2 Chronicles
Chapter 17
1 Jehoshaphat, his son, became king after him and made himself strong against Israel.
2 He put troops in all the protected cities of Judah, and put guards in Judah’s land and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 God was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the good ways of his ancestor David and did not worship Baalim.
4 He looked for guidance from his father’s God and lived by His rules, not following Israel’s actions.
5 God made his kingdom strong; everyone from Judah gave gifts to Jehoshaphat; and he became very rich and honored.
6 His heart became proud following God’s ways; he also removed the worship sites and sacred trees from Judah.
7 In the third year of his rule, he sent his leaders, Benhail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethaneel, and Michaiah, to teach in the towns of Judah.
8 He sent Levites with them, including Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, Tobadonijah, and also Elishama and Jehoram, who were priests.
9 They taught in Judah with God’s law book and traveled to all Judah’s cities to teach the people.
10 The fear of God spread to all the neighboring kingdoms around Judah, so they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.
11 Some Philistines gave Jehoshaphat gifts and silver, and the Arabians gave him 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.
12 Jehoshaphat became very powerful; he built strongholds and storage cities in Judah.
13 He was very busy in the towns of Judah, and the soldiers, strong and brave, were in Jerusalem.
14 Here are the numbers for each family group: From Judah, the leaders of thousands; Adnah was the top leader, and with him were 300,000 brave soldiers.
15 Next to him stood Jehohanan the leader, with 280,000 men.
16 Next to him was Amasiah, son of Zichri, who volunteered to serve God; he was accompanied by two hundred thousand brave warriors.
17 From the tribe of Benjamin, Eliada, a brave warrior, was there with 200,000 armed men carrying bows and shields.
18 Next to him was Jehozabad, with him one hundred and eighty thousand men ready for battle.
19 These served the king, along with those the king placed in the protected cities all over Judah.