and Asa went out to oppose him. They deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

Then a spirit stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the Lord’s advice. He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast.

Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the Lord’s temple, in front of the new courtyard.

All the men of Judah were standing before the Lord, along with their infants, wives, and children.

So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly.

Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them.

This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what the Lord his God considered good and right and faithful.

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had invaded and intended to attack Jerusalem,

He did evil in the sight of the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites.

He did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. Amon was guilty of great sin.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, the Lord’s spokesman.

So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard to protect against them both day and night.

But prior to this time, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been appointed over the storerooms of the temple of our God.

So Hathach went to Mordecai at the plaza of the city in front of the king’s gate.

When the king extended to Esther the gold scepter, she arose and stood before the king.

On that same day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was brought to the king’s attention.

how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?

If a land has been given into the hand of a wicked man, he covers the faces of its judges; if it is not he, then who is it?

For then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be securely established and will not fear.