⁴⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord ^(A)toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

¹⁷ Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,^{[a] (A)}make your face to shine upon ^(B)your sanctuary, which is desolate. ^18 (C)O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ^(D)our desolations, and ^(E)the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ^(F)Delay not, ^(G)for your own sake, O my God, because ^(H)your city and ^(I)your people are called by your name.”

The Lord Delivers Jerusalem

²⁰ Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven.

⁶ and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not ^(A)God in heaven? You ^(B)rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. ^(C)In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷ Did you not, our God, ^(D)drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of ^(E)Abraham your friend? ⁸ And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ^9 (F)‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,^[a] or pestilence, or famine, ^(G)we will stand before this house and before you—^(H)for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now behold, the men of ^(I)Ammon and Moab and ^(J)Mount Seir, whom ^(K)you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, ^(L)and whom they avoided and did not destroy— ¹¹ behold, they reward us ^(M)by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will you not ^(N)execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but ^(O)our eyes are on you.”

¹³ Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

³¹ As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him.

⁹ Zerah ^(A)the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^(B)Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and ^(C)they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^(D)Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(E)cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^(F)for we rely on you, ^(G)and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ^12 (H)So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

³⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,