1When Abijah died, they buried him in the city of David; and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead. And there was peace in the land for ten years. 2And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD, his God; 3He removed the altars of the foreign gods, and the high places, smashed the sacred stones, cut down the Asherah poles, 4And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and obey His laws and commandments. 5Asa also removed the high places and the images from all the cities of Judah; and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6And since the LORD had given him peace and the land had rest from war in those years, he built fortified cities in Judah; 7And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and build walls, towers, gates, and bars around them, while the land is still ours; because we have sought the LORD our God; and He has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah, equipped with bucklers and spears; plus two hundred eighty thousand men of Benjamin, armed with bucklers and bows; all these were men of valor.

9Then Zerah, the Ethiopian (Cushite), came with an army of a million, and with three hundred chariots as far as Mareshah. 10Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11And Asa called upon the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, there is none but You to help those with no power, against many. Help us, O LORD our God; for we rely upon You; and in Your name, we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let no mortal man prevail against You.” 12So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and the army of Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13And Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar; and the Ethiopians were devastated beyond recovery; because so many were destroyed before the LORD and His army; and Judah carried away very much plunder. 14And while they at Gerar; they attacked all the villages around it; for the fear of the LORD had come upon the villagers. And they found much plunder in those villages. 15They also attacked the camps of the drovers; and carried off droves of cattle. sheep and camels, before returning to Jerusalem.