2 Chronicles 14

This edition follows the Hebrew versification; the traditional number is given in brackets.

Asa’s Reforms and the Cushite War

1[14:2]Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God. 2[14:3]He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the sacred poles. 3[14:4]He told Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, and to carry out the law and the commandment. 4[14:5]He removed the high places and the incense altars from every town of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 5[14:6]He built fortified towns in Judah, since the land was quiet and no one made war on him in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest. 6[14:7]He said to Judah: “Let us build up these towns and ring them with walls and 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 they prospered. 7[14:8]Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah carrying large shields and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin carrying shields and drawing the bow — all of them seasoned fighters. 8[14:9]Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army a thousand thousand strong and three hundred chariots, and advanced as far as Mareshah. 9[14:10]Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines for battle in the Valley of Zephathah, near Mareshah. 10[14:11]Asa called to Yahweh his God: “Yahweh, there is no one but you to help between the mighty and the powerless. Help us, Yahweh our God, for we lean on you, and in your name we have come out against this horde. Yahweh, you are our God; do not let a mere mortal hold his own against you.” 11[14:12]Yahweh struck the Cushites down before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled. 12[14:13]Asa and the people with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and so many of the Cushites fell that there was no reviving them; they were shattered before Yahweh and before his camp. And the men of Judah carried off a huge amount of plunder. 13[14:14]They struck all the towns round Gerar, for the terror of Yahweh had fallen on them; and they plundered every one of the towns, since there was a great deal of plunder in them. 14[14:15]They struck the camps of the herdsmen too, and carried off sheep in abundance, and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.