2 Chronicles 14 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became king in his place, and in his days the land had peace for ten years.

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

He removed the foreign altars and the hilltop shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and chopped down the Asherah poles.

He told Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and to follow his instructions and commands.

He also removed the hilltop shrines and incense altars from every town in Judah. The kingdom was at peace under him.

He built fortified cities in Judah because the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, because Yahweh had given him rest.

He said to Judah, "Let's build up these cities with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought Yahweh our God. We sought him, and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.

Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah carrying large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand from Benjamin carrying small shields and bows. All of them were mighty warriors.

Then Zerah the Ethiopian marched against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and advanced as far as Mareshah.

Asa went out to face him, and they took battle positions in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

Then Asa called out to Yahweh his God: "Yahweh, there is no one like you to help — whether the army is huge or has no strength at all. Help us, Yahweh our God, because we are relying on you, and in your name we have come against this massive force. Yahweh, you are our God. Don't let a mere human prevail against you."

Yahweh struck down the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

Asa and the army with him chased them all the way to Gerar. So many Ethiopians fell that they couldn't recover — they were shattered before Yahweh and his army. Judah's forces carried off a massive amount of plunder.

They attacked all the cities around Gerar because the terror of Yahweh had fallen on them. They plundered every city, because there was so much to take.

They also raided the tents of the livestock herders and carried off huge numbers of sheep, goats, and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.