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.

Abijah died and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa took over as king. For ten years of his reign the country was at peace.

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

Asa did what was good and right in the Lord's sight.

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;

He took down the foreign altars and high places, smashed their sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.

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

He ordered Judah to worship the Lord, the God of their forefathers, and to observe the law and 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.

He also took down the high places and the incense altars from all the towns of Judah. Under his rule the kingdom was at 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.

Because the country was at peace he was able to rebuild the fortified towns of Judah. There were no wars during these years because the Lord had granted him 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.

Asa told the people of Judah, “Let us build up these towns and surround them with walls and towers and barred gates. The land is still ours, because we continue to worship the Lord our God. We worship him, and he has given us peace from all our enemies.” So they began the building projects, and completed them successfully.

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.

Asa had an army made up of three hundred thousand men from Judah who carried large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin who carried regular shields and bows. All of them were brave warriors.

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

Zerah the Ethiopian attacked them with an army of a thousand times a thousand men and three hundred chariots, advancing as far as Mareshah.

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

Asa went out to confront him, lining up for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

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.

Asa called out for help to the Lord his God: “Lord, there is no one apart from you who can help the powerless against the powerful. Please help us, Lord our God, for we trust in you. We have come against this horde because we stand for you, Lord. You are our God. Do not let a mere human being beat you.”

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

The Lord struck the Ethiopians in front of Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians ran away.

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.

Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Ethiopians were killed—there were none who survived, for they were caught between the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.

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.

They also attacked all the towns around Gerar, because the inhabitants were terrified of the Lord. The men of Judah took a large amount of plunder from all the towns.

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.

Then they attacked the camps of the herdsmen and took many sheep and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.