Asa King of Judah^(A)

² Asa did what the Lord his God ·said was good and right [desired and approved]. ³ He removed the foreign altars and the ·places where gods were worshiped [^Lhigh places; 11:15]. He smashed the ·stone pillars that honored other gods [^Lpillars], and he ·tore [cut] down the Asherah [^Ca Canaanite fertility goddess] ·idols [poles; Deut. 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg. 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kin. 18:4]. ⁴ Asa commanded the people of Judah to ·follow [seek] the Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], and to obey his ·teachings [instructions; laws] and commandments. ⁵ He also removed the ·places where gods were worshiped [^Lhigh places; 11:15] and the incense altars from every town in Judah. So the kingdom ·had peace [was undisturbed] while Asa was king. ⁶ Asa built ·strong, walled [fortified] cities in Judah ·during the time of peace [while the land was undisturbed]. He had no war in these years, because the Lord gave him ·peace [rest].

⁷ Asa said to the people of Judah, “Let’s ·build up [fortify] these towns and put walls around them. Let’s make towers, gates, and bars in the gates. This country is still ours, because we have ·obeyed [sought] the Lord our God. We have ·followed [sought] him, and he has given us ·peace all around [rest on every side].” So they built and ·had success [prospered].

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows. All of them were ·brave fighting men [valiant/skilled warriors].

⁹ Then Zerah from ·Cush [Ethiopia] came out to fight them with an ·enormous army [army of one million men; ^La thousand thousands] and three hundred chariots. They ·came as far as [advanced to] the town of Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out to fight Zerah and ·prepared for battle [took battle positions] in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, “Lord, only you can help ·weak people [the powerless] against the ·strong [mighty; many]. Help us, Lord our God, because we ·depend on [trust in; rely on] you. We fight against this ·enormous army [multitude] in your name. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let ·anyone [man; mortals] ·win [prevail] against you.”

¹² So the Lord ·defeated [routed; struck down] the ·Cushites [Ethiopians] ·when Asa’s army from Judah attacked them [before Asa and Judah], and the Cushites ·ran away [fled]. ¹³ Asa’s army chased them as far as the town of Gerar. So many ·Cushites [Ethiopians] were killed that ·the army could not fight again [they could not recover]; they were ·crushed [shattered; destroyed] by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried ·many valuable things away from the enemy [off a great amount of plunder]. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the towns ·near [around] Gerar, because the ·people living in these towns were afraid of the Lord [^Lterror/dread of the Lord came upon them]. Since these towns had ·many valuable things [a lot of loot/plunder], Asa’s army ·took them away [looted/plundered/despoiled them]. ¹⁵ Asa’s army also attacked the ·camps where the shepherds lived [herdsmen] and took many ·sheep [^Lflocks] and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa King of Judah

⁹ During the twentieth year Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah. ¹⁰ His ·grandmother’s [mother’s; ^Cin the sense of ancestor] name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom [15:2]. Asa ruled in Jerusalem for forty-one years.

¹¹ Asa did what ·the Lord said was right [^Lwas right in the eyes/sight of the Lord], as his ·ancestor [^Lfather] David had done. ¹² He ·forced the male prostitutes at the worship places to leave the country [expelled/banished the male cult prostitutes from the land; 14:24]. He also took away the idols that his ·ancestors [fathers] had made.