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.

So Abijah 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 rested 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 that which was right, in the eyes of Yahweh his God;

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 took away the foreign altars, and the high places, —and brake in pieces the pillars, and cut in twain the Sacred Stems;

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

and bade Judah seek Yahweh, God of their fathers, -and execute the law, and the commandment;

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 removed from all the cities of Judah, the high places, and the sun-images, —and the kingdom became quiet before him.

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.

And he built cities of defence, in Judah, —for the land had quiet, nor was there near him any war, in these years, because Yahweh had given him rest.

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.

Therefore said he to Judah, Let us build these cities, and let us surround them with walls and towers, doors and bars, while the land is yet before us, for we have sought Yahweh our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built, and prospered.

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 it came to pass that, Asa, had a force bearing shield and spear, out of Judah, three hundred thousand, and, out of Benjamin, such as bare a buckler and trode a bow, two hundred and eighty thousand, —all these, were heroes of valour.

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

Then came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian, with a force of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots, —and he came as far as Mareshah.

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 they set in array for battle, in the valley of Zaphonah, 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.

Then Asa cried out unto Yahweh his God, and said, O Yahweh, it is, nothing with thee, to help whether with many or with such as have no strength. Help us, O Yahweh our God, for, on thee, do we lean, and, in thy name, have we come against this multitude, —O Yahweh! our God, thou art, let not, weak man, have power against thee.

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

So Yahweh smote the Ethiopians, before Asa, and before Judah, —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 as far as to Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell, so that there was no way for them to recover, for they were routed before Yahweh, and before him host, —and they carried away exceeding much spoil.

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 smote all the cities round shout Gerar, for the dread of Yahweh was upon them, —and they plundered all the cities, for, great plunder, was there in them.

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.

Moreover also, the tents of the cattle, they smote, —and carried off sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.