They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa, and as they went out Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe his prophets and you will succeed.”
With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.
For you have forgotten God your Savior and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant gardens and set out branches of a foreign god,
You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
Do not fear or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God?
I will bring near my deliverance swiftly; my salvation has gone out, and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope.
“Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah in garments stained crimson? Who is this so splendidly robed, marching in his great might?” “It is I, announcing vindication, mighty to save.”
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.
Jacob ate his fill; Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. You grew fat, bloated, and gorged! He abandoned God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.