2 ChroniclesChapter 14
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1Abijah died and joined his ancestors. He was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became king in his place. While Asa was king, the land had peace for ten years. 2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3He took away the altars to foreign gods and the high places. He smashed the sacred stone pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. 4He commanded the people of Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers. He told them to obey the law and the commands. 5He also took away the high places and incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom had peace while he ruled. 6The land had peace, so Asa built strong cities in Judah. No one fought a war with him in those years, because the LORD had given him rest. 7So he said to the people of Judah, "Let's build up these cities. Let's put walls and towers around them, with 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 all around." So they built and did well. 8Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah. They carried large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin. They carried small shields and shot bows. All of them were brave warriors. 9Then Zerah the Cushite marched out against them. He had an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots. They came as far as Mareshah. 10So Asa went out to fight him. His army lined up for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. 11Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God. He said, "O LORD, no one but you can help the weak against the strong. Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you. In your name we have come against this huge army. O LORD, you are our God. Do not let a mere human win against you." 12So the LORD struck down the Cushites in front of Asa and Judah. The Cushites ran away. 13Then Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell and could not recover. They were crushed before the LORD and his army. So the people of Judah carried off a great amount of loot. 14They attacked all the towns around Gerar, because the terror of the LORD had fallen on them. They took loot from all the towns, since there was a lot of loot there. 15They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and took many sheep and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.