Kong Joram af Juda
2.Kong. 8,16-24
1Da kong Joshafat døde, blev han begravet i familiegravstedet i Davidsbyen, og hans søn Joram efterfulgte ham som konge.
2Jorams brødre hed Azarja, Jehiel, Zekarja, Azarjahu, Mikael og Shefatja. 3Joshafat havde givet hver af sine sønner kostbare gaver—sølv, guld og juveler—og givet dem herredømmet over nogle af Judas befæstede byer. Men han havde udnævnt Joram til konge, for han var den førstefødte søn. 4Så snart Joram havde sikret sig magten, slog han alle sine brødre og flere af de israelitiske ledere ihjel. 5Han var 32 år gammel, da han blev konge, og han regerede i Jerusalem i otte år. 6Han fulgte i Israels kongers spor, for han havde giftet sig med en datter af Ahab. Derfor gjorde han, hvad der var ondt i Herrens øjne. 7Men på grund af den pagt, Herren havde etableret med David, ville han ikke fuldstændigt ødelægge Davids slægt. Han havde jo lovet, at Davids slægt aldrig skulle dø ud.
8Mens Joram regerede, løsrev Edoms folk sig fra Judas overherredømme og udnævnte deres egen konge. 9Kong Joram mønstrede sine officerer og stridsvogne for at slå oprøret ned. Undervejs blev han omringet af Edoms hær, men i ly af natten undslap han. 10Derfor har Edom indtil i dag opretholdt sin uafhængighed, og det samme er tilfældet med Libna, for Joram havde vendt sig fra Herren, sine fædres Gud. 11I Judas bjergområde byggede han afgudsoffersteder på højene. Således førte han Jerusalems indbyggere ud i utroskab mod Herren og ledte Judas folk på afveje.
12Da skrev profeten Elias følgende brev til Joram: „Herren, din forfar Davids Gud, siger: Fordi du ikke fulgte din far, Joshafats, og din farfar, Asas, gode eksempel, 13men syndede på lige fod med Israels konger og opfordrede Jerusalems indbyggere og hele Judas folk til at dyrke afguder, ligesom kong Ahab gjorde, og fordi du myrdede dine egne brødre, der var bedre end dig, 14vil Herren straffe både dig, dine børn og dine koner, samt fratage dig al din ejendom. 15Selv skal du rammes af en alvorlig og vedvarende tarmsygdom, som til sidst får dine indvolde til at sprænges.”
16Derefter lod Herren fjendskab opstå mellem kong Joram og filistrene, der fik støtte af nogle arabere, som boede nord for Kush. 17De rykkede frem mod Juda, gjorde indfald i landet og plyndrede kongepaladset for alt af værdi. Selv kongens sønner og koner tog de med sig, bortset fra den yngste søn, Ahazja. Nu havde Joram kun én søn tilbage.
18Kort efter ramte Herren Joram med en uhelbredelig sygdom i maven, 19og efter to års sygdom sprængtes hans indvolde, så han led en frygtelig død. Man brændte ingen røgelse til ære for ham, som man havde gjort, da hans forfædre døde.
20Joram var som sagt 32 år, da han blev konge, og han nåede at regere i Jerusalem i otte år. Ingen sørgede over hans død. Han blev begravet i Davidsbyen, men ikke i det kongelige familiegravsted.
1Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king. 2Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.21:2 That is, Judah, as frequently in 2 Chronicles 3Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.
Jehoram king of Judah
4When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. 5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. 6He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants for ever.
8In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 9So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. 10To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah.
Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.
12Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said:
‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: “You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. 13But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you. 14So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. 15You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.” ’
16The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. 17They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah,21:17 Hebrew Jehoahaz, a variant of Ahaziah the youngest.
18After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honour, as they had for his predecessors.
20Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He passed away, to no-one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
