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2 Chronicles 21 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Jehoram Rules in Judah
(1Ki 22:50; 2Ki 8:16–24 )

2Ch 21:1

2Ch 21:1When Jehoshaphat died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Jehoram became the next king.

2Ch 21:2

2Ch 21:2Jehoram’s brothers—the other sons of Jehoshaphat—were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.[fn]

2Ch 21:3

2Ch 21:3Their father had given each of them valuable gifts of silver, gold, and costly items, and also some of Judah’s fortified towns. However, he designated Jehoram as the next king because he was the oldest.

2Ch 21:4

2Ch 21:4But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah.

2Ch 21:5

2Ch 21:5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.

2Ch 21:6

2Ch 21:6But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the LORD’s sight.

2Ch 21:7

2Ch 21:7But the LORD did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.

2Ch 21:8

2Ch 21:8During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king.

2Ch 21:9

2Ch 21:9So Jehoram went out with his full army and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he went out at night and attacked them[fn] under cover of darkness.

2Ch 21:10

2Ch 21:10Even so, Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time. All this happened because Jehoram had abandoned the LORD, the God of his ancestors.

2Ch 21:11

2Ch 21:11He had built pagan shrines in the hill country of Judah and had led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to give themselves to pagan gods and to go astray.

2Ch 21:12

2Ch 21:12Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter: “This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: You have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or your grandfather King Asa of Judah.

2Ch 21:13

2Ch 21:13Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you.

2Ch 21:14

2Ch 21:14So now the LORD is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives, and all that is yours with a heavy blow.

2Ch 21:15

2Ch 21:15You yourself will suffer with a severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels come out.”

2Ch 21:16

2Ch 21:16Then the LORD stirred up the Philistines and the Arabs, who lived near the Ethiopians,[fn] to attack Jehoram.

2Ch 21:17

2Ch 21:17They marched against Judah, broke down its defenses, and carried away everything of value in the royal palace, including the king’s sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Ahaziah,[fn] was spared.

2Ch 21:18

2Ch 21:18After all this, the LORD struck Jehoram with the severe intestinal disease.

2Ch 21:19

2Ch 21:19The disease grew worse and worse, and at the end of two years it caused his bowels to come out, and he died in agony. His people did not build a great funeral fire to honor him as they had done for his ancestors.

2Ch 21:20

2Ch 21:20Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Masoretic Text reads of Israel; also in 21:4. The author of Chronicles sees Judah as representative of the true Israel. (Some Hebrew manuscripts, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate read of Judah.)
Or he went out and escaped. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Hebrew the Cushites.
Hebrew Jehoahaz, a variant spelling of Ahaziah; compare 22:1.
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