⁹ Zerah the Cushite marched against them with an army of 1,000,000 men^[a] and 300 chariots . He arrived at Mareshah, ¹⁰ and Asa went out to oppose him. They deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa prayed^[b] to the Lord his God: “O Lord, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered.^[c] Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army.^[d] O Lord, you are our God; don’t let men prevail against you!”^{[e] 12} The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, ¹³ and Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites were wiped out;^[f] they were shattered before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[g] carried off a huge amount of plunder. ¹⁴ They defeated all the towns surrounding Gerar, for the Lord caused them to panic.^[h] The men of Judah^[i] looted all the towns, for they contained a huge amount of goods.^{[j] 15} They also attacked the tents of the herdsmen in charge of the livestock.^[k] They carried off many sheep and camels and then returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you!