1 Så hvilte Abija med sine fedre, og de la ham i jorden i Davids by, og Asa, hans sønn, ble konge etter ham; i hans tid hadde landet fred i ti år.

So Abijah went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David, and Asa his son became king in his place; in his time the land was quiet for ten years.

2 Asa gjorde det som var godt og rett i Herrens, hans Guds, øyne.

And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God;

3 For han fjernet altrene til fremmede guder og de høye stedene, og han lot de oppreiste steinene bli knust og de hellige stolpene bli hogget ned.

For he took away the altars of strange gods and the high places, and had the upright stones broken and the wood pillars cut down;

4 Og han fikk Juda til å søke Herren, deres fedres Gud, og holde hans lover og bud.

And he made Judah go after the Lord, the God of their fathers, and keep his laws and his orders.

5 Han fjernet de høye stedene og solbildene fra alle Juda byer; og kongeriket hadde fred under hans styre.

And he took away the high places and the sun-images from all the towns of Judah; and the kingdom was quiet under his rule.

6 Han bygde befestede byer i Juda, for landet hadde fred og det var ingen kriger i de årene, fordi Herren hadde gitt ham hvile.

He made walled towns in Judah, for the land was quiet and there were no wars in those years, because the Lord had given him rest.

7 Han sa til Juda: La oss bygge disse byene, og sette murer rundt dem med tårn, porter og låser. Landet er fortsatt vårt, fordi vi har vært tro mot Herren vår Gud; vi har vært tro mot ham, og han har gitt oss hvile på alle kanter. Så de bygde, og alt gikk godt for dem.

He said to Judah, Let us make these towns, building walls round them with towers and doors and locks. The land is still ours, because we have been true to the Lord our God; we have been true to him and he has given us rest on every side. So they went on building and all went well for them.

8 Asa hadde en hær på tre hundre tusen menn fra Juda bevæpnet med brynjer og spyd, og to hundre og åtti tusen fra Benjamin bevæpnet med brynjer og buer; alle disse var stridsmenn.

And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah armed with body-covers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand of Benjamin armed with body-covers and bows; all these were men of war.

9 Og Serah, etioperen, kom ut mot dem til Maresja med en hær på en million, og tre hundre krigsvogner.

And Zerah the Ethiopian, with an army of a million, and three hundred war-carriages, came out against them to Mareshah.

10 Og Asa dro ut mot ham, og de stilte opp sine styrker i dalen nord for Maresja.

And Asa went out against him, and they put their forces in position in the valley north of Mareshah.

11 Asa ba til Herren sin Gud og sa: Herre, bare du kan gi hjelp mot de sterke til den som ikke har styrke; kom til vår hjelp, Herre vår Gud, for vårt håp er i deg, og i ditt navn har vi gått ut mot denne store hæren. Herre, du er vår Gud; la ikke menneskets makt bli større enn din.

And Asa made prayer to the Lord his God and said, Lord, you only are able to give help against the strong to him who has no strength; come to our help, O Lord our God, for our hope is in you, and in your name we have come out against this great army. O Lord, you are our God; let not man's power be greater than yours.

12 Da sendte Herren frykt over etioperne foran Asa og Juda; og etioperne flyktet.

So the Lord sent fear on the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah; and the Ethiopians went in flight.

13 Asa og folket som var med ham, forfulgte dem helt til Gerar; og ødeleggelsen blant etioperne var så stor at de ikke klarte å samle hæren igjen, for de ble knust foran Herren og hans hær; og de tok med seg store mengder av deres gods.

And Asa and the people who were with him went after them as far as Gerar; and so great was the destruction among the Ethiopians that they were not able to get their army together again, for they were broken before the Lord and before his army; and they took away a great amount of their goods.

14 De overvant alle byene rundt Gerar, fordi Herren sendte frykt over dem; og de tok med seg deres gods fra byene, for det var rikdomslagre der.

And they overcame all the towns round Gerar, because the Lord sent fear on them; and they took away their goods from the towns, for there were stores of wealth in them.

15 De angrep teltene til kvegeierne og tok med seg store mengder sauer og kameler og dro tilbake til Jerusalem.

And they made an attack on the tents of the owners of the cattle, and took away great numbers of sheep and camels and went back to Jerusalem.