2Ch 20, Psa 30:1, Tit | ESV | STEP | After this the Moabites and Ammonites , and with them some of the Meunites , came against Jehoshaphat for battle .

1 After this ^athe Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, ^{▼▼Compare 26:7; Hebrew Ammonites} came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, ^{▼▼One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts Aram (Syria)} from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in ^dHazazon-tamar” (that is, ^eEngedi). 3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face ^fto seek the Lord, and ^gproclaimed 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 ^hGod in heaven? You ⁱrule over all the kingdoms of the nations. ^jIn your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, ^kdrive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of ^lAbraham your friend? 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ^m‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, ^{▼▼Or the sword of judgment} or pestilence, or famine, ^owe will stand before this house and before you— ^pfor 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 ^qAmmon and Moab and ^rMount Seir, whom ^syou would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, ^tand whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11 behold, they reward us ^uby coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will you not ^vexecute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but ^wour eyes are on you.”

13 Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 And ^xthe Spirit of the Lord came 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, ^y‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, ^zfor 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 ^aathe valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 ^abYou 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.’ ^acDo not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, ^adand the Lord will be with you.”

18 Then Jehoshaphat ^aebowed 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 ^afKohathites and the ^agKorahites, 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 ^ahthe wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! ^aiBelieve 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 ^ajin holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

^ak“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”
22 And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ^alan ambush against the men of ^amAmmon, 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, ^anthey 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, there ^{▼▼Hebrew they} 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, ^{▼▼ Beracah means blessing} 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, ^aqfor 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 ^arAnd 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, ^asfor his God gave him rest all around.

31 ^atThus 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 ^auThe high places, however, were not taken away; ^avthe 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 ^awJehu the son of Hanani, ^axwhich are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

35 ^ayAfter this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. 36 He joined him in building ships to go to ^azTarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ^ba“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.

Psalms 30:1

Joy Comes with the Morning

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of ^bbthe temple.

1 I will ^bcextol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes ^bdrejoice over me.

This pastoral letter from Paul to Titus was intended to offer encouragement and wisdom as Titus endured ongoing opposition from the ungodly and from legalists within his congregations. Paul instructed Titus to complete his assigned job of establishing overseers (elders) for the churches under his care. He described what sort of people these leaders should be, and how all believers should live in relation to each other as well as in their interactions with nonbelievers. Proper Christian behavior is based on the fact that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,” and therefore those who believe in Christ are to “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” as they await his return (2:11-13). Paul probably wrote this letter in the 60s a.d.

Titus 1

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant ^{▼▼Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} of God and ^bfan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^bgtheir knowledge of the truth, ^bhwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^biin hope of eternal life, which God, ^bjwho never lies, ^bkpromised ^blbefore the ages began ^{▼▼Greek before times eternal} 3 and ^bnat the proper time manifested in his word ^bothrough the preaching ^bpwith which I have been entrusted ^bqby the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, ^brmy true child in ^bsa common faith:

^btGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^buThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^bvappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^bwif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, ^{▼▼Or a man of one woman} and his children are believers ^{▼▼Or are faithful} and not open to the charge of ^bzdebauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, ^{▼▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos} ^cbas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^ccbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^cdor greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^ceand disciplined. 9 He must ^cfhold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^cgsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verse 13} doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^ciempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^cjthe circumcision party. ^{▼▼Or especially those of the circumcision} 11 They must be silenced, since ^clthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^cmfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^cnOne of the Cretans, ^{▼▼Greek One of them} a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ^{▼▼Probably from Epimenides of Crete} 13 This testimony is true. Therefore ^cqrebuke them ^crsharply, that they ^csmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^ctnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^cuthe commands of people ^cvwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^cwTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^cxunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^cytheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^czThey profess to know God, but they ^dadeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^dbunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1 But as for you, teach what accords with ^dcsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8} doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^desound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^dfOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^dgnot slanderers ^dhor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, ^dipure, ^djworking at home, kind, and ^dksubmissive to their own husbands, ^dlthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge ^dmthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be ^dna model of good works, and in your teaching ^doshow integrity, ^dpdignity, 8 and ^dqsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^drso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^dsBondservants ^{▼▼Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} are to be submissive to their own masters ^duin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, ^dvbut showing all good faith, ^dwso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For ^dxthe grace of God ^dyhas appeared, bringing salvation ^dzfor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and ^eaworldly passions, and ^ebto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^ecthe present age, 13 ^edwaiting for our blessed ^eehope, the ^efappearing of the glory of our great ^egGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^ehwho gave himself for us to ^eiredeem us from all lawlessness and ^ejto purify for himself ^eka people for his own possession who are ^elzealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and ^emrebuke with all authority. ^enLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1 Remind them ^eoto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^epto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^eqto speak evil of no one, ^erto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^esto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For ^etwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when ^euthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, ^evnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^ewaccording to his own mercy, by ^exthe washing of regeneration and ^eyrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ^ezpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that ^fabeing justified by his grace we might become ^fbheirs ^fcaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is ^fdtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^feto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But ^ffavoid foolish ^fgcontroversies, ^fhgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^fithey are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, ^fjafter warning him once and then twice, ^fkhave nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Greetings

12 When I send Artemas or ^flTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^fmat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^fnApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn ^foto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^fpbe unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

^fqGrace be with you all.

2 Chronicles 20

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer