14 And Abijah lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of David, and reign doth Asa his son in his stead: in his days was the land quiet ten years.

² And Asa doth that which is good, and that which is right, in the eyes of Jehovah his God,

³ and turneth aside the altars of the stranger, and the high places, and breaketh the standing-pillars, and cutteth down the shrines,

⁴ and saith to Judah to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, and to do the law and the command;

⁵ and he turneth aside out of all cities of Judah the high places and the images, and the kingdom is quiet before him.

⁶ And he buildeth cities of bulwarks in Judah, for the land hath quiet, and there is no war with him in these years, because Jehovah hath given rest to him.

⁷ And he saith to Judah, `Let us build these cities, and compass [them] with wall, and towers, two-leaved doors, and bars, while the land [is] before us, because we have sought Jehovah our God, we have sought, and He giveth rest to us round about;' and they build and prosper.

⁸ And there is to Asa a force bearing target and spear, out of Judah three hundred thousand, and out of Benjamin, bearing shield and treading bow, two hundred and eighty thousand: all these [are] mighty of valour.

⁹ And come out unto them doth Zerah the Cushite with a force of a thousand thousand, and chariots three hundred, and he cometh in unto Mareshah,

¹⁰ and Asa goeth out before him, and they set battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹ And Asa calleth unto Jehovah his God, and saith, `Jehovah! it is nothing with Thee to help, between the mighty and those who have no power; help us, O Jehovah, our God, for on Thee we have leant, and in Thy name we have come against this multitude; O Jehovah, our God thou [art]; let him not prevail with Thee -- mortal man!

¹² And Jehovah smiteth the Cushim before Asa, and before Judah, and the Cushim flee,

¹³ and Asa and the people who [are] with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there fall of the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before Jehovah, and before His camp; and they bear away very much spoil,

¹⁴ and smite all the cities round about Gerar, for a fear of Jehovah hath been upon them, and they spoil all the cities, for abundant spoil hath been in them;

¹⁵ and also tents of cattle they have smitten, and they capture sheep in abundance, and camels, and turn back to Jerusalem.

15 And upon Azariah son of Oded hath been the Spirit of God,

² and he goeth out before Asa, and saith to him, `Hear, me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Jehovah [is] with you -- in your being with Him, and if ye seek Him, He is found of you, and if ye forsake Him, He forsaketh you;

³ and many days [are] to Israel without a true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law,

⁴ and it turneth back in its distress unto Jehovah, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found of them,

⁵ and in those times there is no peace to him who is going out, and to him who is coming in, for many troubles [are] on all the inhabitants of the lands,

⁶ and they have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God hath troubled them with every adversity;

⁷ and ye, be ye strong, and let not your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work.'

⁸ And at Asa's hearing these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he hath strengthened himself, and doth cause the abominations to pass away out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he hath captured from the hill-country of Ephraim, and reneweth the altar of Jehovah that [is] before the porch of Jehovah,

⁹ and gathereth all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon -- for they have fallen unto him from Israel in abundance, in their seeing that Jehovah his God [is] with him.

¹⁰ And they are gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

¹¹ and sacrifice to Jehovah on that day from the spoil they have brought in -- oxen seven hundred, and sheep seven thousand,

¹² and they enter into a covenant to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul,

¹³ and every one who doth not seek for Jehovah, God of Israel, is put to death, from small unto great, from man unto woman.

¹⁴ And they swear to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets,

¹⁵ and rejoice do all Judah concerning the oath, for with all their heart they have sworn, and with all their good-will they have sought Him, and He is found of them, and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about.

¹⁶ And also Maachah, mother of Asa the king -- he hath removed her from [being] mistress, in that she hath made for a shrine a horrible thing, and Asa cutteth down her horrible thing, and beateth [it] small, and burneth [it] by the brook Kidron:

¹⁷ yet the high places have not turned aside from Israel; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect all his days.

¹⁸ And he bringeth in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of God, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁹ And war hath not been till the thirty and fifth year of the reign of Asa.