Victory and Plunder

²⁰ In the morning they got up early and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established;^(A) believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹ Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for the Lord and some to praise the splendor of his holiness.^(B) When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing:^[a]

²² The moment they began their shouts and praises, the Lord set an ambush^(D) against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and completely annihilated them.^(E) When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.^(F)

²⁴ When Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked for the large army, but there were only corpses lying on the ground; nobody had escaped. ²⁵ Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to gather the plunder. They found among them^[b] an abundance of goods on the bodies^[c] and valuable items. So they stripped them until nobody could carry any more. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much. ²⁶ They assembled in the Valley of Beracah^[d] on the fourth day, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore, that place is still called the Valley of Beracah today.

²⁷ Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem turned back with Jehoshaphat their leader, returning joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord enabled them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ So they came into Jerusalem to the Lord’s temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets.

²⁹ The terror of God^(G) was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ Then Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet, for his God gave him rest on every side.^(H)