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.
Gao-aob Asab ge Etiopiaǁîna ra dan
1 Gao-aob Abiab ge ǁō tsî ǁîb aboxagu di ǀhobadi ǃnâ, Davidi ǃĀs ǃnâ ge ǁkhōhe. ǁÎb ôab Asab ge ǁîb khaoǃgâ ge gao-ao kai, tsîb ge ǃhūba Asab ǂgaeǂguis ǃnaka, disi kurigu ǁaeba ǂkhîba ge ūhâ i. 2 Asab ge ǃKhūb, ǁîb Elob mûǁae ǃgâi tsî ǂhanuna gere dī. 3 ǁÎb ge ǃhao altardi tsî ǀūben ǀgoreǀîǃkhaidi tsîna ūbē, ǀuiǂkhâǃnâga khôaǁnâ tsî ǁgôa-elos Aseras di īga ge ǁhāǁnâ. 4 Tsîb ge Judab khoena ge mîmā, în ǃKhūb, ǁîn aboxagu Elob di ǂâisa dī tsî ǁîb ǂhanugu tsî mîmādi tsîna ǁnâuǀnam. 5 ǀŪben di ǀgoreǀîǃkhaidi tsî ǀanǀanaltardi tsînab ge Judab ǃāde xu a dībē, xui-aob ge ǁîb ǂgaeǂguis ǁaeb ǃnâ ǂkhîba gaosib ǃnâ ge hâ i. 6 ǁÎb ge ǁnā ǁaeb ǃnâ Judab ǃāde ge omǂnami, tsî i ge ǂomxa kurigu ǁaeba toro-e ge ǀkhai i, ǃKhūb ge ǂkhîba mā bi xui-ao. 7 Tsîb ge Judab di khoen ǃoa ge mî: “A da ǃāde omǂnami, ǂgō-omga om tsî ǂganamhe ǁkhā dao-amde kuru, î da ǁnā ǀgaub ǀkha ǁîde ǀgaiǀgai. Nē ǃhūb ge a sada di, ǃKhūb sada Elob di ǂâisa da ge dī amaga. ǁÎb ge hoa ǀkhāgu ai ǁkhauba da tsî sâba ge mā da.” 8 Gao-aob Asab ge ǃnonakaidisiǀoadisi aogu, ǁkhaukhōdi tsî ǁhâigôagu tsîna ra tanigu, Judaba xu hâga ge ūhâ i, tsî ǀgamkaidisi tsî ǁkhaisadisiǀoadisi aogu ǁkhaukhōdi tsî khādi tsîna ra taniga, Benjaminna xu. Nēgu hoagu ge ǁkhoaǂgaoxa, ǃgari-ao ge iga.
9 Sera ti ǀon hâ Etiopiaǁîb ge miljun toroǃkhamaogu tsî ǃnonakaidisi torokunidi tsîn ǀkha Judaba ǁnāǂam tsî Maresas kōse ge sī. 10 Ob ge Asaba ǁîbab nî ǃkhamǃoase ge ǂoa tsî gu ge Maresas ǀgūse, Sefataǃgoaǃnāb ǃnâ ge mâǃoagu. 11 Ob ge Asaba ǃKhūb, ǁîb di Eloba ge ǂgaiǀî: “O, ǃKhūtse, sats ge ǂkhabusa toroǂnubisa ǀgaisas ǃoagu a hui ǁkhā. Hui da re ǃKhū, sida di Elotse, sats ai da ra ǂgomaiǂnûi tsî sa ǀons ǃnâ da nē kai toroǂnubis ǃoagu hā ra ǃkham xuige. ǃKhūtse sats ge sida Elo, khoe-i xare-i ge sa ǃoagu i nî dan ǃkhaisa a ǃâubasen ǁoa.”
12 ǃKhūb ge Etiopiab toroǂnubisa, Asab ge Judab toroǂnubis ǀkha ǁîgu ǃoagu ǃkham ǃnubai ge dan. ǁÎgu ge ge ǃhū, 13 tsî gu ge Asab tsî ǁîb di toroǃkhamaogu tsîna, ǁîga Gerars kōse ge ǃgôaǃgon. ǁNātikō ǂgui Etiopiaǁîgu ge ge ǃgamhe, ǁîgu di toroǂnubis ge ǃaruǀî ǀhaoǀhaosen tsî ǃkham ǁoa is kōse. ǁÎgu ge ǃKhūb tsî ǁîb di toroǂnubis xa ge ǀgaidāhe, tsî gu ge Judab aoga ǂgui xūna ge ǁkhâuǁnâbasen. 14 ǁÎgu ge Gerars ǂnamipe hâ ǃādi hoade ge hîkākā, ǁnāpa ge hâ i khoen ge ǃKhūb di ǃaob xa kaise ǃkhōhe hâ i xui-ao. ǁÎgu ge ǁnā ǃādi hoadi ǃnâ ǂgâ tsî kaise ǂgui xūna ge ǁkhâuǁnâ. 15 ǁKhāti gu ge ǃûi-aogu di ǃharaga ǁnāǂam, ǂgui gūn tsî ǃnain tsîna ǁkhâuǁnâ tsî Jerusalems ǁga ge oa.
