2 Chronicles 14:8-15

New King James Version

⁸ And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried ^[a]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew ^(A)bows; all these were mighty men of ^(B)valor.

^9 (C)Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to ^(D)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(E)cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is ^(F)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 ^(G)in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

¹² So the Lord ^(H)struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to ^(I)Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much ^[b]spoil. ¹⁴ Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for ^(J)the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much ^[c]spoil in them. ¹⁵ They also ^[d]attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

The Reforms of Asa

15 Now ^(K)the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² And he went out ^[e]to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. ^(L)The Lord is with you while you are with Him. ^(M)If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but ^(N)if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ^3 (O)For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a ^(P)teaching priest, and without ^(Q)law; ⁴ but ^(R)when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. ⁵ And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (S)So nation was ^[f]destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. ⁷ But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”

⁸ And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of ^[g]Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities ^(T)which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord.