1 It happened after this that the people of aMoab with the people of bAmmon, and others with them besides the cAmmonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.
2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from1 Syria; and they are ain Hazazon Tamar” (which isbEn Gedi).
3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to aseek the Lord, and bproclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 So Judah gathered together to ask ahelp from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 Then 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 aGod in heaven, and bdo You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and cin Your hand istherenot power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
7Are You not aour God, whobdrove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham cYour friend forever?
8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,
9a‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your bname is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’
10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You awould not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but bthey turned from them and did not destroy them—
11 here they are, rewarding us aby coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.
12 O our God, will You not ajudge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but bour eyes are upon You.”
13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.
14 Then athe Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: a‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, bfor the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Jehoshaphat feared - He found that he could not possibly stand against such a numerous army, and therefore could not expect to be delivered except by the strong arm of God. To get this assistance, it was necessary to seek it; and to get such extraordinary help, they should seek it in an extraordinary way; hence he proclaimed a universal fast, and all the people came up to Jerusalem to seek the Lord.
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