2 Crónicas 14

1 Abías murió y fue enterrado en la Ciudad de David. Su hijo Asa tomó el relevo como rey. Durante diez años de su reinado la nación estuvo en paz.

So Abijah went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David, and Asa his son became king in his place; in his time the land was quiet for ten years.

2 Asa hizo lo que era bueno y correcto a los ojos del Señor.

And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God;

3 Derribó los altares y los lugares altos extranjeros, rompió sus pilares sagrados y cortó los postes de Asera.

For he took away the altars of strange gods and the high places, and had the upright stones broken and the wood pillars cut down;

4 Ordenó a Judá que adorara al Señor, el Dios de sus antepasados, y que observara la ley y los mandamientos.

And he made Judah go after the Lord, the God of their fathers, and keep his laws and his orders.

5 También derribó los lugares altos y los altares de incienso de todas las ciudades de Judá. Bajo su gobierno el reino estaba en paz.

And he took away the high places and the sun-images from all the towns of Judah; and the kingdom was quiet under his rule.

6 Como el país estaba en paz, pudo reconstruir las ciudades fortificadas de Judá. No hubo guerras durante estos años porque el Señor le había concedido la paz.

He made walled towns in Judah, for the land was quiet and there were no wars in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.

7 Entonces Asa le dijo al pueblo de Judá: “Construyamos estas ciudades y rodeémoslas de murallas y torres y puertas enrejadas. La tierra sigue siendo nuestra, porque seguimos adorando al Señor, nuestro Dios. Lo adoramos, y él nos ha dado la paz de todos nuestros enemigos”. Así que comenzaron los proyectos de construcción, y los completaron con éxito.

He said to Judah, Let us make these towns, building walls round them with towers and doors and locks. The land is still ours, because we have been true to the Lord our God; we have been true to him and he has given us rest on every side. So they went on building and all went well for them.

8 Asa tenía un ejército compuesto por trescientos mil hombres de Judá que llevaban grandes escudos y lanzas, y doscientos ochenta mil hombres de Benjamín que llevaban escudos regulares y arcos. Todos ellos eran valientes guerreros.

And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah armed with body-covers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand of Benjamin armed with body-covers and bows; all these were men of war.

9 Zeraa el etíope, los atacó con un ejército de mil veces mil hombres y trescientos carros, avanzando hasta Maresa.

And Zerah the Ethiopian, with an army of a million, and three hundred war-carriages, came out against them to Mareshah.

10 Asa salió a enfrentarse a él, alineándose para la batalla en el Valle de Cefatá, en Maresa.

And Asa went out against him, and they put their forces in position in the valley north of Mareshah.

11 Asa pidió ayuda al Señor, su Dios: “Señor, no hay nadie fuera de ti que pueda ayudar al impotente contra el poderoso. Por favor, ayúdanos, Señor, nuestro Dios, porque confiamos en ti. Hemos venido contra esta horda porque confiamos en ti, Señor. Tú eres nuestro Dios. No permitas que un simple ser humano te venza”.

And Asa made prayer to the Lord his God and said, Lord, you only are able to give help against the strong to him who has no strength; come to our help, O Lord our God, for our hope is in you, and in your name we have come out against this great army. O Lord, you are our God; let not man's power be greater than yours.

12 El Señor hirió a los etíopes frente a Asa y Judá, y los etíopes huyeron.

So the Lord sent fear on the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah; and the Ethiopians went in flight.

13 Asa y su ejército los persiguieron hasta Gerar. Los etíopes murieron; no hubo ninguno que sobreviviera, pues quedaron atrapados entre el Señor y su ejército. Los hombres de Judá se llevaron una gran cantidad de botín.

And Asa and the people who were with him went after them as far as Gerar; and so great was the destruction among the Ethiopians that they were not able to get their army together again, for they were broken before the Lord and before his army; and they took away a great amount of their goods.

14 También atacaron todas las ciudades alrededor de Gerar, porque sus habitantes estaban aterrorizados por el Señor. Los hombres de Judá tomaron una gran cantidad de botín de todas las ciudades.

And they overcame all the towns round Gerar, because the Lord sent fear on them; and they took away their goods from the towns, for there were stores of wealth in them.

15 Luego atacaron los campamentos de los pastores y tomaron muchas ovejas y camellos. Luego regresaron a Jerusalén.

And they made an attack on the tents of the owners of the cattle, and took away great numbers of sheep and camels and went back to Jerusalem.