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.

Then Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. And his son, Asa, reigned in his place. During his days, 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,

Now Asa did what was good and pleasing in the sight of his God. And he overturned the altars of foreign worship, and the high places.

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

And he broke apart the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves.

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

And he instructed Judah that they should seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and that they should carry out the law and all the commandments.

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, from all the cities of Judah, the altars and the shrines. And he reigned in peace.

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.

Also, he built fortified cities in Judah. For it was quiet, and in his time no wars had arisen. For the Lord was generously granting peace.

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.

Then he said to Judah: “Let us build these cities, and strengthen them with walls, and fortify them with towers and gates and bars, while all things are at rest from wars. For we have sought the Lord, the God of our fathers, and he has granted to us peace on every side.” And so they built, and there was nothing to impede them from building.

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.

Now Asa had in his army three hundred thousand men of Judah, carrying shields and spears, and truly, of Benjamin, two hundred eighty thousand men with shields and bows. All of these were very valiant men.

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,

Then Zerah, the Ethiopian, went forth against them with his army of one million men, and three hundred chariots. And he approached as far as Mareshah.

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

And Asa traveled to meet him, and he set up a battle line for the war in the Valley of Zephathah, which is near 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 he called upon the Lord God, and he said: “O Lord, there is no difference to you, whether you assist by few, or by many. Help us, O Lord our God. For having faith in you and in your name, we have gone forth against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God. Do not allow man to prevail against you.”

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

And so the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah. And the Ethiopians fled.

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, pursued them as far as Gerar. And the Ethiopians fell, even unto utter destruction, for the Lord was striking, and his army was battling, and they were destroyed. Therefore, they took many spoils.

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 struck all the cities surrounding Gerar. For indeed, a great fear had overwhelmed everyone. And they despoiled the cities, and they carried away much plunder.

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

Then too, destroying the fencing for the sheep, they took an innumerable multitude of cattle and camels. And they returned to Jerusalem.