Jehoshaphat ruled in Judah

41 Before King Ahab died, when he had been ruling in Israel for four years, Asa’s son Jehoshaphat started to rule in Judah. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he started to rule, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 43 Jehoshaphat was a good king, just like his father Asa had been. He did things that pleased Yahweh. But while he was king, he did not remove all the pagan altars that the people had built on the hilltops. So the people continued to offer sacrifices to idols on those altars and burned incense there. 44 Jehoshaphat also made a peace agreement with the king of Israel.

45 All the other things that happened while Jehoshaphat was ruling, and the great things that he did and the victories his troops won, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’. 46 Jehoshaphat’s father Asa had tried to expel the male prostitutes that stayed at the pagan shrines, but some of them were still there. Jehoshaphat got rid of them.

47 At that time, there was no king in Edom; a ruler who had been appointed by Jehoshaphat ruled there.

48 Jehoshaphat ordered some Israeli men to build a fleet/group of ships to sail south to the Ophir region to get gold. But they were wrecked at Ezion-Geber/Elath, so the ships never sailed. 49 Before the ships were wrecked, Ahab’s son Ahaziah suggested to Jehoshaphat, “Allow my sailors to go with your sailors,” but Jehoshaphat refused.

50 When Jehoshaphat died, his body was buried where his ancestors were buried in Jerusalem, the city where King David had ruled. Then Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became king.