⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^(A)‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^(B)as villages without walls, because of ^(C)the multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵ And I will be to her ^(D)a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁵ Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies ^(A)a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be ^(B)a canopy. ^6 (C)There will be a ^(D)booth for shade by day from the heat, and ^(E)for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

³³ “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or ^(A)cast up a siege mound against it. ³⁴ By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. ^35 (B)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for ^(C)the sake of my servant David.”

^36 (D)And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Psalm of ^(B)Asaph. A Song.

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. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(I)Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[a] carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around ^(J)Gerar, ^(K)for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Jehoshaphat's Prayer

20 After this ^(A)the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites,^[a] came against Jehoshaphat for battle. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom,^[b] from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in ^(B)Hazazon-tamar” (that is, ^(C)Engedi). ³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face ^(D)to seek the Lord, and ^(E)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶ and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not ^(F)God in heaven? You ^(G)rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. ^(H)In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷ Did you not, our God, ^(I)drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of ^(J)Abraham your friend? ⁸ And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ^9 (K)‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,^[c] or pestilence, or famine, ^(L)we will stand before this house and before you—^(M)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 ^(N)Ammon and Moab and ^(O)Mount Seir, whom ^(P)you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, ^(Q)and whom they avoided and did not destroy— ¹¹ behold, they reward us ^(R)by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will you not ^(S)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 ^(T)our eyes are on you.”

¹³ Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ And ^(U)the Spirit of the Lord came^[d] upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ^(V)‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, ^(W)for the battle is not yours but God's. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of ^(X)the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. ^17 (Y)You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ ^(Z)Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, ^(AA)and the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat ^(AB)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Levites, of the ^(AC)Kohathites and the ^(AD)Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out into ^(AE)the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! ^(AF)Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him ^(AG)in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

²² And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ^(AI)an ambush against the men of ^(AJ)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. ²³ For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, ^(AK)they all helped to destroy one another.

The Lord Delivers Judah

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there^[e] were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. ²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah,^[f] for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, ^(AL)for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ^29 (AM)And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, ^(AN)for his God gave him rest all around.

^31 (AO)Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ^33 (AP)The high places, however, were not taken away; ^(AQ)the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of ^(AR)Jehu the son of Hanani, ^(AS)which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign

^35 (AT)After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. ³⁶ He joined him in building ships to go to ^(AU)Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ^(AV)“Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.