2 Chronik 14
1 Abia legte sich zu seinen Vätern, und man begrub ihn in der Davidsstadt, und sein Sohn Asa ward König an seiner Statt. In seinen Tagen hatte das Land zwanzig Jahre Ruhe.
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 Asa tat, was gut und recht war in des Herrn, seines Gottes, Augen.
Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.
3 Er entfernte die ausländischen Altäre und die Höhen, zertrümmerte die Malsteine und fällte die Ascheren.
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 Er gebot Juda, den Herrn, ihrer Väter Gott, zu suchen und die Lehre und das Gebot zu üben.
Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.
5 Er entfernte aus allen Städten Judas die Höhen und die Rauchaltäre. Durch ihn hatte das Reich Ruhe.
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 Er baute auch feste Städte in Juda. Denn das Land hatte Ruhe. Niemand führte mit ihm in jenen Jahren Krieg, da der Herr ihm Ruhe verschafft hatte.
His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.
7 Er sprach nun zu Juda: "Wir wollen diese Städte aufbauen und mit Mauern, Türmen, Toren und Riegeln umgeben. Noch sind wir die Herren des Landes. Denn wir haben den Herrn, unseren Gott, gesucht. Wir haben ihn gesucht, und da schaffte er uns ringsum Ruhe." So bauten sie und hatten Gelingen.
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 Asa aber hatte ein Heer, das Schild und Speer trug, aus Juda 300.000 Mann und aus Benjamin 280.000 Mann, die Tartschen trugen und den Bogen spannten, lauter tapfere Krieger.
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 Da zog gegen ihn der Kuschite Zerach mit einem Heere von 1.000.000 Mann und dreihundert Wagen. Er kam bis Maresa.
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 Da zog Asa ihm entgegen. Und sie ordneten die Schlacht im Tale nördlich bei Maresa.
Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.
11 Da rief Asa zum Herrn, seinem Gott, und sprach: "Herr! Nur Du kannst helfen im Streite zwischen einem Mächtigen und einem Schwachen. Hilf uns, Herr, unser Gott! Wir stützen uns auf Dich. In Deinem Namen ziehen wir gegen diesen Haufen. Herr! Du bist unser Gott. Laß keinen Sterblichen vor Dir aufkommen!"
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 Da schlug der Herr die Kuschiten vor Asa und Juda. Und die Kuschiten flohen.
Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,
13 Asa aber und das Volk bei ihm verfolgten sie bis Gerar. Und von den Kuschiten fielen so viele, daß ihrer keiner mehr am Leben blieb. Denn sie waren vor dem Herrn und vor seinem Heere zerschmettert worden. Jene trugen sehr große Beute davon.
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 Und sie schlugen alle Städte rings um Gerar. Denn des Herrn Schrecken war über sie gekommen. So plünderten sie alle Städte. Denn viel Beute war darin.
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 Auch die Zelte mit den Herden hatten sie geschlagen, und so führten sie Schafe in Menge und Kamele fort. Dann kehrten sie nach Jerusalem zurück.
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.
