1Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David, and his son Jehoram took over as king.

2His brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ⁵¹

3Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and valuable items, as well as the fortified towns in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

4But once Jehoram had secured the kingdom, he made sure of his position by killing all his brothers, along with some of the princes of Judah.

5Jehoram was thirty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.

6He followed the evil ways of the kings of Israel, and was as bad as Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab's daughters. He did evil in the Lord's sight.

7However, the Lord did not want to destroy David's line because of the agreement he had made with David, and he had promised that David's descendants would rule forever like an ever-burning lamp.

8During Jehoram's reign, Edom rebelled against Judah's rule and chose their own king.

9So Jehoram crossed into Edom with his officers and all his chariot army. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he broke through during the night. ⁵²

10From this time on Edom was in rebellion against Judah's rule, and remains so to this day. At the same time Libnah also rebelled against his rule, because he had abandoned the Lord, the God of his forefathers.

11He also built high places on the mountains of Judah; he made the people of Jerusalem unfaithful to God and led Judah away from him.

12Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet that said, “This is what the Lord, the God of David your forefather says, ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat, or Asa, king of Judah,

13but instead you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and have made the people of Jerusalem unfaithful, and the people of Jerusalem as unfaithful as the family of Ahab. You have even killed your brothers, your father's family, who were better than you.

14Watch out, for the Lord is going to hit your people hard—your sons, your wives, and all that you own.

15You yourself will be struck with a terrible illness—a disease of the bowels which will get worse day by day until they come out.’”

16The Lord stirred up the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabians (who live near the Ethiopians) against Jehoram.

17They came and invaded Judah, and took away everything they found in the king's palace, along with his sons and his wives, so that only the youngest son Jehoahaz ⁵³was left.

18After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with a disease of the bowels for which there was no cure.

19Day after day it grew worse, until after two full years passed his bowels came out because of his disease, and he died in agony. His people did not make a fire to honor him as they had done for his forefathers.

20Jehoram was thirty-two when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. When he died, no one mourned him. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal tombs.