2 Chronicles 14

¹And Abijah lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.

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

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

⁴He said to Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

⁵And he removed from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom was at rest before him.

⁶He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest, and there was no war against him in those years, for the Lord 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 ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

⁸And Asa had an army of those bearing large shields and spears from Judah, three hundred thousand, and from Benjamin those bearing shields and drawing bows, two hundred and eighty thousand. All these were mighty warriors.

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

¹¹And Asa called to the Lord his God and said, 'O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the one who has no strength. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not mortal man prevail against you.'

¹²The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.

¹³Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Cushites fell until none of them remained alive; for they were broken before the Lord and before his army. They carried away a great deal of plunder.

¹⁴And they struck all the cities around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord was upon them, and they plundered all the cities, for there was great plunder in them.

¹⁵They also struck down the tents of those who had livestock, and they carried off sheep in abundance and camels; and they returned to Jerusalem.