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.
Og Abia lagde seg til kvile hjå federne sine, og dei gravlagde honom i Davidsbyen; Asa, son hans, vart konge i staden hans. I hans dagar hadde landet fred i ti år.
2 Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.
Asa gjorde det som var godt og rett i augo åt Herren, hans Gud.
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.
Han fekk burt dei framande altari og offerhaugarne, braut sund minnesteinarne og hogg ned Astarte-bilæti.
4 Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.
Og han baud Juda-mennerne at dei skulde søkja Herren, deira fedregud, og halda lovi og bodet.
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].
Og han fekk burt offerhaugarne og solsulorne frå alle byarne i Juda, og riket hadde ro so lenge han livde.
6 His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.
Han bygde borgar i Juda; for landet hadde fred, og det kom ikkje til nokon krig imot honom i dei åri, for Herren gav honom ro.
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.
Han sagde til Juda: «Lat oss byggja desse byarne og setja murar og tårn ikring deim og portar og portbommar, medan me endå hev landet i vår magt, for di me hev søkt Herren, vår Gud; me hev søkt honom, og han hev gjeve oss fred til alle sidor.» So bygde dei då, og det gjekk godt.
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 hadde ein her som var væpna med langskjoldar og spjot, tri hundrad tusund mann av Juda, og dessutan tvo hundrad og åtteti tusund av Benjamin, som bar rundskjoldar og spente boge. Alle desse var djerve stridsmenner.
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].
Og ætiopen Zerah drog ut imot deim med ein her på tusund gonger tusund mann og tri hundrad stridsvogner, og han kom til Maresa.
10 Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.
Og Asa drog imot honom, og dei fylkte seg til strid i Sefatadalen ved 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.”
Då ropa Asa til Herren, hans Gud: «Herre! det er ingen som du til å hjelpa i strid millom ein som er sterk og ein som er magtlaus. So hjelp oss, Herre, vår Gud! For til deg held me oss, og med ditt namn er me komne hit imot denne hopen. Herre, du er vår Gud; lat ikkje noko menneskje standa seg imot deg!»
12 Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,
Då slo Herren ætioparne for augo på Asa og Juda og ætioparne rømde.
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 og folket som var med honom, forfylgde deim til Gerar, og det fall so mange av ætioparne, at ingen vart i live, for dei vart knustra for Herren og hans her. Folket tok ei uhorveleg mengd med herfang.
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.
Og dei tok alle byarne rundt ikring Gerar, for ein støkk frå Herren hadde kome yver deim, og dei plundra alle byarne, for det var mykje herfang i deim.
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.
Jamvel buskaps-tjeldi tok dei, og dei drog med seg ei mengd med småfe og kamelar, og so snudde dei heim att til Jerusalem.
