2 Chronicles 20:5–17

JEHOSHAPHAT’S PRAYER

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the Lord’s temple before the new courtyard. ⁶He said:

Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven,^q and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?^r Power and might are in your hand, and no one can stand against you. ⁷Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel^s and who gave it forever to the descendants of Abraham^t your friend? ⁸They have lived in the land and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name and have said, ⁹“If disaster comes on us—sword or judgment, pestilence or famine^u—we will stand before this temple and before you, for your name is in this temple.^v We will cry out to you because of our distress, and you will hear and deliver.”

¹⁰Now here are the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir.^w You did not let Israel invade them when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, but Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.^{x 11}Look how they repay us by coming to drive us out of your possession that you gave us as an inheritance. ¹²Our God, will you not judge them?^y For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you.^Ca

GOD’S ANSWER

¹³All Judah was standing before the Lord with their dependents, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴In the middle of the congregation, the Spirit of the Lord came on^b Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants), ¹⁵and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number,^c for the battle is not yours, but God’s.^{d 16}Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.^e He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged.^f Tomorrow, go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.’ ”^g