1Yehosafati anamwalira nayikidwa mʼmanda pamodzi ndi makolo ake mu mzinda wa Davide. Ndipo Yehoramu mwana wake analowa ufumu mʼmalo mwake. 2Abale ake a Yehoramu, ana aamuna a Yehosafati, anali Azariya, Yehieli, Zekariya, Azariyahu, Mikayeli ndi Sefatiya. Onsewa anali ana a Yehosafati mfumu ya Israeli. 3Abambo awo anawapatsa mphatso zambiri za siliva, golide ndi zinthu zina zamtengowapatali komanso mizinda yotetezedwa ya Yuda. Koma iye anapereka ufumu kwa Yehoramu chifukwa anali mwana wake woyamba kubadwa.
Yehoramu Mfumu ya Yuda
4Yehoramu atakhazikika pa ufumu wa abambo ake, iye anapha abale ake ndi lupanga pamodzi ndi atsogoleri ena a Israeli. 5Yehoramu anali wa zaka 32 pamene anakhala mfumu, ndipo analamulira mu Yerusalemu zaka zisanu ndi zitatu. 6Iye anayenda mʼnjira za mafumu a Israeli, monga mmene linachitira banja la Ahabu, pakuti anakwatira mwana wa Ahabu. Ndipo anachita zoyipa pamaso pa Yehova. 7Komabe, chifukwa cha pangano limene Yehova anachita ndi Davide, Yehova sanafune kuwononga banja la Davide. Iye analonjeza kusungira nyale Davide ndi zidzukulu zake mpaka muyaya.
8Pa nthawi ya Yehoramu, Edomu anawukira Yuda ndipo anadzisankhira mfumu. 9Choncho Yehoramu anapita kumeneko pamodzi ndi atsogoleri ake ndi magaleta ake onse. Aedomu anamuzungulira pamodzi ndi atsogoleri ake koma iye ananyamuka ndi kuthawa usiku. 10Mpaka lero lino Edomu ndi wowukira ulamuliro wa Yuda.
Pa nthawi yomweyi, mzinda wa Libina unawukiranso chifukwa Yehoramu anasiya Yehova, Mulungu wa makolo ake. 11Iye anamanganso malo opembedzerapo mafano mʼmapiri a Yuda ndipo anachititsa anthu a mu Yerusalemu kukhala osakhulupirika. Choncho anasocheretsa anthu a ku Yuda.
12Yehoramu analandira kalata yochokera kwa mneneri Eliya yonena kuti,
“Yehova Mulungu wa Davide abambo ako akuti, ‘Iwe sunayende mʼnjira ya Yehosafati abambo ako kapena Asa mfumu ya Yuda. 13Koma wayenda mʼnjira za mafumu a Israeli ndipo watsogolera anthu a ku Yuda ndi Yerusalemu kukhala osakhulupirika, monga linachitira banja la Ahabu. Waphanso abale ako, abale a banja la abambo ako, anthu amene anali abwino kuposa iweyo. 14Kotero tsono Yehova ali pafupi kukantha anthu ako, ana ako, akazi ako ndi zinthu zako zonse, ndi chilango chachikulu. 15Ndipo iwe udzadwala nthenda yoopsa yamʼmimba, mpaka nthendayo idzachititsa matumbo ako kutuluka.’ ”
16Yehova anamuutsira Yehoramuyo mkwiyo wa Afilisti ndi Aarabu amene amakhala pafupi ndi Akusi. 17Iwo anathira nkhondo Yuda. Analowanso ndi kutenga katundu yense amene anamupeza mʼnyumba ya mfumu pamodzi ndi ana ake ndi akazi ake. Palibe mwana amene anatsala kupatula mwana wake wamngʼono kwambiri, Ahaziya.
18Izi zonse zitachitika, Yehova anakantha Yehoramu ndi nthenda yamʼmimba imene inali yosachiritsika. 19Patapita nthawi, kumapeto kwa chaka chachiwiri, matumbo ake anatuluka chifukwa cha nthendayo, ndipo anafa imfa yopweteka kwambiri. Anthu ake sanasonkhe moto kumuchitira ulemu, monga anachitira ndi makolo ake.
20Yehoramu anali wa zaka 32 pamene anakhala mfumu. Iyeyo analamulira mu Yerusalemu zaka zisanu ndi zitatu. Ndipo anamwalira popanda odandawula, nayikidwa mʼmanda mu mzinda wa Davide, koma osati mʼmanda a mafumu.
1Jehoshaphat joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became the next king after him. 2Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All of them were sons of Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel. 3Their father had given them many gifts. He had given them silver, gold and other things of value. He had also given them cities in Judah that had high walls around them. But he had made Jehoram king. That’s because Jehoram was his oldest son.
Jehoram King of Judah
4Jehoram made his position secure over his father’s kingdom. Then he killed all his brothers with his sword. He also killed some of the officials of Israel. 5Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. 6He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the royal family of Ahab had done. In fact, he married a daughter of Ahab. Jehoram did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7But the Lord didn’t want to destroy the royal family of David. That’s because the Lord had made a covenant with him. The Lord had promised to keep the lamp of David’s kingdom burning brightly. The Lord had promised that for David and his children after him forever.
8When Jehoram was king over Judah, Edom refused to remain under Judah’s control. They set up their own king. 9So Jehoram went to Edom. He took his officers and all his chariots with him. The men of Edom surrounded him and his chariot commanders. But he got up at night and fought his way out. 10To this day Edom has refused to remain under Judah’s control.
At that same time, Libnah also refused to remain under the control of Judah. That’s because Jehoram had deserted the Lord, the God of his people. 11Jehoram had also built high places on the hills of Judah. He had caused the people of Jerusalem to worship other gods. They weren’t faithful to the Lord. Jehoram had led Judah down the wrong path.
12Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet. In it, Elijah said,
“The Lord is the God of your father David. The Lord says, ‘You have not followed the ways of your own father Jehoshaphat or of Asa, the king of Judah. 13Instead, you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel. You have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to worship other gods, just as the royal family of Ahab did. Also, you have murdered your own brothers. They were members of your own family. They were better men than you are. 14So now the Lord is about to strike down your people with a heavy blow. He will strike down your sons, your wives and everything that belongs to you. 15And you yourself will be very sick for a long time. The sickness will finally cause your insides to come out.’ ”
16The Lord stirred up the anger of the Philistines against Jehoram. He also stirred up the anger of the Arabs. They lived near the people of Cush. 17The Philistines and Arabs attacked Judah. They went in and carried off all the goods they found in the king’s palace. They also took his sons and wives. The only son he had left was Ahaziah. He was the youngest son.
18After all of that, the Lord made Jehoram very sick. He couldn’t be healed. 19After he had been sick for two years, the sickness caused his insides to come out. He died in great pain. His people didn’t make a funeral fire to honor him. They had made funeral fires to honor the kings who ruled before him.
20Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. No one was sorry when he passed away. He was buried in the City of David. But he wasn’t placed in the tombs of the kings.
