“ Suppose your people go to war against their enemies. It doesn’t matter where you send them. And suppose they pray to you toward this city you have chosen. They pray toward the temple I’ve built for your Name.

“你的民若奉你的差遣，无论往何处去与仇敌争战，向你所选择的城与我为你名所建造的殿祷告，

“你的百姓若奉你的派遣出去，无论往何处与仇敌争战，他们若向你所选择的这城和我为你名所建造的殿祷告，

“你的百姓若奉你的派遣出去，无论往何处与仇敌争战，他们若向你所选择的这城和我为你名所建造的殿祷告，

“你的子民奉你的命令上阵与敌人作战，无论他们在哪里，如果他们向着你选择的这城和我为你建造的这殿祷告，

“如果你的子民在你派他们出去的路上，和仇敌作战，他们向着你拣选的这城，和向着我为你的名建造的这殿向你祷告，

「你的民若奉你的差遣，無論往何處去與仇敵爭戰，向你所選擇的城與我為你名所建造的殿禱告，

「你的百姓若奉你的派遣出去，無論往何處與仇敵爭戰，他們若向你所選擇的這城和我為你名所建造的殿禱告，

「你的百姓若奉你的派遣出去，無論往何處與仇敵爭戰，他們若向你所選擇的這城和我為你名所建造的殿禱告，

「你的子民奉你的命令上陣與敵人作戰，無論他們在哪裡，如果他們向著你選擇的這城和我為你建造的這殿禱告，

“如果你的子民在你派他們出去的路上，和仇敵作戰，他們向著你揀選的這城，和向著我為你的名建造的這殿向你禱告，

『你人民若在你所差遣他們走的路上出戰攻敵，而向你所選擇的這城、和我為你名所建的這殿對你禱告，

如爾民奉爾所遣、無論何途、出與敵戰、向爾所簡之邑、及我為爾名所建之室、祈禱於爾、

如爾國民、奉爾所遣、無論何適、與敵戰鬥時、祈禱於爾、向爾所簡之邑、及我所建之殿、為籲爾名之所、

如主之民奉主所遣、無論何往與敵戰時、向主所選之邑、及我為主名所建之殿、祈禱於主、

“ When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name,

“ If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

“ If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name,

When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city you have chosen and the temple that I have built for your name,

“ When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

“ When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,

If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

When Your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever You send them, and they pray to You in the direction of this city You have chosen and the temple that I have built for Your name,

If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

“ When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,

“ If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

He said,“ Lord, you are the God of our people who lived long ago. You are the God who is in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You are strong and powerful. No one can fight against you and win.Our God, you drove out the people who lived in this land. You drove them out to make room for your people Israel. You gave this land forever to those who belong to the family line of your friend Abraham.They have lived in this land. They’ve built a temple here for your Name. They have said,‘ Suppose trouble comes on us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a punishing sword, or plague or hunger. We’ll serve you. We’ll stand in front of this temple where your Name is. We’ll cry out to you when we’re in trouble. Then you will hear us. You will save us.’“ But here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir. You wouldn’t allow Israel to march in and attack their territory when the Israelites came from Egypt. So Israel turned away from them. They didn’t destroy them.See how they are paying us back. They are coming to drive us out. They want to take over the land you gave us as our share.Our God, won’t you please judge them? We don’t have the power to face this huge army that’s attacking us. We don’t know what to do. But we’re looking to you to help us.”All the men of Judah stood there in front of the Lord. Their wives, children and little ones were with them.

King Hezekiah cried out in prayer to God in heaven. He prayed about the problem Jerusalem was facing. So did Isaiah the prophet. He was the son of Amoz.The Lord sent an angel. The angel wiped out all the enemy’s fighting men, commanders and officers. He put an end to them right there in the camp of the Assyrian king. So Sennacherib went back to his own land in shame. He went into the temple of his god. There some of his own sons, the people closest to him, killed him with their swords.

When you go to war against your enemies, you might see that they have horses and chariots. They might even have an army stronger than yours. But don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will be with you. After all, he brought you up out of Egypt.Just before you go into battle, the priest will come forward. He’ll speak to the army.He’ll say,“ Men of Israel, listen to me. Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t be scared. Don’t be afraid. Don’t panic or be terrified by them.The Lord your God is going with you. He’ll fight for you. He’ll help you win the battle over your enemies.”

Then the Lord said to Joshua,“ Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. Go up and attack Ai. Take the whole army with you. I have handed the king of Ai over to you. I have given you his people, his city and his land.Remember what you did to Jericho and its king. You will do the same thing to Ai and its king. But this time you can keep for yourselves the livestock and everything else you take from them. Have some of your fighting men hide behind the city and take them by surprise.”So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighting men. He sent them out at night.He gave them orders. He said,“ Listen carefully to what I’m saying. You must hide behind the city. Don’t go very far away from it. All of you must be ready to attack it.I and all those with me will march up to the city. The men of Ai will come out to fight against us, just as they did before. Then we’ll run away from them.They’ll chase us until we’ve drawn them away from the city. They’ll say,‘ They are running away from us, just as they did before.’ When we run away from them,come out of your hiding place. Capture the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you.When you have taken it, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. Make sure you obey my orders.”

As you can see, I’ve built a beautiful temple for you. You can live in it forever.”

“ Pay the Midianites back for what they did to the Israelites. After that, you will join the members of your family who have already died.”So Moses said to the people,“ Prepare some of your men for battle. They must go to war against Midian. They will carry out the Lord’ s plan to punish Midian.Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel into battle.”So Moses prepared 12,000 men for battle. There were 1,000 from each tribe. They came from the families of Israel.Moses sent them into battle. He sent 1,000 from each tribe. Phinehas the priest went along with them. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. Phinehas took some things from the sacred tent with him. He also took the trumpets. The trumpet blasts would tell the people what to do and when to do it.

Zerah marched out against them. He was from Cush. He had a huge army of thousands. He also had 300 chariots. They came all the way to Mareshah.Asa went out to meet Zerah in battle. They took up their positions in the Valley of Zephathah. It’s near Mareshah.Then Asa called out to the Lord his God. He said,“ Lord, there isn’t anyone like you. You help the weak against the strong. Lord our God, help us. We trust in you. In your name we have come out to fight against this huge army. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let mere human beings win the battle over you.”The Lord struck down the men of Cush for Asa and Judah. The Cushites ran away.

He sent you to do something for him. He said,‘ Go and completely destroy the Amalekites. Go and destroy those evil people. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’

Now go. Attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare the Amalekites. Put the men and women to death. Put the children and babies to death. Also kill the cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”

But now I have chosen Jerusalem. I will put my Name there. And I have chosen David to rule over my people Israel.’

Joshua died. After that, the Israelites spoke to the Lord. They asked him,“ Who of us will go up first and fight against the Canaanites?”The Lord answered,“ The tribe of Judah will go up. I have handed the land over to them.”

The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought,“ That’s the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. And the Lord helped him. God drew the commanders away from him.

What answer should be given to the messengers from that nation? Tell them,‘ The Lord has made Zion secure. His suffering people will find safety there.’ ”

“ My servant Moses is dead. Now then, I want you and all these people to get ready to go across the Jordan River. I want all of you to go into the land I am about to give to the Israelites.I will give all of you every place you walk on, just as I promised Moses.Your territory will reach from the Negev Desert all the way to Lebanon. The great Euphrates River will be to the east. The Mediterranean Sea will be to the west. Your territory will include all the Hittite country.Joshua, no one will be able to oppose you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you. I will never desert you.

The people came together to ask the Lord for help. In fact, they came from every town in Judah to pray to him.

“ Suppose your people go to war against their enemies. It doesn’t matter where you send them. And suppose they pray to you toward the city you have chosen. They pray toward the temple I’ve built for your Name.Then listen to them from heaven. Listen to their prayer for your help. Stand up for them.

Daniel found out that the king had signed the order. In spite of that, he did just as he had always done before. He went home to his upstairs room. Its windows opened toward Jerusalem. He went to his room three times a day to pray. He got down on his knees and gave thanks to his God.