2 Chroniques 14
1 Abia dormit ensuite avec ses pères, et on l’ensevelit dans la cité de David, et son fils Asa régna en sa place; et, durant ses jours, la terre se reposa pendant dix ans.
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.
2 Or Asa fit ce qui était bon et agréable en la présence de son Dieu: il détruisit les autels du culte étranger et les hauts lieux;
Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.
3 Il brisa aussi les statues, coupa les bois sacrés;
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.
4 Et commanda à Juda de chercher le Seigneur Dieu de leurs pères, et d’observer la loi et tous les commandements.
Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.
5 Et il enleva de toutes les villes de Juda les autels et les temples, et il régna en paix.
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].
6 Il bâtit aussi des villes fortifiées dans Juda, parce qu’il était tranquille, et qu’aucune guerre ne s’était élevée de son temps, le Seigneur lui accordant la paix.
His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.
7 C’est pourquoi il dit à Juda: Bâtissons ces villes, entourons-les de murs, et fortifions-les de tours, de portes et de serrures, pendant que tout est en repos du côté des guerres, parce que nous avons cherché le Seigneur Dieu de nos pères, et qu’il nous a donné la paix tout autour. Ils bâtirent donc, et, pendant la construction, il n’y eut aucun empêchement.
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.
8 Or Asa eut dans son armée trois cent mille hommes de Juda, portant des boucliers et des piques; mais de Benjamin deux cent quatre-vingt mille scutaires et archers: tous ces hommes étaient très vaillants.
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.
9 Cependant Zara, l’Ethiopien, sortit contre eux avec son armée d’un million d’hommes et trois cents chariots, et il vint jusqu’à Marésa.
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].
10 Mais Asa alla au-devant de lui, et rangea son armée en bataille dans la vallée de Séphata, qui est près de Marésa;
Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.
11 Et il invoqua le Seigneur son Dieu, et dit: Seigneur, il n’y a pour vous aucune différence de secourir avec un petit nombre ou un très grand nombre: secourez-nous, Seigneur notre Dieu, car c’est en vous et en votre nom qu’ayant confiance, nous sommes venus contre cette multitude. Seigneur, vous êtes notre Dieu; qu’un homme ne l’emporte pas sur vous.
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.”
12 C’est pourquoi le Seigneur épouvanta les Ethiopiens devant Asa et Juda; et les Ethiopiens s’enfuirent.
Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,
13 Et Asa les poursuivit, ainsi que le peuple qui était avec lui, jusqu’à Gérare; et les Ethiopiens périrent jusqu’à une entière extermination, parce qu’ils furent brisés, le Seigneur les taillant en pièces, pendant que l’armée d’Asa combattait. Ainsi les Israélites remportèrent beaucoup de dépouilles,
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.
14 Et ils frappèrent toutes les villes autour de Gérare; car une grande terreur avait saisi tout le monde; et ils pillèrent les villes, et emportèrent un grand butin.
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.
15 Mais détruisant même les parcs de brebis, ils prirent une multitude infinie de menu bétail et de chameaux, et ils revinrent à Jérusalem.
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.
