Jehoshaphat King of Judah
17 Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king of Judah in his place. Jehoshaphat ·made Judah strong so they could fight [strengthened himself] against Israel. 2 He put ·troops [garrisons] in all the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities of Judah, in the land of Judah, and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he ·lived as his ancestor David had lived when he first became king [followed the earlier example/ways of his ancestor/father David]. Jehoshaphat did not ·ask for help from [seek; consult] the Baal idols, 4 but ·from [sought; consulted] the God of his father. He ·obeyed [L walked in] God’s commands and did not ·live as the people of Israel lived [behave like Israel]. 5 The Lord ·made Jehoshaphat a strong king over Judah [secured/established the kingdom under his control/L hand]. All the people of Judah brought ·gifts [tribute] to Jehoshaphat, so he had much wealth and ·honor [esteem]. 6 ·He wanted very much to obey [L His heart was devoted/committed to the ways of] the Lord. He also removed the ·places for worshiping gods [L high places; 11:15] and the Asherah ·idols [poles; 14:3] from Judah.
7 During the third year of his ·rule [reign], Jehoshaphat sent his ·officers [officials] to teach in the towns of Judah. These ·officers [officials] were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. 8 Jehoshaphat sent with them these Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 ·These leaders, Levites, and priests [L They] taught the people in Judah. They took the ·Book [scroll] of the ·Teachings [instructions; laws] of the Lord and went through all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
10 The ·nations near Judah were afraid of the Lord [L fear/dread of the Lord was on/seized the surrounding kingdoms], so they did not start a war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Some of the Philistines brought ·gifts [tribute] and silver to Jehoshaphat. Some Arabs brought him flocks: seventy-seven hundred sheep and seventy-seven hundred goats.
12 Jehoshaphat grew more and more powerful. He built ·strong, walled cities [fortresses] and ·towns for storing supplies [storage cities] in Judah. 13 He kept many supplies in the towns of Judah, and he kept ·trained soldiers [skilled warriors] in Jerusalem. 14 These soldiers were ·listed [enrolled; divided] by ·families [clans]. From the ·families [clans] of Judah, these were the ·commanders [officers] of groups of a thousand men: Adnah was the commander of three hundred thousand skilled soldiers; 15 Jehohanan was the commander of two hundred eighty thousand skilled soldiers; 16 Amasiah was the commander of two hundred thousand skilled soldiers. Amasiah son of Zicri had volunteered to serve the Lord.
17 These were the ·commanders [officers] from the ·families [clans] of Benjamin: Eliada, a brave soldier, had two hundred thousand soldiers ·who used [armed/equipped with] bows and shields. 18 And Jehozabad had one hundred eighty thousand men ·armed [equipped] for war.
19 All these soldiers served King Jehoshaphat. The king also put other men in the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities through all of Judah.