King Asa of Judah

1Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then his son Asa became king, and Judah had ten years of peace.

2Asa obeyed the LORD his God and did right. 3He destroyed the local shrines14.3 local shrines: See the note at 11.15. and the altars to foreign gods. He smashed the stone images of gods and cut down the sacred poles14.3 sacred poles: Or “trees”, used as symbols of Asherah, the goddess of fertility. used in worshipping the goddess Asherah. 4Then he told everyone in Judah to worship the LORD God, just as their ancestors had done, and to obey his laws and teachings. 5He destroyed every local shrine and incense altar in Judah.

6The LORD blessed Judah with peace while Asa was king, and so during that time, Asa fortified many of the towns. 7He said to the people, “Let's build walls and defence towers for these towns, and put in gates that can be locked with bars. This land still belongs to us, because we have obeyed the LORD our God. He has given us peace from all our enemies.” The people did everything Asa had suggested.

8Asa had a large army of brave soldiers: three hundred thousand of them were from the tribe of Judah and were armed with shields and spears; two hundred and eighty thousand were from Benjamin and were armed with bows and arrows.

Judah defeats Ethiopia's army

9Zerah from Ethiopia14.9 Ethiopia: See the note at 12.3. led an army of a million soldiers and three hundred chariots to the town of Mareshah14.9 Mareshah: About forty kilometres south-west of Jerusalem. in Judah. 10Asa met him there, and the two armies prepared for battle in Zephathah Valley.

11Asa prayed:

LORD God, only you can help a powerless army defeat a stronger one. So we depend on you to help us. We will fight against this powerful army to honour your name, and we know that you won't be defeated. You are the LORD our God.

12The LORD helped Asa and his army defeat the Ethiopians. The enemy soldiers ran away, 13but Asa and his troops chased them as far as Gerar. It was a total defeat—the Ethiopians could not even fight back!14.13 the Ethiopians could not even fight back: Or “not one of the Ethiopians survived!”

The soldiers from Judah took everything that had belonged to the Ethiopians. 14The people who lived in the villages around Gerar learnt what had happened and were afraid of the LORD. So Judah's army easily defeated them and carried off everything of value that they wanted from these towns. 15They also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived and took a lot of sheep, goats, and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.