King Asa of Judah
1 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then his son Asa became king, and Judah had ten years of peace.
2 Asa obeyed the Lord his God and did right. 3 He destroyed the local shrines and the altars to foreign gods. He smashed the stone images of gods and cut down the sacred poles used in worshiping the goddess Asherah. 4 Then he told everyone in Judah to worship the Lord God, just as their ancestors had done, and to obey his laws and teachings. 5 He destroyed every local shrine and incense altar in Judah.
6 The Lord blessed Judah with peace while Asa was king, and so during that time, Asa fortified many of the towns. 7 He said to the people, “Let's build walls and defense towers for these towns, and put in gates that can be locked with bars. This land still belongs to us, because we have obeyed the Lord our God. He has given us peace from all our enemies.” The people did everything Asa had suggested.
8 Asa had a large army of brave soldiers: 300,000 of them were from the tribe of Judah and were armed with shields and spears; 280,000 were from Benjamin and were armed with shields and bows.
Judah Defeats Ethiopia's Army
9 Zerah from Ethiopia led an army of 1,000,000 soldiers and 300 chariots to the town of Mareshah in Judah. 10 Asa met him there, and the two armies prepared for battle in Zephathah Valley.
11 Asa prayed:
Lord God, only you can help a powerless army defeat a stronger one. So we depend on you to help us. We will fight against this powerful army to honor your name, and we know that you won't be defeated. You are the Lord our God.
12 The Lord helped Asa and his army defeat the Ethiopians. The enemy soldiers ran away, 13 but Asa and his troops chased them as far as Gerar. It was a total defeat—the Ethiopians could not even fight back!
The soldiers from Judah took everything that had belonged to the Ethiopians. 14 The people who lived in the villages around Gerar learned what had happened and were afraid of the Lord. So Judah's army easily defeated them and carried off everything of value that they wanted from these towns. 15 They also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived and took a lot of sheep, goats, and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.
Yahuuda mansa Asa
(1 Mansoolu 15:9-12)1 Bituŋ Abiya naata bele ka kafu a mumuñolu ma, ì ye a baadee Dawuda la Saatewo* le to. Bituŋ a dinkewo Asa keta mansa ti a noo to. A tiloo la, bankoo tarata tenkuŋo le kono fo sanji taŋ. 2 Asa baarata kuu betoo niŋ kuu tilindiŋo le la Yaawe ñaa koto, a la Alla. 3 A ye jalaŋ sadaabodulaalu* aniŋ batudulaa tintiŋolu* bondi, a ye jalaŋ bere samasiŋolu tiñaa, aniŋ a ye Asera* jalaŋ dokoolu kuntuŋ-kuntuŋ. 4 A ye Yahuuda yaamari ka bula Yaawe nooma, ì mumuñolu la Alla, aniŋ a la luwaa niŋ a la yaamaroolu. 5 A ye jalaŋ batudulaalu niŋ cuuraayi siisindidulaalu bondi Yahuuda saatewolu bee le kono. Bituŋ bankoo tarata tenkundiŋ a tiloo la. 6 A ye saatee baalu tata Yahuuda tuma meŋ, bankoo ñiŋ be kayiroo le kono. Moo niŋ a maŋ tara keloo la wo saŋolu kono, kaatu Yaawe le ye dahaa dii a la.
7 A ko Yahuuda moolu ye ko, “Ali naa ŋà ñiŋ saatewolu tata, ŋà daalu niŋ nee bantambiloo ke ì la, aniŋ kantaridulaalu. Bankoo ñiŋ mu ǹ taa le ti hani saayiŋ, kaatu ǹ sonta Yaawe ma le, ǹ na Alla. Ǹ sonta a ma le, aduŋ ate le ye dahaa dii ǹ na karoo bee la.” Wo to le ì ye ì loo, aduŋ ì yiriwaata baake.
8 Asa ye kelediŋ wuli keme saba le soto ka bo Yahuuda lasiloo to, ì bee niŋ koteeri* baalu niŋ sooroolu, aniŋ kelediŋ wuli keme fula kelediŋ wuli taŋ seyi mennu bota Benjamini lasiloo to, ì bee niŋ koteerindiŋolu aniŋ kaloolu. Ì bee mu kelenoolaa baalu le ti.
Asa ye Kusi noo keloo to
9 Sera Kusinkoo* niŋ kelediŋ wuliwuloolu aniŋ keleraŋ sareeti* keme saba le fintita Yahuuda kamma, aniŋ ì taata le fo Maresa saatewo to. 10 Asa fintita ka a kele, ì bee ye ì loodulaalu taa Sefata Wulumbaŋo to, Maresa daala.
11 Asa woosiita Yaawe, a la Alla ye ko, “Yaawe, moo te keriŋ ko ite, meŋ si sembentaŋolu tanka sembemaalu ma. Hee Yaawe ǹ na Alla, m̀ maakoyi, kaatu ntolu be tuukuriŋ ite le la, aduŋ m̀ fintita naŋ i too le la ka ñiŋ kelediŋ kafu baa kele. Hee Yaawe, ite le mu ǹ na Alla ti, kana soŋ moo ye i loo i fee.”
12 Bituŋ Yaawe wulita Kusinkoolu kamma, Asa niŋ Yahuuda ñaatiliŋo la, bituŋ Kusinkoolu borita. 13 Asa niŋ a la kelediŋolu ye ì bayi fo Kerari. Ì ye Kusinkoo jamaa faa, fo labaŋo la ì maŋ i loo noo ì fee kotenke, kaatu Yaawe niŋ a la kelediŋolu le be ì kasaara kaŋ. Yahuuda moolu ñapita ì la feŋ jamaa kaŋ, ì ye ì samba. 14 Ì ye saatewolu bee kasaara, mennu be Kerari tundoo kaŋ, kaatu Yaawe silaŋo le dunta jee moolu la. Ì ye ñiŋ saatewolu la feŋolu ñapinkaŋ, kaatu feŋ jamaa le be jee. 15 Ì ye beeyaŋ kantalaalu fanaa la daakaalu boyinkaŋ, aduŋ ì ye ì la saajiyolu niŋ baalu jamaa samba aniŋ ñonkomoolu. Bituŋ ì muruta Yerusalaamu.
