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.
1約沙法與祖先同眠後，葬在大衛城他的祖墳裡。他兒子約蘭繼位。
猶大王約蘭
2亞撒利雅、耶歇、撒迦利雅、亞撒列夫、米迦勒和示法提雅是約蘭的兄弟、猶大王約沙法的兒子。 3他們的父親賜給他們許多金銀、財寶和猶大境內的堅城，但將王位賜給了約蘭，因為他是長子。 4約蘭登基，鞏固了王位後，就用刀殺了他所有的兄弟和一些以色列首領。 5約蘭三十二歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政八年。 6他與亞哈家一樣步以色列諸王的後塵，因為他娶了亞哈的女兒為妻，做耶和華視為惡的事。 7但耶和華不願毀滅大衛家，因為祂曾與大衛立約，應許讓大衛和他的子孫永遠做王。
8約蘭執政期間，以東人反叛猶大，自己立王。 9約蘭率將領及所有戰車前去討伐，結果被以東人包圍。但他們乘夜突出重圍。 10以東人至今仍脫離猶大的統治，立拿人也在那時候叛變了，因為約蘭背棄了他祖先的上帝耶和華。 11約蘭在猶大的山上修建邱壇，引誘耶路撒冷的居民和猶大人與假神苟合。
12以利亞先知寫信給約蘭說：「你祖先大衛的上帝耶和華這樣說，『因為你沒有效法你父親約沙法，也沒有效法猶大王亞撒， 13而是重蹈以色列諸王的覆轍，與亞哈家一樣，引誘猶大人和耶路撒冷的居民與假神苟合，還殺了比你好的兄弟。 14因此，耶和華要降大災禍給你的人民、兒女、妻妾及一切所有。 15你必患嚴重的腸病，並且日益加重，直到你的腸子掉出來。』」
16耶和華驅使非利士人和古實附近的阿拉伯人攻打約蘭。 17他們起兵攻打猶大，侵入境內，擄走了王宮裡的所有財物以及約蘭的兒子和妻妾，只留下他最小的兒子約哈斯。
18這事以後，耶和華使約蘭患了無法醫治的腸病， 19日益加重，兩年後腸子掉了出來，他痛苦地死去了。他的百姓沒有像對待他祖先那樣向他焚火致哀。 20約蘭三十二歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政八年。他死後無人向他致哀。他葬在大衛城，但沒有葬在王陵裡。
