilence, or famine, ^twe will stand before this house and before you—^ufor your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ 10 And now behold, the men of ^vAmmon and Moab and ^wMount Seir, whom ^xyou would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, ^yand whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11 behold, they reward us ^zby coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will you not ^aexecute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but ^bour eyes are on you.”

13 Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 And ^cthe Spirit of the Lord came⁴ upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ^d‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, ^efor the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of ^fthe valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 ^gYou will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ ^dDo not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, ^hand the Lord will be with you.”

18 Then Jehoshaphat ⁱbowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 And the Levites, of the ^jKohathites and the ^kKorahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into ^lthe wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! ^mBelieve in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him ⁿin holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

22 And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ^pan ambush against the men of ^qAmmon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. 23 For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, ^rthey all helped to destroy one another.

The Lord Delivers Judah

24 When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there⁵ were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. 25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah,⁶ for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. 27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, ^sfor the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28 They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 29 ^tAnd the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, ^ufor his God gave him rest all around.

31 ^vThus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. 33 ^wThe high places, however, were not taken away; ^xthe people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of ^yJehu the son of Hanani, ^zwhich are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

35 ^aAfter this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. 36 He joined him in building ships to go to ^bTarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ^c“Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

1 ^dJehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of ^eIsrael.⁷ 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ^ffortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of ^eIsrael. 5 ^gJehoram was ^hthirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 ⁱAnd he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for ^jthe daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ^ka lamp to him and to his sons forever.

8 In his days Edom revolted from the ^lrule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 So Edom revolted from ^mthe rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ⁿinto whoredom and made Judah go astray. 12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^o‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^pin the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 ⁱbut have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ⁿinto whoredom, ^qas the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^rhave killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, 14 behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^swith a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

16 ^tAnd the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger⁸ of the Philistines and of ^uthe Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^vJehoahaz, his youngest son.

18 And after all this the Lord struck him ^win his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^xlike the fires made for his fathers. 20 ^yHe was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^zwith no one’s regret. ^aThey buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.