II CHRONICLES CHAPTER 15 - 21

2 CHRONICLES 15

1 The Spirit of Ælohim came
On Azariah son in fame
Of Oded. 2 And he went to meet
Asa, and said to him in bleat,
“Hear me, Asa, and all Judah
And Benjamin; YHWH’s with your paw
As long as you are on His side,
And if you search Him out, he’ll bide,
But if you forsake Him He will
Forsake you also to the swill.
3 “Now for a long time Israel
Has been without true Ælohim,
And without a priest teaching well,
And without the law it would seem.
4 “But when they in their trouble turned
To YHWH Israel’s Ælohim spurned,
And sought Him, He was found by them.
5 “And in those times there was no peace
To him that went out, nor release
To him who came in, but the stem
Of great vexations on all dwellers
Of every land, buyers and sellers.
6 “And nation was destroyed by nation,
And city by city in station:
For Ælohim vexed them to death.
7 “So be strong, and don’t let your breath
Be weak in your hands, for your labour
Shall be rewarded before neighbour.”

Even good kings need sometimes to declare
Their faith in prophets come to them to bear
A message of reform. Though heart may be
Perfect to You, the land is filled with scree.
There’s always idol worship on the hill
If one just looks about the things that spill.
But prophets do not gloat on history,
Nor do they flatter temple spires to see,
But show that success in faith is to call
On You alone, Beloved, whether in hall
Of king or in the humble stable door.
The true faith’s not the building and the store,
But waiting now upon the One who shows
That You alone open the gate and close.

8 And when Asa heard these words, and
The prophecy at Oded’s hand,
The prophet, he took courage, and
Cast out abominations’ band
From all the land of Judah and
Benjamin, and out of the towns
That he’d taken from Ephraim’s downs,
And renovated YHWH’s altar
That was before YHWH’s porch and star.
9 And he gathered all Judah and
Benjamin, and strangers in band
With them out of Ephraim and
Manasseh, and from Simeon:
For they fell to him by the ton
From Israel, when they saw that
YHWH his Ælohim kept him fat.
10 So they gathered themselves together
At Jerusalem in the weather
Of the third month, in fifteenth year
Since reign of Asa did appear.
11 They offered to YHWH the same time,
Some of the spoil they’d brought in dime,
Seven hundred oxen to keep
As well as seven thousand sheep.
12 And they joined in a pact to seek
YHWH Ælohim of their dads’ cheek
With all their heart and all their soul,
13 So anyone who would not seek
YHWH Israel’s Ælohim for toll
Should be killed, whether small or great,
Whether man or woman in state.
14 And they swore to YHWH with a loud
Voice, and with shouting, and with cloud
Of trumpets, and with cornets’ grate.

Religious freedom’s not a value lent
To Asa’s folk, instead they came and spent
Their thousands to renew the covenant
And slay any who opposed with a sign
Of reason that Baal was the one in line
Who made the rain to rise up from the sea
By the warmth of the sun in canopy.
So rage of the religion came to stand
Against the scientific thought and planned,
And set the precedent that aftertimes
Saw Galileo threatened by the rhymes
Of flame in persecution for his moon
Shadows instead of sun-god wakened soon.
Religious freedom is never a boon.

15 And all Judah rejoiced to know
The oath, since they had sworn to show
With all their heart, and sought Him by
Their whole desire; and with a cry
They found Him, and YHWH gave them rest
All round about and at His best.
16 Also concerning Maachah mum
Of King Asa, he threw her bum
Out from being queen, since she’d made
An idol in a grove and glade:
And Asa cut her idol down,
And trampled it about the town,
And burnt it at the brook Kidron.
17 But the high places were not taken
Away from Israel and forsaken:
But still Asa’s heart perfect stays
Always and throughout all his days.
18 And he brought in Ælohim’s house
The things his father had in blouse
As holy, silver, gold and pots
All set out in their rows and lots.
19 And there was no more war until
The thirty-fifth year of the mill
Of Asa’s reign on Zion’s hill.

Was not one of Your own commandments given
That mom and dad be ever loved and shriven?
Yet here Asa comes out and comes fair driven
To disrespect his mother’s faith and pile.
I’ll have to ponder that stake for a while.
He deposed his own mother from the throne,
And cut her god down and left her alone.
Perhaps You think he showed respect in not
Cutting her neck off at her beauty-spot.
Be so or not, I follow in the wake
Of Asa and strike down the gods I make
Myself or any others in my way
Until the police catch my roundelay.
I take a barren shore twixt hill and lake.

2 CHRONICLES 16

1 In the thirty-sixth year of reign
Of Asa Baasha king in strain
Of Israel came to attack
Judah and built Ramah in back
So as not to let anyone
Go out or come in with a gun
To Asa king of Judah’s dun.
2 So Asa brought out silver, gold
From YHWH’s treasure house to be sold
From the king’s house and sent and told
To Benhadad, Syria’s king,
Who lived in Damascus, saying,
3 “There is a treaty between me
And you, as there was in the spree
Of my dad and your dad, and see
I have sent you silver and gold,
So go, break your treaty of old
With Baasha king of Israel,
So he may give me peace a spell.”
4 And Benhadad obeyed the king
Asa, and sent the chiefs in ring
Of his armies against the towns
Of Israel; and they like clowns
Attacked Ijon, Dan, Abelmaim,
And all the store cities in name
Of Naphtali and without shame.
5 It happened when Baasha heard that,
He quit building Ramah out flat,
And let his labour end in splat.
6 Then Asa the king took all Judah
And carried away the stones cruder
From Ramah, and the timber too
With which Baasha builded in crew,
And with them he built Geba too
As well as Mizpah beneath dew.

When Asa was too young to know the life
Of worldly wise, before he took a wife,
He opted to trust You, Beloved, and so
You blessed him when he’d come and when he’d go.
When Asa was an older man he found
It wise to cash in on accounts and sound
That wealth and his experience revealed
As how a man in his position steeled.
Beloved, though I am old, keep my heart young
To lust after the words come from Your tongue,
To trust in You alone and leave the rest
To find their way in palaces as guest
Or in the market, in the narrow town
Till You in Your grace to me once come down.

7 At that time Hanani the seer
Came to Asa king to appear
In Judah, and said to him, “Since
You depended on Syrian quince
And not on YHWH your Ælohim,
Therefore the army of the king
Of Syria escapes your wing.
8 “Were not the Ethiopians and
The Lubim a huge army band,
With very many chariots and
Horsemen? Yet, because you relied
On YHWH, He saved you from their side.
9 “For the eyes of YHWH run about
The whole world to show Himself stout
In their behalf whose heart is right
Perfect toward Him in His sight.
In this you did a foolish thing,
Therefore from now on you will spring
From war to war in wandering.”
10 Asa was angry with the seer,
And put him in a prison gear,
For rage against him and for this.
And Asa crushed some people too
At the same time he came in view.
11 And see, the acts of Asa, first
And last, indeed are they as durst
Written in the book of the kings
Of Judah and Israel as brings.
12 And Asa in year thirty-nine
Of his reign was weak in his line
Of feet, until his sickness sore,
Yet in his sickness and his store
He did not turn to YHWH, instead
He went to the doctors for bread.
13 And Asa slept dead with his dads,
And died in his bed on his pads
In year forty-one of his reign.
14 They buried him in his own tomb
That he’d made for himself for room
In David’s city, and lay down
In bed filled with sweet smells’ renown
And varied spices made by art
Of the perfumer and to start
They made a burning great and strong
For his honour and all along.

I still suspect physicians can do well,
Although it may have been a different spell
In Asa’s day. And yet I find my way
In that each time the doctor comes to stay
With few exceptions I just get to pay
With no relief for pains or illness spent.
Avoid like plague the doctor and find health
And lesser drain upon the pocket’s wealth.
Beloved, while taking antibiotics
That were given by the physician’s tricks,
I still turn back to You who heal and strike
The human heart with everything You like.
Beloved, Asa was unwise at the fall,
But let me be wiser and miss the call.

2 CHRONICLES 17

1 Jehoshaphat his son instead
Reigned, and established himself bred
Against Israel. 2 And he placed arms
In all fortified towns’ alarms
Of Judah, and set garrisons
In Judah’s land for benisons,
And in the towns of Ephraim,
Which his dad Asa’d taken grim.
3 And YHWH was with Jehoshaphat,
Because he acted plutocrat
After the manner of his dad
David, not seeking Baalim bad.
4 For to his father’s Ælohim
He did according to the scheme
Of His commandments and not after
The acts of Israel in rafter.
5 That’s why YHWH set his kingdom up
In his strength, and each Judah’s tup
Brought presents to Jehoshaphat
And he had wealth upon his mat
And honour and glory out flat.
6 His heart was lifted up in ways
Of YHWH, and he removed the praise
Of the high places and the groves
From Judah in both hills and coves.

The heart of dear Jehoshaphat was raised
To You above, Beloved, and so he praised
Your name in all he did and all he saw.
He lived a daily life of prayer and awe.
He tore down from the hills of holy site
The idols’ high places and groves where might
The people dance and prance in heathen joy
To find the sun to rise and to employ
Its beams in making rain to Baal’s consent.
He ploughed down pseudo-scientific vent.
Beloved, as I sit king in my own plot,
Let me pluck up the idols that I’ve got
And praise Your name in quiet acts and true
Until I find the blessed vision of You.

7 Also in third year of his reign
He sent to his princes in vein
To Benhail, and to Obadiah,
And also unto Zechariah,
And to Nethaneel, and Michaiah,
To teach in Judah’s towns and nigh her.
8 And with them Levites, as Shemaiah,
And Nethaniah, Zebadiah,
And Asahel, Shemiramoth,
And Jehonathan, and in troth
One Adonijah, and Tobijah,
And also one Tobadonijah,
Levites, and with them Elishama
And Jehoram, priests to be gamer.
9 And they taught in Judah, and had
The book of YHWH’s law in their pad,
And went around through all the towns
Of Judah, and taught folk in gowns.
10 The fear of YHWH fell upon all
The kingdoms of the lands in thrall
That were around Judah, so that
They battled not Jehoshaphat.
11 Also some of the Philistines
Brought to Jehoshaphat on tines
Tribute in silver, and Arabs
Brought flocks to him and as with stabs
Seven thousand seven hundred rams,
Seven thousand seven hundred goats’ hams.
12 Jehoshaphat waxed great and tall,
And he built palaces withal
In Judah and cities of store.

The greatest treasure of the king I see
Is not the tribute and the gifts in fee,
Is not the great cities, is not their store,
Is not the fortress of impeding door,
But rather is the book, the lovely book
The Levites taught the people where to look,
And above all the book itself that awe
That rose in every heart to hear the law.
I too, Beloved, take on that treasure here
In my own inner chamber when I hear
The springing words gush up before my ear,
And find the ten commandments became dear.
In all I do I pray my hand may find
The promises of Your law on my mind.

13 And he had business what is more
In Judah’s cities: men of war,
Great men of courage in the town
Jerusalem when he came down.
14 These are the numbers of the men
According to the house and glen
Of their ancestors: Judah’s count,
The chiefs of thousands in amount,
Adnah the first, and with him men
Of might and courage come again
To three hundred thousand in pen.
15 And next to him Jehohanan
The captain, and with him in hand
Two hundred and eighty thousand.
16 And next to him was Amasiah
The son of Zichri, who was higher
To offer himself unto YHWH,
And with him also there were two
Hundred thousand great men in crew.
17 And of Benjamin: Eliada
A man of great courage in awe,
And with him men armed with the bow
And shield two hundred thousand go.
18 And next to him Jehozabad,
And with him a hundred in scad
And eighty thousand ready for
The preparation of the war.
19 These stood before the king besides
Those which the king set with their brides
In towns throughout all Judah’s rides.

Though my name is not Amasiah I
Am son of Zichri too upon the fly.
A son of Your remembrance, so I make
A membrance of Your name and for Your sake.
I open up the Four Books and I stroke
The sweet words and the solemn like an oak,
The words of warning and the words of blame,
Anon I hang my head for utter shame,
Anon I weep to find my name is writ
Among trangressors for the place I sit,
Anon I raise my hope and voice of joy
To see the spires of David and employ
My quaver in the cantillation’s sound
That tinkles out upon the barren ground.

2 CHRONICLES 18

1 Jehoshaphat had wealth and glitter
And joined Ahab through marriage bitter.
2 At end of years he went down to
Ahab in Samarian view.
And Ahab killed sheep, oxen too
For him in abundance and view,
And for the folk he had in crew,
And talked him into going up
To Ramothgilead to sup.
3 And Ahab king of Israel
Said to Jehoshaphat king swell
Of Judah, “Will you go with me
To Ramothgilead on spree?”
He answered him, “You and I see
Are one as are our people free,
And with you in the fight’s degree.”
4 Jehoshaphat said to the king
Of Israel, “Enquire a thing,
Please, at the word of YHWH today.”
5 So Israel’s king summoned to play
Four hundred prophets gone astray,
And asked them, “Shall we go to war
In Ramothgilead’s land or
Shall I hold back?” And they said “Go
Up, for Ælohim’s come to show
The victory at the king’s blow.”
6 Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not
A prophet of YHWH yet unsought,
That we may ask of him the plot?”
7 The king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, “There’s still one gnu
By whom we may enquire of YHWH,
But I hate him, because he’s not
Prophesied good to me a lot,
But always evil, and his name
Is Micaiah, Imla’s son’s fame.”
Jehoshaphat said “Let not speak
The king suspiciously this week.”

The concept of prophecy was the thing
That made Ahab unhappy as a king.
Today we think of prophecy as such
That will predict the future with a touch.
But then the prophets all spoke out their spell
To mark the future fate of Israel.
So any who spoke out against the word
Were held as traitors to the wicked spurred.
Beloved, I cast my spell upon my heart
And prophesy in hope my future part
To be the loving living sacrifice
That stands before Your throne, though none suffice
To praise Your name, Creator of all things
Found in this universe of wanderings.

8 The king of Israel summoned then
One of his officers and men
And said “Bring quickly down again
Micaiah son of Imla’s den.”
9 The king of Israel and king
Jehoshaphat of Judah’s wing
Sat each upon his throne and dressed
In royal robes by the compressed
Gate of Samaria, and all
The prophets prophesied on call.
10 And Zedekiah who was son
Of Chenaanah had made to stun
Him horns of iron, and had begun
To say “So says YHWH, ‘With these you
Will push on Syria in view
Until you consume all their crew.’”
11 And all the prophets prophesied
In the same way, saying in pride,
“Go up to Ramothgilead,
And succeed, for YHWH is not sad
To set it in the king’s hand clad.”
12 The messenger that went to call
Micaiah spoke to him as tall,
Saying “See all the prophets’ words
Are in favour of the king’s curds,
Let your words be like one of theirs
And speak good of the king’s affairs.”
13 And Micaiah said “As YHWH lives
Even what my Ælohim gives
I’ll speak, whatever the king cares.”
14 And when he came before the king,
The king said to him questioning,
“Micaiah, shall we go to battle
Against Ramothgilead’s cattle,
Or shall I yield?” And he said “Go
Up, and succeed, and they shall know
The heaviness your hand can show.”

The iron horns in prophecy reach back
To incantations magical in stack,
And reinforce the power the word should hold
Upon the royal army to be bold.
The iron horns were but a foolish ploy
To Your true prophet who came to enjoy
A cynical and rude word to the king,
And thought it funnier than anything.
Beloved, I joke and ridicule the great
Idols I see about me in the state
And in the industry that rose of late,
And in the wealth and fashion in their grate.
I tell them to buy more and then get fat
Upon the gym floor and exercise mat.

15 The king told him, “How many times
Must I tell you not to speak rhymes
But only the truth in my ear
In the name of YHWH for all fear?
16 Then he said, “I saw Israel
All scattered on mountain and fell
Like sheep without a shepherd’s spell,
And YHWH said ‘These have no chief here,
Let each return to his career.”
17 The king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, “Did I tell you
He would not prophesy the good
To me but evil in the wood?”
18 Again he said “Therefore hear now
The word of YHWH upon your brow.
I saw YHWH sitting on his throne,
And all the host of heaven alone
On His right hand and on His left.
19 “And YHWH said ‘What man shall be deft
Seducing Ahab Israel’s king,
So he may go and have a fling
At Ramothgilead?’ And one
Said one announcement as in fun,
Another made a different pun.
20 “Then came a spirit out and stood
Before YHWH, and he said ‘I could
Seduce him.’ And YHWH said to him,
‘How will you do it and be trim?’
21 “And he said ‘I will go and be
A lying spirit on the fee
Of all his prophets.’ So He said
‘You shall seduce him, be well-sped.’
22 “So see, YHWH’s put a lying ghost
In the mouth of the prophet host,
And YHWH’s spoken against your boast.”

If You do not (a thing I doubt) have any
Sense of humour, Your prophet’s worth a penny
On that score. Let me rest my heaving sides
And wipe the flowing tears as he derides
The many prophets of establishment.
Who stands alone jokes in the royal tent.
A lying spirit, to be true, I trow
That lying angels are here anyhow
To tell the bishop and the president
Lies for their policies in what they’ve spent.
Beloved, send out Your lying spirit now
And stir the people with a loyal row,
And I shall laugh as prophet at Your word
Or then go down to gaol for what occurred.

23 Then Zedekiah who was son
Of Chenaanah came near to stun
Micaiah on the cheek, and said
“Which way did YHWH’s spirit once fled
From me go to wake you instead?”
24 Micaiah said “See now, you’ll know
Upon the day when you shall go
Into a closet to be hidden.”
25 Then the king of Israel unbidden
Said “Take Micaiah, carry him
Back to Amon who’s the judge grim
Of the city, and to Joash
The king’s son, and keep him in stash.
26 “And say ‘So says the king, “Put this
Guy in the prison not to miss
Bread of affliction and the kiss
Of bitter water till I come
In peace and having battles won.”’”
27 Micaiah said “If you return
In peace, then YHWH’s not made me learn.”
And he said “Folks, note well my turn.”

See there, Beloved, if any man make dare
To speak the truth before the king, beware,
He’ll soon be thrown out on his fear and wear
The strippèd prison garb and breath its air.
See there, Beloved, what did I tell You when
You thought I should speak up to mortal men?
I speak indeed, and wait the fatal thrust
To put an end to everything I trust.
I take heart nonetheless in Ahab’s call
To battle and to death in royal hall.
And yet I tell You this, when You have one
King slain, another wicked one in ton
Rises to take his place. So prison shun.
There’s always some fat calf hid in the stall.

28 Israel’s king and Jehoshaphat
King of Judah went up for spat
To Ramothgilead in hat.
29 The king of Israel then told
Jehoshaphat, “I’ll not be bold
Disguising myself, but will go
Into the battle without show.
But you, put on your royal tow.”
So Israel’s king disguised himself,
And went to battle like an elf.
30 The king of Syria commanded
The chiefs of chariots that landed
With him, and said “Now do not fight
With small or great upon the site,
But only with king Israelite.”
31 It happened when the captains of
The chariots saw as above
Jehoshaphat, they said for love,
“That’s Israel’s king.” And so they went
Around him for the fight as sent,
Jehoshaphat shouted aloud,
And YHWH helped him out of the crowd
And Ælohim moved them in cloud.
32 It happened when the captains of
The chariots noticed the glove
Was not the king of Israel,
They turned back from the fight as well.
33 But a man drew a bow by chance,
And struck the king of Israel’s glance
Between the armour and breastplate,
So he told chariot-driver mate,
“Turn aside to carry me out
Of the army, I’m wounded stout.”
34 The battle then increased that day,
But Israel’s king just had to stay
Up in his chariot from the fray
Against the Syrians till the day
Was ended, and as sun went down
He died and so he lost the crown.

The shout of king Jehoshaphat to You
Resulted in Your saving him from crew
Of Syrian. But Ahab to his fate
Was true despite disguising of the mate.
I do not say Your word is fateful and
Not to be avoided by any hand,
But I say that Ahab, forgetting all
The faith he should have had in You to call
Worked out his own destruction by the way
He rushed in disobedience to play.
Jehoshaphat was safe despite his going
To battles futile because of his knowing
Your prophet’s word would bless him with a shout
When enemies would compass him about.

2 CHRONICLES 19

1 Jehoshaphat king of Judah
Went back to his house in the raw
To rest in fair Jerusalem.
2 And Jehu son of Hanani
The seer went out to meet his hem,
And said to king Jehoshaphat,
“Should you help the ungodly rat,
And love those who hate YHWH thereby?
That’s why anger upon you came
From before YHWH, so be in shame.
3 “But there are good things found in you,
Since you took out the groves from view
Upon the land, and yet prepared
Your heart to seek Ælohim bared.”
4 Jehoshaphat stayed in the town
Jerusalem, and then went down
Again through the folk from the crown
Beersheba to Mount Ephraim,
And brought them to YHWH Ælohim
Of their ancestors then in dream.
5 And he set judges in the land
Through all the fortified towns’ band
Of Judah, town by town to stand.
6 And told the judges, “Take care what
You do, because you are not shut
To judge for man, but YHWH instead,
Who is with you in judgement led.
7 “Wherefore now let the fear of YHWH
Be on you, be careful to do,
For no iniquity with YHWH
Our Ælohim, nor does He take
Into consideration stake
Of who is who, nor receive bribes
From anyone among the tribes.”

It was presumptuous of the king to go
And help the godless put on faithless show.
Despite the flattery that Ahab laid
On young Jehoshaphat he should have paid
Better attention to the prophet’s warning.
So divine threatening met him on the morning.
Jehoshaphat met chiding with the head
Bent and his lips in silence told his dread.
He made atonement for the thing when he
Warned all his judges that they judged in fee
Of You alone, and so to do the right.
So king Jehoshaphat did with his might
To fix the errors of his youthful heart.
Beloved, let me also do all my part.

8 Moreover in Jerusalem
Jehoshaphat set up the hem
Of the Levites, and of the priests,
And of the chief of fathers’ feasts
Of Israel, for YHWH’s judgment,
And controversies, when they went
Back to Jerusalem unspent.
9 And he commanded them, and said
“So shall you do in fear instead
Of YHWH, in faithfulness your part
And with a perfect, loving heart.
10 “And whatever issue shall rise
To you from your brothers in guise
Who live in their cities, among
Blood kin as touching law and sung
Commandment, statute and judgement,
You shall warn them not to consent
In wickedness done against YHWH
So that His anger fall on you
And on your brothers, and so do
And you shall not trespass the due.
11 “And see, Amariah the chief
Priest is over you in relief
Of all matters of YHWH, and yet
Zebadiah the son well-met
Of Ishmael, the ruler of
The house of Judah, for the love
Of all the king’s matters: also
The Levites shall be chiefs to go
Before you. Take courage and show,
And YHWH shall be with the good row.”

The faithful and the true in Your own tent
Need those to solve their conflicts when they’re spent.
It is a lovely thought that there might be
No conflicts at all in the Holy See,
And yet the best of men are quick to fall
Into a quarrel as soon as in stall.
Even a gelding has a nasty bite
If he thinks people’s manner is to slight.
Beloved, I do not hang my head in shame
That I too need the Levite in the game
And the high priest to give him some advice
On how to deal with me and my foe’s dice.
It’s just the way that You once stopped to make
Human kind fearfully, wonderfully drake.

2 CHRONICLES 20

1 It happened after this also,
The children of Moab below,
The children of Ammon, as well
As those beside Ammonites dwell,
Came to attack Jehoshaphat.
2 Then came and told Jehoshaphat
Some saying “There comes a great mat
Of people against you beyond
The sea this side of Syrian pond,
And see, they’re in Hazazontamar,
Which is Engedi for inflamer.”
3 Jehoshaphat then was afraid,
And made himself seek YHWH and prayed,
Proclaimed a fast through all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered in the raw
Petitioning YHWH from the straw
Of all the cities of Judah,
They came seeking YHWH all with awe.

With prayer and fasting king Jehoshaphat
Meets the crisis of this or even that.
The coming of the Ammonitic crew,
And Moabites who joined them in the pew,
Was frightening no doubt to one and each,
And feathered out fear as far as could reach.
With prayer and fasting that good king of old
Gave precedent to what was later told
To be the righteous way in the Qur’an,
Where prayer and fasting make up half the plan.
Beloved, I pray to You prostrating where
The thousands of feet every day with care
Surround Your house, and on the month that’s true,
I’ve also fasted in my praise to You.

5 Jehoshaphat stood in assembly
Of Judah’s Jerusalem, trembly
In YHWH’s house, before the new court,
6 And said, “YHWH Ælohim report
Of our ancestors, are You not
Huu Ælohim of heavenly spot?
And do You not rule over all
The kingdoms of the heathen thrall?
And in Your hand is power and might,
So none can withstand You in sight?
7 “Are You not our Ælohim wight,
Who drove out the inhabitants
Of this land before all Your grants
To Israel’s folk, and gave it to
The descendants of Your friend true
Abraham for all time and due?
8 “And they lived there and built for You
A sanctuary where Your name
Stands ever and always in fame,
Saying 9 “’If, evil on us falling,
The sword, judgement or plague for calling,
Or famine, we stand by this place
And in Your presence, by Your face,
For Your name appears in this space,
And beg you in affliction’s trace,
Then You will hear and help this race.’
10 “And now, see Ammon’s children and
Moab and Mount Seir in band,
Whom You’d not let Israel lay hand
Upon them, when they came to stand
From Egypt, but they then turned back
And did not come to their attack,
11 “See now how they give our reward
To come and throw us out with sword
From Your possession that You gave
To us to keep with mace and glaive.
12 “O our Ælohim, will You not
Judge them? For we’ve no power in plot
Against this great band that have sought
To come attacking us, nor do
We know what plan to take, but still
Our eyes are on You and Your skill.”

The ancient prayers of Judah, Israel,
Are often made in lists as though in spell
Of how You once in past days dropped the foe
Surprised in his defeat though fast or slow.
And so Jehoshaphat now prayers to You
And hopes that You’ll once more know what to do.
The trust that he expresses in his prayer
Is penetrating and inspires to share.
Beloved, I live among the enemy
Who claim to serve You, though they serve the tree
Of execution and ignore Your law.
I trust You to deliver from their claw.
The Exodus is not the only time
Your hand was raised above evil and clime.

13 And all Judah stood before YHWH,
And with their little ones there too,
Their wives, and their children in crew.
14 Then on Jahaziel the son
Of Zechariah, who’s the son
Of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel,
The son of Mattaniah’s trail,
A Levite of Asaph’s sons, came
The Spirit of YHWH in the fame
Of the assembly without shame.
15 And he said, “Listen, Judah all,
And who fill Jerusalem’s hall,
And you, O king Jehoshaphat,
So says YHWH to you, ‘Don’t be flat
With fear nor dismayed by this great
Crowd of armed men, because the fate
Of battle is not yours but that
Of Ælohim, who’s got it pat.
16 ‘Tomorrow go down to attack
Them, see, they come up by the slack
Cliff of Ziz, and you’ll find there where
The book ends before desert bare
Of Jeruel. 17 You shall not fight
This, but stand in array,
And be still to see the display
Of YHWH’s salvation on your day,
O Judah and Jerusalem,
Do not be afraid, in dismay,’
Tomorrow go and attack them,
For YHWH will help you all the way.”

I wait a prophet with an angel’s word
To tell me to go out and undeterred
Fight those who draw up to attack the way
That I would live according to the day
And light I find in Decalogue preferred.
I wait a prophet with a hand filled to
The overflowing with armaments true
To strike down the false argument with power
That would disdain my coming at this hour
To stand in faithfulness here before You.
Beloved, the army of the king that time
Had mandate from Your hand, it was no crime
To kill the enemy. Now that Your voice
Is silent, does any man have a choice?

18 Jehoshaphat bowed down his head
With his face to the ground outspread:
And all Judah and those who dwelt
Within Jerusalem heart-felt
Fell before YHWH and worshipped YHWH.
19 And the Levites, children and true
Of Kohathites, and of the sons
Of the Korhites, stood up in tons
To praise YHWH Israel’s Ælohim
With a loud voice on high and beam.
20 So they rose early in the morn
And went out in the desert’s scorn
Call Tekoa, and as they went,
Jehoshaphat stood and word lent,
“Hear me, O Judah and you who
Dwell in Jerusalem, full crew:
Believe in YHWH your God, and you
Shall be established, and believe
His prophets, and you shall receive
Prosperity.” 21 And when he’d made
Agreement with the folk obeyed,
He set up who should sing to YHWH,
And who should praise the beauty due
His holiness, as they went out
Before the army with a shout,
“Praise YHWH, for His mercy’s always.”

I take the military action here
As normative, even in face of fear.
The people all fell on their faces and
Prayed in prostration in a holy band,
And then they went out led by prophets who
Were cantillating Scripture in a crew.
When I see armies prostrating upon
The desert sand and blowing on the dawn,
And then rising to cantillate with voice
The lovely Scriptures beautiful and choice,
Then I know I have joined an army just,
And not one to be trampled in the dust.
Beloved, look around with heart courageous
And see that all armies now are outrageous.

22 When they began to sing and to praise,
YHWH set ambushes in the ways
Of the people of Ammon, and
Of Moab, and Mount Seir’s land,
Who had come against Judah, and
They were defeated at their hand.
23 The people of Ammon, Moab
Stood up against dwellers not drab
Of Mount Seir, completely to kill
And destroy, and when to their fill
They finished with dwellers of Seir,
They killed each other in their fear.
24 When Judah came near the watch tower
In the desert, and looked for power
At the crowd, see, they were all dead
Corpses upon the ground instead,
And none escaped that slaughter dread.
25 And when Jehoshaphat with folk
Can to take out the spoils in poke,
They found a lot of wealth and jewels
With the dead bodies of the fools,
Which they stripped off to keep but there
Was more than they could even bear
Away and so it took them three
Days to collect abundant fee.

Set ambushes, Beloved, for enemy
That set themselves in traps surrounding me.
Set ambushes, Beloved, as I raise high
The Psalms of David up into the sky
With melodies long written in their seam,
Set ambushes, Beloved and Ælohim.
If You could work in days of long ago
With sword of word and sword of harp below,
Work now once more as I recoup the loss
That evil song and dance have turned in dross
Among those who claim to praise holy name
Of Sovereign and Creator for a game,
And I will sing aloud once more the song
Of David Your Beloved, and sing it long.

26 On the fourth day they came together
In Berachah’s valley and weather,
And there they blessed YHWH, so the name
Of the same place was called in fame
The Valley of Berachah till
Today and it’s a blessing still.

The year and season both begin it seems
On the fourth day, and form a feast of dreams.
The watching of the moon was not a thing
Set up from the beginning for a spring,
But only taught the priestly round to go
In cycles just and measured for the row,
Inherited at last by Muslim rate
To find the time of fasting and the gate
Of pilgrimage to Makkah for a blessing.
The year and season do not start with guessing
Of months added or subtracted from view.
Adamic and Enochic ways are true
To bring the troubled soul and that that’s won
Before Your throne, Beloved, before they’re done.

27 Then they went back to house and hem
Of Judah and Jerusalem,
Jehoshaphat went at the fore
Back to Jerusalem with joy;
For YHWH had made them to rejoice
Over their enemies and voice.
28 And they came to Jerusalem
With psalteries and harps and gem
Of trumpets to the house of YHWH.
29 And fear of Ælohim then grew
On all the kingdoms and the crew
Of those lands, when they heard that YHWH
Fought against Israel’s enemies.
30 Jehoshaphat’s land then had peace,
For his Ælohim gave him rest
All around about him for zest.

Peace or Islam exists it seems to me
Only after the battle and the spree,
Only after prostration on the ground,
After the fasting and the trumpet sound,
After the cantillation of Your Word,
And only then are troubled hearts bestirred.
Beloved, bestir me too to peace in You,
To prayer and fasting instead of the pew
Where rock and roll speak of the sacrifice
Of divine sons that for all sins suffice.
Then I shall know that peace that passes all
Understanding upon the market mall,
And find the stillness of the mosque within
The place where righteousness overcomes sin.

31 Jehoshaphat ruled Judah then:
Thirty and five years old he was when
He started to reign, and he reigned
Twenty and five years and he deigned
To reside in Jerusalem.
And his mother’s name for a gem
Was Azubah the daughter of
Shilhi a man of grace and love.
32 He walked in the way of Asa
His father, not departing a’
To do right in the sight of YHWH,
In everything he had in view.
33 Yet the high places were not taken
Away: for as yet the folk shaken
Had not prepared their hearts unto
Ælohim of their fathers due.
34 The other acts Jehoshaphat
Did, first and last, see, they are at
The book of Jehu the son of
Hanani, who’s mentioned above
In book of Israel’s kings to love.

Though the king was faithful to You alone,
The people did not follow royal throne,
But sought the high places where they could frolic
In heathen music’s dance and alcoholic.
Though the king was faithful, not every hand
Was turned to righteousness throughout the land.
Some found the idol’s call, though dumb and brief,
A greater siren beyond joy and grief
That summons to the temple where the art
Spoke only of You and Your sovereign part.
Beloved, I turn the high places in score
Over and set the groves that often bore
Their heathen fruit in my ways out to show
Only faith in You, my Beloved, below.

35 And after this Jehoshaphat
King of Judah joined himself at
Ahaziah king of Israel,
Who did much evil in his spell.
36 He joined with him to make some ships
To go to Tarshish: they made the ships
In Eziongeber without slips.
37 Then Eliezer who was son
Of Dodavah of Mareshah
Made prophecy against the one
Jehoshaphat, saying, “Since you
Joined with Ahaziah, now YHWH
Has broken your works, and the ships
Were broken up, despite their wish
They could not travel to Tarshish.”

I too have built ships in my callow youth
And in my age also, to tell the truth,
And found that when I built them with another
They always sank and left my plans to smother.
I only find success, Beloved, when I
Come single and alone beneath the sky
To taste the sweetness of Your word and power.
I only find success within Your hour.
I build my ship alone as Noah did
And leave the world to walk away and bid
On what it will of coal and coke and rid
Myself of every chain and binding rope.
The only thing that binds me as I grope
Is love to You, Beloved. I seek Your tower.

2 CHRONICLES 21

1 Jehoshaphat slept with his dads,
And he was buried in the pads
Of his ancestors in the town
Of David, city of renown.
2 His kinfolk Jehoshaphat’s sons,
Azariah, Jehiel’s runs,
And Zechariah, Azariah,
Michael, as well as Shephatiah,
All these were Jehoshaphat’s sons,
The king of Israel’s in their tons.
3 And their father gave them great gifts
Of silver, and of gold in shrifts,
And of precious things, fortified
Cities in Judah, but the tried
Kingdom he gave to Jehoram
Because he was the firstborn lamb.
4 Now when Jehoram was set up
In his dad’s kingdom like a tup,
He strengthened himself and he killed
All his brothers by the sword filled,
Also princes of Israel’s cup.
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years
Old when began his reign of tears,
He ruled Jerusalem eight years.
6 He walked the path of Israel’s kings,
As did the house of Ahab’s wings,
He took Ahab’s daughter as wife,
And did evil in YHWH’s sight rife.
7 But YHWH would not destroy the house
Of David, because of the souse
Of treaty He’d made with David,
And since He’d promised that no lid
Should snuff out the light wherein hid
David and his sons for the bid
Of all time under nibbling mouse.

As much as I love David’s house, I say,
That Jehoram had every cause to pay.
People and kings are not bees that they should
Be killed by the first-born queen bee that could.
Or else they are. You are the one Creator
Who made the mess of wicked mill and satyr.
And yet I do not know which was the worse,
To kill his brothers or to take for curse
To wife the daughter of Ahab in spell,
The spawn of wicked, raving Jezebel.
Beloved, I see the track of many kings
And dynasties, and all go round in rings
Of murder of the fittest and the best.
I leave to You to straighten up the rest.

8 In his days Edomites revolted,
From under the dominion bolted
From Judah, made themselves a king.
9 Then Jehoram went out on wing
With his chiefs, all his chariots,
And he got up, went out at night
To the attack of Edomite,
And they in turn surrounded him
And chiefs of his chariots with vim.
10 So Edomites revolted from
Under the hand of Judah come
Until today. The same time too
Libnah revolted from his due,
Because he had forsaken YHWH
His fathers’ Ælohim and true.
11 He also made high places in
The mountains of Judah to win
The dwellers of Jerusalem
To fornication’s stratagem,
And forced Judah to kiss his hem.
12 A letter came from Elijah
The prophet, saying with éclat
To him, “Thus says YHWH God of your
Father David, ‘Since you are poor
At following your fathers’ path,
Jehoshaphat’s and Asa’s math,
Kings of Judah, 13 “But you have walked
In the way kings of Israel balked,
And made Judah and dwellers of
Jersualem to whoring’s love
Like the whoredoms of Ahab’s house,
Killed also your brothers like grouse,
Your brothers of your father’s house,
Who were better than you, a mouse,
14 “See, with a great plague YHWH will strike
Your people and your children like
Your wives and all your goods in store.
15 “And you shalt have great sickness more
By the disease of your intestines,
Until intestines as it destines
Fall out because of the disease
From day to day and without ease.’”

The king may well have led the folk astray,
But it was still so in his father’s day
That people joined the heathen dance and thrill
On every high place and on every hill.
So let the plague fall on the people there
Who have so long joined in the pagan fair,
And let the earth be cleansed of every way
That tends to break Your Decalogue in sway.
I pace the rocky slopes Jerusalem
Offers beneath an azure sky and gem
And think how many heathenish broods’ churches
Still deck the land even without firs, birches.
The temple of my heart is passing fast,
But wroughten temples seem to last and last.

16 YHWH stirred up against Jehoram
The spirit of Philistines’ ram
And the Arabians nearby
The Ethiopians’ ally.
17 And they came up into Judah
And invaded it as by law,
And carried away all the things
Found in the king’s house and its wings,
And also his sons and his wives,
So there was not a son contrives
To be left to him except for
Jehoahaz, youngest son’s store.
18 After all this YHWH struck him in
His intestines, despite his sin,
With an incurable disease.
19 It came to pass then as time flees,
After two years his guts came out,
That’s what his sickness was about,
So he died in severest pain.
The people did not mourn in vain
For him by burning as they had
For his fathers who were not bad.
20 He was thirty-two years old when
He became king, ruled over men
Eight years in all over the city
Jerusalem. It was a pity
He did not turn out to become
Muhammad, the Desired in sum.
Still they interred him in the city
Of David but not in the graves
Reserved for kings with royal staves.

Down to Jehoram every king that reigned
Stepped on the throne amidst applause unfeigned,
As all awaited what might come to light
To show that he was One Desired to fight
Oppression and idolatry and so
Initiate completed faith. But no,
He too passed on to rest within the tomb,
Unmourned perhaps, and undesired till doom.
So David’s line continued on in hope,
A glimmer light for some while others grope
In heathen blindness till the time of glory
When Gabriel comes to bring the final story.
Beloved, how long we waited for one sent!
How quickly we turned back soon as he went!

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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