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.
Abiyya s’endormit avec ses pères et on l’ensevelit dans la Cité de David. Son fils Asa lui succéda sur le trône. Pendant son règne le pays eut dix ans de repos.
2 Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.
Asa fit ce qui est bien et droit aux yeux de l’Eternel, son Dieu.
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.
Il fit disparaître les autels des divinités étrangères et les hauts lieux, brisa les stèles et abattit les statues d’Astarté.
4 Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.
Il recommanda à Juda de rechercher l’Eternel, Dieu de leurs pères, et de pratiquer la Loi et les commandements.
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].
Il supprima de toutes les villes de Juda les hauts lieux et les statues du soleil. Le royaume fut en repos sous sa direction.
6 His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.
Il bâtit des villes fortes en Juda, car le pays jouissait de la paix, et il n’eut pas de guerre à soutenir au cours de ces années, le Seigneur lui ayant donné du repos.
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.
Il dit à Juda: "Fortifions ces villes et entourons-les de murs, de tours, de portes et de verrous; le pays est encore libre devant nous, parce que nous avons recherché l’Eternel, notre Dieu; nous l’avons recherché et il a assuré notre tranquillité de toutes parts." l’œuvre de construction fut menée à bonne fin.
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.
Asa disposait d’une armée de trois cent mille hommes de Juda, armés de boucliers longs et de lances, et de deux cent quatre-vingt mille hommes de Benjamin, portant le bouclier et maniant l’arc. C’Étaient tous de vaillants guerriers!
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].
Zérah, l’Ethiopien, marcha contre eux avec une armée d’un million d’hommes et trois cents chars, et il s’avança jusqu’à Marêcha.
10 Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.
Asa se porta à sa rencontre, et la bataille s’engagea dans la vallée qui s’étend vers Cefat du côté de Marêcha.
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.”
Asa invoqua l’Eternel, son Dieu, et dit: "Seigneur, il n’est pas plus difficile pour toi de donner la victoire au faible qu’au puissant; viens à notre secours, Eternel, notre Dieu, car c’est sur toi que nous nous appuyons, c’est en ton nom que nous avons marché contre cette multitude. Tu es l’Eternel, notre Dieu: que le mortel ne puisse rien entreprendre contre toi!"
12 Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,
L’Eternel fit succomber les Ethiopiens devant Asa et Juda, et ils durent prendre la fuite.
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.
Asa et les gens qui étaient avec lui les poursuivirent jusqu’à Gherar, et il en tomba, parmi les Ethiopiens, jusqu’à leur entier anéantissement, car ils furent brisés par l’Eternel et par son armée. Le butin enlevé fut extrêmement considérable.
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.
Les Judéens prirent de vive force toutes les villes situées dans les environs de Gherar, car la terreur de l’Eternel s’était abattue sur elles; ils pillèrent toutes ces villes, qui renfermaient un nombreux butin.
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.
Ils s’attaquèrent aussi aux campements de troupeaux et razzièrent quantité de brebis et de chameaux; puis ils retournèrent à Jérusalem.
