2 Chronicles 14

1 So Abijah went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David, and Asa his son became king in his place; in his time the land was quiet for ten years.

And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was quiet ten years.

2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God;

And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of his God, and he destroyed the altars of foreign worship, and the high places.

3 For he took away the altars of strange gods and the high places, and had the upright stones broken and the wood pillars cut down;

And broke the statues, and cut down the groves.

4 And he made Judah go after the Lord, the God of their fathers, and keep his laws and his orders.

And he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their fathers, and to do the law, and all the commandments.

5 And he took away the high places and the sun-images from all the towns of Judah; and the kingdom was quiet under his rule.

And he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars, and temples, and reigned in peace.

6 He made walled towns in Judah, for the land was quiet and there were no wars in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.

He built also strong cities in Juda, for he was quiet, and there had no wars risen in his time, the Lord giving peace.

7 He said to Judah, Let us make these towns, building walls round them with towers and doors and locks. The land is still ours, because we have been true to the Lord our God; we have been true to him and he has given us rest on every side. So they went on building and all went well for them.

And he said to Juda: Let us build these cities, and compass them with walls, and fortify them with towers, and gates, and bars, while all is quiet from wars, because we have sought the Lord the God of our fathers, and he hath given us peace round about. So they built, and there was no hinderance in building.

8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah armed with body-covers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand of Benjamin armed with body-covers and bows; all these were men of war.

And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of Juda three hundred thousand, and of Benjamin that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred and eighty thousand, all these were most valiant men.

9 And Zerah the Ethiopian, with an army of a million, and three hundred war-carriages, came out against them to Mareshah.

And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army of ten hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots: and he came as far as Maresa.

10 And Asa went out against him, and they put their forces in position in the valley north of Mareshah.

And Asa went out to meet him, and set his army in array for battle in the vale of Sephata, which is near Maresa:

11 And Asa made prayer to the Lord his God and said, Lord, you only are able to give help against the strong to him who has no strength; come to our help, O Lord our God, for our hope is in you, and in your name we have come out against this great army. O Lord, you are our God; let not man's power be greater than yours.

And he called upon the Lord God, and said: O Lord, there is no difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many: help us, O Lord our God: for with confidence in thee, and in thy name, we are come against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee.

12 So the Lord sent fear on the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah; and the Ethiopians went in flight.

And the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda: and the Ethiopians fled.

13 And Asa and the people who were with him went after them as far as Gerar; and so great was the destruction among the Ethiopians that they were not able to get their army together again, for they were broken before the Lord and before his army; and they took away a great amount of their goods.

And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerara: and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, for the Lord slew them, and his army fought against them, and they were destroyed. And they took abundance of spoils,

14 And they overcame all the towns round Gerar, because the Lord sent fear on them; and they took away their goods from the towns, for there were stores of wealth in them.

And they took all the cities round about Gerara: for a great fear was come upon all men: and they pillaged the cities, and carried off much booty.

15 And they made an attack on the tents of the owners of the cattle, and took away great numbers of sheep and camels and went back to Jerusalem.

And they destroyed the sheepcotes, and took an infinite number of cattle, and of camels: and returned to Jerusalem.