2 Chronicles 14

1 And Abijah lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the City of David, and his son Asa reigns in his stead. In his days the land was quiet [for] ten years.

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.

2 And Asa does that which is good and that which is right in the eyes of his God YHWH,

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

3 and turns aside the altars of the stranger, and the high places, and breaks the standing-pillars, and cuts down the Asherim,

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;

4 and commands to Judah to seek YHWH, God of their fathers, and to do the Law and the command;

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

5 and he turns aside the high places and the images out of all cities of Judah, and the kingdom is quiet before him.

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.

6 And he builds cities of bulwarks in Judah, for the land has quiet; and there is no war with him in these years, because YHWH has given rest to him.

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.

7 And he says to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and surround [them] with wall, and towers, double gates, and bars, while the land [is] before us, because we have sought our God YHWH, we have sought, and He gives rest to us all around”; and they build and prosper.

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.

8 And Asa has a force of three hundred thousand from Judah carrying buckler and spear, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin carrying shield and treading bow; all these [are] mighty men of valor.

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.

9 And Zerah the Cushite comes out to them with a force of one million [men] and three hundred chariots, and he comes to Mareshah,

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

10 and Asa goes out before him, and they set in array [for] battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

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

11 And Asa calls to his God YHWH and says, “YHWH, it is nothing for You to help, between the mighty and those who have no power; help us, O YHWH, our God, for we have leaned on You, and in Your Name we have come against this multitude; O YHWH, You [are] our God; do not let mortal man prevail against You!”

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.

12 And YHWH strikes the Cushim before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushim flee,

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

13 and Asa and the people who [are] with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there falls [many] from the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before YHWH and before His camp; and [those of Judah] carry away very much spoil,

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.

14 and strike all the cities around Gerar, for a fear of YHWH has been on them, and they spoil all the cities, for abundant spoil has been in them;

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.

15 and they have also struck tents of livestock, and they capture sheep in abundance, and camels, and return to Jerusalem.

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.