1So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. Asa his son became king in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
3He took away the altars of the foreign gods and the high places. He broke down the images and cut down the groves.
4He commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.
5He also took away the high places and the images out of all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet under him.
6He built walled cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest.
7So he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities, and put walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars, while the land is still ours. We have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side." So they built, and they prospered.
8Asa had an army of men who carried shields and spears: three hundred thousand from Judah, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand who carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valour.
9Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a thousand thousand men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.
10Then Asa went out against him, and they drew up their lines for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
11Asa cried to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, it is nothing for you to help, whether with many or with those who have no power. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on you, and in your name we go against this great crowd. O LORD, you are our God. Do not let man win against you."
12So the LORD struck down the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
13Asa and the people with him chased them as far as Gerar. The Ethiopians were overthrown, so that they could not recover themselves, for they were destroyed before the LORD and before his army. And they carried away a great deal of plunder.
14They struck down all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD came upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was a very great amount of plunder in them.
15They also struck down the tents of the herdsmen, and carried away many sheep and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.