2 *Chronicles 19

₁King Jehoshaphat came back safely to his palace in Jerusalem. He was fine. ₂Then the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, came to Jehoshaphat and said to him: ‘You went to help a man who had done wrong. You made friends with people who do not love the Lord. That is why the Lord is angry with you. ₃But you have also done good things. You have cut down the sacred_pillars in the land and you have really tried to serve the Lord.’

₄Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem but he went to all the people of Judah, from the town of Beersheba in the south to the mountains of Ephraim in the north, and he told the people to turn back to the Lord, the God of their forefathers. ₅He chose judges for all the towns and cities of Judah that had strong walls ₆and he told them: ‘You must be careful when you judge the people because it is the Lord who chose you to be judges. It was not people. The Lord will be with you when you must decide what is right and what is wrong. ₇You must honour the Lord and you must think before you say something because the Lord our God does not like someone who is unfair, someone who helps only his own people or someone who takes bribe money.’

₈Jehoshaphat also chose some Levites, priests and leaders of Israelite families in Jerusalem to help the judges decide what God said, and who was right or wrong when people argued with each other. The judges lived in Jerusalem. ₉Jehoshaphat said to them: ‘You must respect the Lord, you must do your work as He wants you to and you must do it with all your heart. ₁₀The Israelites who live in all the towns will come to you and they will ask you to say who is right and who is wrong. Maybe someone has killed another man or he has not done what the laws of God say. You must decide what to do and warn them not to sin_against the Lord, and then the Lord will not become angry with them or you. You must do your work as He says, and then you will not be guilty. ₁₁Remember, the high-priest Amariah is the leader when you need to decide about the things of God. Listen to him. Zebadiah, son of Ishmael, is the leader of the Judah tribe. He is the leader when you need to decide on things about the king. Listen to him. The Levites will help you. They will be the officials. You must be strong. The Lord will be with people who do right.’