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.

And Abia died with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In the days of Asa the land of Juda had rest ten years.

2 Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.

And he did that which was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.

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 removed the altars of the strange [gods], and the high places, and broke the pillars in pieces, and cut down the 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 told Juda to seek earnestly the Lord God of their fathers, and to perform the law and 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 removed from all the cities of Juda the altars and the idols, and established in quietness

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

fortified cities in the land of Juda; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in these years; for the Lord gave him rest.

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.

And he said to Juda, Let us fortify these cities, and make walls, and towers, and gates, and bars: we shall prevail over the land, for as we have sought out the Lord our God, he has sought out us, and has given us rest round about, and prospered us.

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.

And Asa had a force of armed men bearing shields and spears in the land of Juda, [even] three hundred thousand, and in the land of Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand targeteers and archers: all these were mighty warriors.

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].

And Zare the Ethiopian went out against them, with a force of a million, and three hundred chariots; and came to Maresa.

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

And Asa went out to meet him, and set the battle in array in the valley north of Maresa.

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 Asa cried to the Lord his God, and said, O Lord, it is not impossible with you to save by many or by few: strengthen us, O Lord our God; for we trust in you, and in your name have we come against this great multitude. O Lord our God, let not man prevail against you.

12 Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,

And the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Juda; 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 his people pursued them to Gedor; and the Ethiopians fell, so that they could not recover themselves; for they were crushed before the Lord, and before his host; and 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 destroyed their towns roundabout Gedor; for a terror of the Lord was upon them: and they spoiled all their cities, for they had much spoil.

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.

Also they destroyed the tents of cattle, and the Alimazons, and took many sheep and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.