Josafat, rey de Judá
1Al rey Asá lo sucedió en el trono su hijo Josafat, quien se impuso a la fuerza sobre Israel. 2Colocó tropas en todas las ciudades fortificadas de Judá y guarniciones en el territorio de Judá y en las ciudades de Efraín que su padre Asá había conquistado.
3El Señor estuvo con Josafat porque siguió el ejemplo inicial de su padre,17:3 de su padre (mss. hebreos y LXX); de su padre David (TM). pues no buscó a los baales, 4sino al Dios de su padre, obedeció los mandamientos de Dios y no siguió las prácticas de los israelitas. 5Por eso el Señor afirmó el reino en sus manos. Todo Judá le llevaba regalos y llegó a tener muchas riquezas y recibió muchos honores. 6Dedicó su corazón a los caminos del Señor; hasta quitó de Judá los altares paganos y las imágenes de la diosa Aserá.
7En el año tercero de su reinado, Josafat envió a sus oficiales Ben Jayil, Abdías, Zacarías, Natanael y Micaías para que instruyeran a la gente en las ciudades de Judá. 8Con ellos fueron los levitas Semaías, Netanías, Zebadías, Asael, Semiramot, Jonatán, Adonías, Tobías y Tobadonías; también los sacerdotes Elisama y Jorán. 9Llevaron consigo el libro de la Ley del Señor para instruir a los habitantes de Judá. Así que recorrieron todas las ciudades de Judá, enseñando al pueblo.
10Todos los reinos de las naciones vecinas de Judá sintieron un miedo profundo hacia el Señor y no se atrevieron a declararle la guerra a Josafat. 11Aun algunos filisteos llevaron a Josafat, como tributo, regalos y plata. Los árabes también le llevaron siete mil setecientos carneros y siete mil setecientos machos cabríos.
12Josafat se hizo cada vez más poderoso. Construyó en Judá fortalezas y lugares de almacenamiento, 13y tenía muchas provisiones en las ciudades. En Jerusalén contaba con un regimiento de soldados muy valientes, 14cuyo registro, según sus familias patriarcales, es el siguiente:
Comandantes de mil soldados en Judá:
Adnás, comandante al frente de trescientos mil soldados.
15Le seguía Johanán, comandante al frente de doscientos ochenta mil soldados;
16junto a este, Amasías, hijo de Zicrí, que se ofreció voluntariamente para servir al Señor y estaba al frente de doscientos mil soldados.
17De Benjamín:
Eliadá, guerrero valiente, al frente de doscientos mil soldados que portaban arcos y escudos.
18Le seguía Jozabad, al frente de ciento ochenta mil soldados adiestrados para la guerra.
19Todos ellos estaban al servicio del rey, sin contar los que este había destinado para las ciudades fortificadas de todo Judá.
Jehoshaphat King of Judah
1Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa. Jehoshaphat became the next king after him. He made his kingdom strong in case Israel would attack him. 2He placed troops in all the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. He stationed some soldiers in Judah. He also put some in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3The Lord was with Jehoshaphat. That’s because he lived the way King David had lived. He didn’t ask for advice from the gods that were named Baal. 4Instead, Jehoshaphat obeyed the God of his father. He obeyed the Lord’s commands instead of the practices of Israel. 5The Lord made the kingdom secure under Jehoshaphat’s control. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. So he had great wealth and honor. 6His heart was committed to living the way the Lord wanted him to. He removed the high places from Judah. He also removed the poles used to worship the female god named Asherah.
7In the third year of his rule, he sent his officials to teach in the towns of Judah. The officials were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah. 8Some Levites were with them. Their names were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah. Elishama and Jehoram, the priests, were also with them. 9They taught people all through Judah. They took the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went around to all the towns of Judah. And they taught the people.
10All the kingdoms of the lands around Judah became afraid of the Lord. So they didn’t go to war against Jehoshaphat. 11Some Philistines brought to Jehoshaphat the gifts and silver he required of them. The Arabs brought him their flocks. They brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats.
12Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built forts in Judah. He also built cities in Judah where he could store things. 13He had large supplies in the towns of Judah. In Jerusalem he kept men who knew how to fight well. 14Here is a list of them, family by family.
From Judah there were commanders of groups of 1,000.
One of them was Adnah. He commanded 300,000 fighting men.
15Another was Jehohanan. He commanded 280,000.
16Another was Amasiah, the son of Zikri. Amasiah commanded 200,000. He had offered to serve the Lord.
17From Benjamin there were also commanders.
One of them was Eliada. He was a brave soldier. He commanded 200,000 men. They were armed with bows and shields.
18Another was Jehozabad. He commanded 180,000 men. They were prepared for battle.
19These were the men who served the king. He stationed some other men in the cities all through Judah. The cities had high walls around them.
