1. Jehoshaphat died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became king.
2. King Jehoshaphat had seven sons: Jehoram, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah.
3. Jehoshaphat gave each of them silver and gold, as well as other valuable gifts. He also put them in charge of the fortified cities in Judah, but he had chosen his eldest son Jehoram to succeed him as king.
4. After Jehoram had taken control of Judah, he had his brothers killed, as well as some of the nation's leaders.
5. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he ruled eight years from Jerusalem.
6. Jehoram married Ahab's daughter and followed the sinful example of Ahab's family and the other kings of Israel. He disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong,
7. but because the Lord had made a solemn promise to King David that someone from his family would always rule in Judah, he refused to wipe out David's descendants.
8. While Jehoram was king, the people of Edom rebelled and chose their own king.
9. Jehoram, his officers, and his cavalry marched to Edom, where the Edomite army surrounded them. He escaped during the night,
10. but Judah was never able to regain control of Edom. Even the town of Libnah rebelled at that time.Those things happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord, the God his ancestors had worshipped.
11. Jehoram even built local shrines in the hills of Judah and let the people sin against the Lord by worshipping foreign gods.
12. One day, Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet that said:I have a message for you from the Lord God your ancestor David worshipped. He knows that you have not followed the example of Jehoshaphat your father or Asa your grandfather.