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2 Chronicles

Covers Solomon's reign and the kingdom of Judah's history, emphasizing faithfulness to God.

Chapter 14

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1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

*Abijah passed away and was buried in the city of David. His son Asa took over the throne, and during Asa's reign, the land experienced peace for ten years.

2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

*And Asa did what pleased God, doing what was right in his sight.

3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

*He removed the altars for other gods, the tall worship places, broke the statues, and destroyed the sacred trees.

4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

*Judah was told to look for God, the same as their ancestors did, and to follow the rules and commands.

5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

*He removed high places and statues from all Judah's cities, bringing peace to his kingdom.

6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.

*He constructed fortified towns in Judah when there was peace and no fighting. This happened because the Lord provided peace during that time.

7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

*So he told Judah, "Let's build these cities with walls, towers, gates, and locks while we can. We asked our God for help, and he has given us peace everywhere. They did this and became successful.

8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

*And King Asa had a large army of 300,000 men from Judah with shields and spears, and 288,000 strong fighters from Benjamin with shields and bows. All these men were very brave.

9 And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

*Zerah from Ethiopia appeared with one million soldiers and 300 chariots against them, and went to Mareshah.

10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

*Then Asa fought against him and arranged the battle in the valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

11 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

*Asa called out to God, saying, "God, it doesn't matter if you help us with many people or just a few who are weak. Please help us, God, because we trust in you and go into battle with your name. Oh Lord, you are our God; don't let people win against you."

12 So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

*So, the LORD helped Asa and Judah by defeating the Ethiopians, causing them to run away.

13 And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.

*Asa and his allies chased the enemies to a place called Gerar. The Ethiopians lost and couldn't recover because they were defeated by God and His forces. As a result, Asa's group took a lot of loot from them.

14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.

*So, they attacked all the nearby cities belonging to Gerar. This happened because God's fear had struck them. They looted all the cities because there was a lot of valuable stuff to take.

15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

*They attacked and took many animals from the livestock tents, then brought them back to Jerusalem.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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