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.
Epangelo laAsa
1 Ndele Abia okwa ka nangala pooxe nokwa pakwa moshilando shaDavid. Nomona waye Asa okwa ninga ohamba ponhele yaye. Mefimbo laye oshilongo sha li shi nombili omido omulongo.
2 Ndele Asa okwa ninga osho shiwa nosha yuka momesho Omwene, Kalunga kaye. 3 Okwa hanauna po eealtari dokoilongo noikulundu yokuyambela, ndele ta tataula eengudi domamanya nokwa ka po omiti domalupwelele daAsera, 4 nokwa lombwela Ovajuda va konge Omwene, Kalunga kooxe nokudiinina omhango noipango. 5 Nokwa hanauna po yo oikulundu yokuyambela neengudi doiyelekelatango domoilando aishe yomuJuda. Noshilongo sha kala nombili mepangelo laye. 6 Nokwa tunga vali oilando i neehotekuma muJuda, osheshi oshilongo sha kala nombili. Ndele ka pa li olwoodi loku mu lwifa nomido odo, shaashi Omwene e mu pa etulumuko. 7 Onghee hano a lombwela Ovajuda: “Oilando ei natu i tungeni tu i dingililife eehotekuma di neeshungongulu, oivelo noiidilifo, fimbo oshilongo shi nombili. Shaashi twa konga Omwene, Kalunga ketu. Fye otwe mu konga, nokwe tu pa etulumuko keembinga adishe.” Vo ova tunga hano ndele va li ve nelao. 8 Ndele Asa okwa li e nomatanga ovakwaita ve noikelelifo nomaonga: ovalumenhu omayovi omafele atatu vomuJuda, novomuBenjamin omayovi omafele avali nomayovi omilongo hetatu, ava hava humbata oikelelifo nomaonga. Vo aveshe va li ovaladi.
Asa ta taataa Ovaetiopia
9 Ndele Sera, Omuetiopia, okwe va homona nomatanga ovakwaita ve fike pomamiliyona nomatemba omafele atatu oita. Nokwe uya fiyo okuMaresa. 10 Opo nee Asa a ya oku mu shakeneka, ndele va tanda ombinga mefilu laSefata puMaresa. 11 Ndele Asa okwa ifana Omwene Kalunga kaye, ndele ta ti: “Omwene, kape na nande umwe ta dulu okukwafa ngaashi Ove pokati komunaenghono naau ehe neenghono. Omwene Kalunga ketu, tu kwafa, shaashi hatu liameke kwoove, ndele medina loye twe uya okulwa nongudu oyo. Omwene, Oove Kalunga ketu. Ino efa omunhu e ku dule.” 12 NOmwene okwa taataa Ovaetiopia komesho yaAsa nokomesho yOvajuda, nOvaetiopia va ya onhapo. 13 Ndele Asa novakwaita vaye ava va li puye, ve va shikula fiyo okuGerar. Ndele mOvaetiopia mwa fya vahapu, inava dula vali okumona eenghono. Osheshi va teywa po koshipala shOmwene nokoshipala shomatanga aye. Ndele va kufa oixuulwa ihapu unene. 14 Ndele va nangala oilando aishe yomoushiinda waGerar. Osheshi etilo la dja kOmwene, la li kombada yavo. Ndele va tinha oilando aishe, osheshi muyo mwa li oixuulwa ihapu. 15 Va kwata yo eehambo doimuna, ndele va kufa eedi dihapu neengamelo. Opo nee va shuna kuJerusalem.
