²⁰ Early the next morning they went into the Tekoa wilderness. When they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and every inhabitant of Jerusalem! Trust the Lord your God, and you will stand firm; trust his prophets and succeed!”

²¹ After consulting with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed musicians to play for the Lord, praising his majestic holiness. They were to march out before the warriors, saying, “Give thanks to the Lord because his faithful love lasts forever!” ²² As they broke into joyful song and praise, the Lord launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites, the Moabites, and those from Mount Seir who were invading Judah, so that they were defeated. ²³ The Ammonites and the Moabites turned on those from Mount Seir, completely destroying them. Once they had finished off the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy each other!

²⁴ When Judah arrived at the point overlooking the wilderness, all they could see were corpses lying all over the ground. There were no survivors. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his army came to take the loot, they found a great amount of cattle,^[a] goods, clothing,^[b] and other valuables—much more than they could carry. In fact, there was so much it took three days to haul it away. ²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in Blessing Valley, where they blessed the Lord. That’s why it is called Blessing Valley to this day. ²⁷ Then everyone from Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, joyfully returned home to Jerusalem because the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They entered Jerusalem accompanied by harps, lutes, and trumpets, and they went to the Lord’s temple.

²⁹ The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against Israel’s enemies. ³⁰ As a result, Jehoshaphat’s rule was peaceful because his God gave him rest on all sides.