2 by stationing troops in the fortified cities of Judah and placing soldiers throughout the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the earlier ways of his father by not seeking Baal.
4 Instead, he sought the God of his father, and unlike Israel, he followed God’s commandments.
5 The Lord gave him firm control over the kingdom, and all Judah brought Jehoshaphat tribute, so that he had abundant riches and honor.
6 Jehoshaphat took pride in the Lord’s ways and again removed the shrines and the sacred poles from Judah.
7 In the third year of his rule, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah.
8 They were accompanied by the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, and by the priests Elishama and Jehoram.