1. Some time later, the Moabites and the Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites, attacked Jehoshaphat.
2. Jehoshaphat was told, "A large army from beyond the sea, from Edom, is coming to attack you. They are already at Hazazon-tamar!" (that is, En-gedi).
3. Frightened, Jehoshaphat decided to seek the Lord’s help and proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
4. People from all of Judah’s cities came to ask the Lord for help.
5. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the Lord’s temple in front of the new courtyard.
6. "Lord, the God of our ancestors, you alone are God in heaven. You rule all the kingdoms of the nations. You are so powerful that no one can oppose you.
7. You, our God, drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever.
8. They have lived in it and have built a sanctuary in honor of your name in it, saying,
9. ‘If calamity, sword, flood, plague, or famine comes upon us, we will stand before this temple, before you, because your name is in this temple. We will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
10. So look here! The Ammonites, the Moabites, and those from Mount Seir—the people you wouldn’t let Israel invade when they came out of Egypt’s land, so Israel avoided them and didn’t destroy them—
11. here they are, returning the favor by coming to drive us out of your possession that you gave to us!
12. Our God, won’t you punish them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We don’t know what to do, and so we are looking to you for help."
13. All Judah was standing before the Lord, even their little ones, wives, and children.