1 Abijah lay down with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa became king after him. In his days the land was at peace for ten years.
2 Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the LORD his God.
3 He did away with the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherim.
4 He ordered Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers and to carry out the law and the commandment.
5 He removed the high places and the incense altars from every city of Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.
6 He built fortress cities in Judah, since the land was at peace. No one made war on him during those years, because the LORD had given him rest.
7 He told Judah, "Let us build up these cities and put walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is still before us because we sought the LORD our God; we sought him, and he has given us peace all around." So they built, and they prospered.
8 Asa's army had three hundred thousand men from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, bearing small shields and drawing the bow; all of them were strong warriors.
9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a force of a million men and three hundred chariots, and reached Mareshah.
10 Asa went out to face him, and they formed their battle lines in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
11 Then Asa called to the LORD his God: "LORD, it is nothing to you to help, whether the mighty or those without strength. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this great crowd. LORD, you are our God; let no mere man hold out against you."
12 So the LORD routed the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites ran.
13 Asa and his troops chased them as far as Gerar. So many Cushites fell that they could not recover, for they were crushed before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah carried off a great deal of plunder.
14 They attacked all the cities around Gerar, because terror from the LORD had fallen on them, and they looted every city, since there was a great deal of plunder in them.
15 They also attacked the tents where the livestock were kept and carried off sheep and camels in large numbers. Then they went back to Jerusalem.