2 Chronicles 20:3–12

³Jehoshaphat was alarmed. So he decided to ask the Lord for advice. He told all of the people of Judah to go without eating. ⁴The people came together to ask the Lord for help. In fact, they came from every town in Judah to pray to him.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood up among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He was in front of the new courtyard at the Lord’s temple. ⁶He said,

“Lord, you are the God of our people. You are the God who is in heaven. You rule over all of the kingdoms of the nations. Your hands are strong and powerful. No one can fight against you and win.

⁷“Our God, you drove out the people who lived in this land. You drove them out to make room for your people Israel. You gave this land forever to those who belong to the family line of your friend Abraham.

⁸“They have lived in this land. They’ve built a temple here for your Name. They have said, ⁹‘Suppose trouble comes on us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a punishing sword, plague or hunger. We’ll serve you. We’ll stand in front of this temple where your Name is. We’ll cry out to you when we’re in trouble. Then you will hear us. You will save us.’

¹⁰“But here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir. You wouldn’t allow Israel to march in and attack their territory when the Israelites came from Egypt. So Israel turned away from them. They didn’t destroy them. ¹¹See how they are paying us back. They are coming to drive us out. They want to take over the land you gave us as our share.

¹²“Our God, won’t you please judge them? We don’t have the power to face this huge army that’s attacking us. We don’t know what to do. But we’re looking to you to help us.”