2 Crónicas 14
1 Así que Abías durmió con sus padres, y lo enterraron en la ciudad de David; y su hijo Asa reinó en su lugar. En sus días, la tierra estuvo tranquila diez años.
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 Asá hizo lo que era bueno y correcto a los ojos de Yahvé, su Dios,
Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.
3 pues quitó los altares extranjeros y los lugares altos, derribó las columnas, cortó los postes de Asera,
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 y ordenó a Judá que buscara a Yahvé, el Dios de sus padres, y que obedeciera su ley y su mandato.
Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.
5 También quitó de todas las ciudades de Judá los lugares altos y las imágenes del sol, y el reino quedó tranquilo ante él.
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 Edificó ciudades fortificadas en Judá, pues la tierra estaba tranquila, y no tuvo guerras en esos años, porque el Señor le había dado descanso.
His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.
7 Pues dijo a Judá: “Construyamos estas ciudades y hagamos muros alrededor de ellas, con torres, puertas y rejas. La tierra está aún ante nosotros, porque hemos buscado a Yahvé, nuestro Dios. Lo hemos buscado, y él nos ha dado descanso por todos lados”. Así construyeron y prosperaron.
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 Asá tenía un ejército de trescientos mil de Judá, que llevaban escudos y lanzas, y doscientos ochenta mil de Benjamín, que llevaban escudos y tensaban arcos. Todos ellos eran hombres de gran valor.
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 Zéraj el etíope salió contra ellos con un ejército de un millón de soldados y trescientos carros, y llegó a Maresá.
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 Asá salió a su encuentro, y prepararon la batalla en el valle de Cefatá, en Maresá.
Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.
11 Asá clamó a su Dios, y dijo: “Señor, no hay nadie más que tú para ayudar, entre el poderoso y el que no tiene fuerza. Ayúdanos, Yahvé, nuestro Dios, porque en ti confiamos, y en tu nombre venimos contra esta multitud. Yahvé, tú eres nuestro Dios. No dejes que el hombre prevalezca contra ti”.
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 El Señor hirió a los etíopes ante Asa y ante Judá, y los etíopes huyeron.
Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,
13 Asá y el pueblo que estaba con él los persiguieron hasta Gerar. Fueron tantos los etíopes que cayeron que no pudieron recuperarse, pues fueron destruidos ante el Señor y ante su ejército. El ejército de Judá se llevó mucho botín.
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 Atacaron todas las ciudades alrededor de Gerar, porque el temor de Yahvé se apoderó de ellas. Saquearon todas las ciudades, pues había mucho botín en ellas.
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 También atacaron las tiendas de los que tenían ganado, y se llevaron ovejas y camellos en abundancia, y luego regresaron a Jerusalén.
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.
