2 Chronicles 14

1 When Abijah died, he was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. His son Asa became the king. While Asa was ruling, there was peace in Judah 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 Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.

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 His workers got rid of the altars to worship foreign gods that were on the high hills. They smashed the sacred stone pillars and cut down the poles for worshiping [the goddess] Asherah.

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

4 Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.

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 His workers destroyed all the shrines on the hilltops and the altars for burning incense [to idols] in every town in Judah. As a result, there was peace while Asa ruled the kingdom [of Judah].

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

6 His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.

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 Asa said to the people of Judah, “We should protect these towns by building walls around them, with watchtowers and gates that have bars. This country still belongs to us because we have requested Yahweh our God to help us. We requested him for his help, and he has given us peace in our entire country.” So they built buildings and prospered.

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 Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah. They all carried large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin [in his army]. They carried [smaller] shields, and bows [and arrows]. They were all brave soldiers.

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 Zerah, a man from Ethiopia/Sudan, marched with a huge army and 300 chariots to attack [the army of Judah and Benjamin]. They went as far as [the town of] Mareshah [about 25 miles/southwest of Jerusalem].

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 Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.

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 Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God, saying, “Yahweh, there is no one like you who can help those who have very little power to resist a mighty army. Yahweh our God, help us, because we are relying on you; and trusting in you we have come [to fight] against this huge army. Yahweh, you are our God; do not allow anyone to defeat 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 Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,

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

13 and Asa and his army pursued them [to the southwest] as far as Gerar. A huge number of the soldiers from Ethiopia were killed, with the result that those [who were not killed] were unable to fight any more. They were greatly defeated by Yahweh and his army, and the men of Judah carried away a great amount of their possessions.

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 The men of Judah were able to destroy the people in villages near Gerar because Yahweh had caused the people there to become terrified [and unable to fight]. The army of Judah took away all the valuable things from those villages.

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 They also attacked the places where the local people who took care of domestic animals had set up their tents, and they took away big herds of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

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