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 slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Asa, his son, became king in his place. 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;

Asa did what was good and 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;

for he took away the foreign altars and the high places. He broke down the stone 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 commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and to carry out 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.

Also he took away the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom had rest under 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.

He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because Yahweh had given 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.

For Asa said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is still ours because we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and succeeded.

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 that carried shields and spears; from Judah he had 300,000 men, and from Benjamin, 280,000 men who carried shields and drew bows. All of these were mighty men.

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

Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of one million soldiers and three hundred chariots; he came to Mareshah.

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

Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle lines in order 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 cried to Yahweh, his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one but you to help one who has no strength when he is facing many. Help us, Yahweh our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast number. Yahweh, you are our God; do not let man defeat you.”

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

So Yahweh struck the Cushites before Asa and Judah; the Cushites 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.

Asa and the soldiers with him pursued them to Gerar. So many Cushites fell that they could not recover, for they were completely destroyed before Yahweh and his army. The army carried away very much 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.

The army destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for terror of Yahweh had come on the inhabitants. The army plundered all the villages, and there was much booty 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.

The army also destroyed the tent settlements of the shepherding nomads; they carried away sheep in abundance, as well as camels, and then they returned to Jerusalem.