2 Chronicles 14
14
Early Years of Asa’s Reign
1 # 14:1 Verse 14:1 is numbered 13:23 in Hebrew text. When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king. There was peace in the land for ten years. 2#14:2 Verses 14:2-15 are numbered 14:1-14 in Hebrew text.Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God. 3He removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. 4He commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands. 5Asa also removed the pagan shrines, as well as the incense altars from every one of Judah’s towns. So Asa’s kingdom enjoyed a period of peace. 6During those peaceful years, he was able to build up the fortified towns throughout Judah. No one tried to make war against him at this time, for the Lord was giving him rest from his enemies.
7Asa told the people of Judah, “Let us build towns and fortify them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they went ahead with these projects and brought them to completion.
8King Asa had an army of 300,000 warriors from the tribe of Judah, armed with large shields and spears. He also had an army of 280,000 warriors from the tribe of Benjamin, armed with small shields and bows. Both armies were composed of well-trained fighting men.
9Once an Ethiopian#14:9a Hebrew a Cushite. named Zerah attacked Judah with an army of 1,000,000 men#14:9b Or an army of thousands and thousands; Hebrew reads an army of a thousand thousands. and 300 chariots. They advanced to the town of Mareshah, 10so Asa deployed his armies for battle in the valley north of Mareshah.#14:10 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. 11Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!”
12So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians#14:12 Hebrew Cushites; also in 14:13. in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled. 13Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar, and so many Ethiopians fell that they were unable to rally. They were destroyed by the Lord and his army, and the army of Judah carried off a vast amount of plunder.
14While they were at Gerar, they attacked all the towns in that area, and terror from the Lord came upon the people there. As a result, a vast amount of plunder was taken from these towns, too. 15They also attacked the camps of herdsmen and captured many sheep, goats, and camels before finally returning to Jerusalem.
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2 Chronicles 14: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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2 Chronicles 14
14
1Abijah died and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa took over as king. For ten years of his reign the country was at peace. 2Asa did what was good and right in the Lord's sight. 3He took down the foreign altars and high places, smashed their sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.#14:3. Images dedicated to the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah. Whether “pole” should be added is debated. 4He ordered Judah to worship the Lord, the God of their forefathers, and to observe the law and the commandments. 5He also took down the high places and the incense altars from all the towns of Judah. Under his rule the kingdom was at peace. 6Because the country was at peace he was able to rebuild the fortified towns of Judah. There were no wars during these years because the Lord had granted him peace.
7Asa told the people of Judah, “Let us build up these towns and surround them with walls and towers and barred gates. The land is still ours, because we continue to worship the Lord our God. We worship him, and he has given us peace from all our enemies.” So they began the building projects, and completed them successfully.
8Asa had an army made up of three hundred thousand men from Judah who carried large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin who carried regular shields and bows. All of them were brave warriors. 9Zerah the Ethiopian attacked them with an army of a thousand times a thousand#14:9. “Thousand times a thousand”: though this equates to one million, it may simply mean a very large number. men and three hundred chariots, advancing as far as Mareshah. 10Asa went out to confront him, lining up for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11Asa called out for help to the Lord his God: “Lord, there is no one apart from you who can help the powerless against the powerful. Please help us, Lord our God, for we trust in you. We have come against this horde because we stand for you,#14:11. “Stand for you”: literally, “in your name.” In other words, Asa is saying that the battle is the Lord's, not theirs. Lord. You are our God. Do not let a mere human being beat#14:11. “Beat”: the word here means to “restrain, hold back.” you.”
12The Lord struck the Ethiopians in front of Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians ran away. 13Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Ethiopians were killed—there were none who survived, for they were caught between the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. 14They also attacked all the towns around Gerar, because the inhabitants were terrified of the Lord. The men of Judah took a large amount of plunder from all the towns. 15Then they attacked the camps of the herdsmen and took many sheep and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com