King Asa of Judah
1 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then his son Asa became king, and Judah had ten years of peace.
2 Asa obeyed the Lord his God and did right. 3 He destroyed the local shrines and the altars to foreign gods. He smashed the stone images of gods and cut down the sacred poles used in worshiping the goddess Asherah. 4 Then he told everyone in Judah to worship the Lord God, just as their ancestors had done, and to obey his laws and teachings. 5 He destroyed every local shrine and incense altar in Judah.
6 The Lord blessed Judah with peace while Asa was king, and so during that time, Asa fortified many of the towns. 7 He said to the people, “Let's build walls and defense towers for these towns, and put in gates that can be locked with bars. This land still belongs to us, because we have obeyed the Lord our God. He has given us peace from all our enemies.” The people did everything Asa had suggested.
8 Asa had a large army of brave soldiers: 300,000 of them were from the tribe of Judah and were armed with shields and spears; 280,000 were from Benjamin and were armed with shields and bows.
Judah Defeats Ethiopia's Army
9 Zerah from Ethiopia led an army of 1,000,000 soldiers and 300 chariots to the town of Mareshah in Judah. 10 Asa met him there, and the two armies prepared for battle in Zephathah Valley.
11 Asa prayed:
Lord God, only you can help a powerless army defeat a stronger one. So we depend on you to help us. We will fight against this powerful army to honor your name, and we know that you won't be defeated. You are the Lord our God.
12 The Lord helped Asa and his army defeat the Ethiopians. The enemy soldiers ran away, 13 but Asa and his troops chased them as far as Gerar. It was a total defeat—the Ethiopians could not even fight back!
The soldiers from Judah took everything that had belonged to the Ethiopians. 14 The people who lived in the villages around Gerar learned what had happened and were afraid of the Lord. So Judah's army easily defeated them and carried off everything of value that they wanted from these towns. 15 They also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived and took a lot of sheep, goats, and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.
Asa ma havere Ovaetiopi
1 Ombara Abija wa koka na pakwa momaendo wozombara mOtjihuro tja David. Omuzandu we Asa we mu pingena mouhonapare, nu moruveze rwouhona we ehi arihe ra kara mohange oure wozombura omurongo. 2 Asa wa tjita ouwa nousemba komurungu wa Muhona, Ndjambi we. 3 Eye wa isa po ovipunguhiro vyovisenginina nopoṋa pomerikotameneno kovisenginina kozondunda, na teya ozongunḓe zomawe ozonḓere, na ke ovihenḓe ovizere. 4 Eye wa rakiza kotjiwaṋa tja Juda kutja tji tjite ombango ya Muhona, Ndjambi wooihe mukururume, nokutja tji kare nonḓuviro komatwako na komaraerero wa Ndjambi. 5 Eye tjinga a isa po poṋa pomerikotameneno kovisenginina kozondunda novipunguhiro vyomatwimisiro movihuro avihe vya Juda, ouhona we otji wa kara mohange kehi yomananeno we. 6 Eye wa tunga oviṱunga ovinamasa movihuro vya Juda moure woruveze ndwi; nu moure wozombura tjiva kamwa ri ovita, Muhona tjinga e mu pa ohange. 7 Eye wa raera otjiwaṋa tja Juda na tja: “Ngatu zeuparise ovihuro mokutunga otumbo twomawe notuhungu, nomivero vyotumbo mbi mavi sora okuyezerwa nokupatwa. Eṱe tu nouvara mehi, tjinga atwa tjita ombango ya Muhona Ndjambi wetu, neye e tu yama ne tu pe ohange kominda avihe.” Nowo otji va zeuparisa ovihuro nave ṋingapara. 8 Ombara Asa wa ri notjimbumba tjovita tjovarumendu 300,000 Ovajuda mbe ripangaṋa nomanga notuvao, notjovarumendu 280,000 Ovabenjamin mbe ripangaṋa notuvao nomauta. Avehe va ri ozombanḓe, nu va hongerwe nawa okurwa.
9 Omuetiopi wena Serak wa rwisa Ovajuda notjimbumba tje tjovita tjovarumendu engete rimwe, nomatemba we wovita omasere yetatu; neye wa ryama nga kOmaresa. 10 Asa wa pita okukarwisa Serak, novimbumba aviyevari vya ri motuveze twavyo twomarwiro mOrutjandja rwa Sefata, popezu na Maresa. 11 Asa wa kumba ku Muhona, Ndjambi we, a tja: “Muhona, kape na umwe ngu ma yenene okuvatera ingwi otjingundi ku ingwi omunamasa posi ya ove. Tu vatera nambano, Muhona, Ndjambi wetu, eṱe tjinga atwe riyameka kove, nu mena roye twa piti okurwa kuna otjimbumba tjovarwe otjinamasa hi. Muhona, oove Ndjambi wetu; kape na umwe ngu ma yenene okukupirukira.”
12 Muhona wa havera Ovaetiopi, Asa notjimbumba tjOvajuda tjovita tji ve ve rwisa. Owo va taura, 13 nu Asa notjimbumba tje tjovita ve ve ramba nga kOgerar. Ovaetiopi ovengi nai va ṱa, nga otjimbumba tjawo tjovita tjaa tji ha sora okukurama nokurwa. Owo va haverwa i Muhona notjimbumba tje tjovita, notjo tja huura oviṋa ovingi tjinene. 14 Nowo va nyona ovihuro momikuma mbya kondoroka Gerar; orondu ovandu koṋa ngo va urumisiwa i Muhona. Otjimbumba tjovita tja huura ovihuro mbi avihe, natji twara ovihuurwa ovingi. 15 Owo wina va taurira mozondanda zovarise vozonyanda nave kambura ozonyanda nozongamero ozengi. Tjazumba otji va yaruka kOjerusalem.
