2 Chronicles 14

1Abijah rested with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Asa his son became king in his place. In his days the land had peace for ten years.

2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God.

3He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.

4He commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and to obey the law and the commandments.

5He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom had peace under him.

6He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land had peace. No one made war with him in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest.

7He said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still open before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

8Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, armed with small shields and bows. All of these were mighty warriors.

9Zerah the Cushite came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah.

10Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

11Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God, “Yahweh, there is no one besides you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Yahweh our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. Yahweh, you are our God; do not let a mere mortal prevail against you.”

12So Yahweh struck down the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.

13Asa and the people with him pursued them as far as Gerar. So many Cushites fell that none of them survived, for they were crushed before Yahweh and his army. The men of Judah carried off a very large amount of plunder.

14They struck all the towns around Gerar, for the terror of Yahweh had fallen on them. They plundered all the towns, for there was much plunder in them.

15They also struck the tents of the herdsmen and carried off sheep and camels in abundance. Then they returned to Jerusalem.