1Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s son Asa became the next king after him. While Asa was king, the country had peace and rest for ten years.
Asa Becomes King of Judah
2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3Asa removed the altars where false gods were worshiped. He took away the high places. He smashed the sacred stones. He cut down the poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. 4He commanded Judah to worship the Lord, the God of their people. He commanded them to obey the Lord’s laws and commands. 5Asa removed the high places and incense altars from every town in Judah. The kingdom had peace and rest under his rule. 6He built up the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. The land was at peace. No one was at war with Asa during those years. That’s because the Lord gave him peace and rest.
7“Let’s build up our towns,” Asa said to the people of Judah. “Let’s put walls around them. Let’s provide them with towers. Let’s make them secure with gates that have heavy metal bars. The land still belongs to us. That’s because we’ve trusted in the Lord our God. We trusted in him, and he has given us peace and rest on every side.” So they built. And things went well for them.
8Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah. They carried spears and large shields. There were 280,000 men from Benjamin. They were armed with bows and small shields. All these men were brave soldiers.
9Zerah marched out against them. He was from Cush. He had a huge army of thousands. He also had 300 chariots. They came all the way to Mareshah. 10Asa went out to meet Zerah in battle. They took up their positions in the Valley of Zephathah. It’s near Mareshah.
11Then Asa called out to the Lord his God. He said, “Lord, there isn’t anyone like you. You help the weak against the strong. Lord our God, help us. We trust in you. In your name we have come out to fight against this huge army. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let mere human beings win the battle over you.”
12The Lord struck down the men of Cush for Asa and Judah. The Cushites ran away. 13Asa and his army chased them all the way to Gerar. A large number of Cushites fell down wounded or dead. So they couldn’t fight back. The Lord and his army crushed them. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of goods. 14They destroyed all the villages around Gerar. The Lord had made the people in those villages afraid of him. The men of Judah took everything from all the villages. 15They also attacked the camps of those who took care of the herds. They carried off large numbers of sheep, goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
Asa rei de Judá
(1 Rs 15.8-12)
1Abias foi enterrado em Jerusalém, e o seu filho Asa sucedeu-lhe no trono. Durante os primeiros 10 anos do seu reinado houve paz na terra. 2Asa fez o que era bom e reto aos olhos do Senhor, seu Deus. 3Deitou abaixo os santuários pagãos sobre as colinas, derrubou os obeliscos e destruiu os vergonhosos ídolos de Achera. 4Pediu ainda a toda a nação que obedecesse à Lei e aos mandamentos do Senhor, o Deus dos seus antepassados. 5Também fez remover dos santuários pagãos as imagens e os altares de incenso de todas as povoações de Judá.
6Por isso, o Senhor manteve o seu reinado em paz, o que lhe deu a possibilidade de reconstruir cidades fortificadas, por toda a terra de Judá.
7“É agora que devemos fazer estas obras”, disse ao povo, “enquanto buscamos o Senhor, nosso Deus, e ele nos está a abençoar com paz. Edifiquemos e reforcemos estas cidades com muralhas, torres, portões e ferrolhos.” E assim levaram a cabo essas obras.
8O exército de Judá do rei Asa tinha 300 000 combatentes, equipados com escudos pequenos e com lanças. O contingente do seu exército originário de Benjamim totalizava 280 000 soldados, armados com grandes escudos e arcos. Ambos os exércitos eram compostos por homens valentes e bem treinados.
9A certa altura, Judá foi atacado por um exército de um milhão de homens, com trezentos carros de guerra, sob a liderança do General Zera, o cuchita14.9 Não se sabe ao certo, mas pode indicar alguém natural de Cuche ou pertencente a uma tribo lembrada em Hc 3.7.. Estes avançaram para a cidade de Maressa, 10no vale de Zefatá. O rei Asa mandou as suas tropas ali ao seu encontro.
11“Ó Senhor”, clamou ele a Deus, “ninguém mais nos pode socorrer! Aqui estamos nós, fracos e enfrentando um poderoso exército. Ajuda-nos, ó Senhor, nosso Deus! Pois confiamos só em ti para que nos salves. É no teu nome que vamos atacar este exército. Não permitas que meros homens possam derrotar-nos!”
12Então o Senhor derrotou os cuchitas diante de Asa e diante do exército de Judá, e estes fugiram. 13Perseguiram-nos até Gerar e todo o exército de cuchitas foi aniquilado, de tal forma que não se salvou nem um homem. Porque fora o Senhor e o seu exército quem os destruíra. As tropas de Judá trouxeram um abundante despojo. 14Enquanto estavam em Gerar, atacaram todas as cidades daquela zona e o terror do Senhor caiu sobre os habitantes dali. Como resultado, grandes quantidades de despojos foram trazidas daquelas cidades. 15Também destruíram currais e capturaram muito gado e camelos, antes de regressarem definitivamente a Jerusalém.
