Asa mambo we Juda
1 Ndizo Abija kafa ngono bakambiganya mu nzi nkulu wa Dafite. Asa nkololo uwe kan'gala thaka kabusa mu bumo gugwe. Ngono kwakati kubusa Asa shango yakabe ne kunyalala kwe makole ali gumi. 2 Asa wakashathisa Yahwe Ndzimu uwe ngothama bubuya. 3 Wakapkhwanyila kutjena zwibeso zwe zwibhayilo zwe midzimu ipoga ne magalo apezhugwi katema phanda dze ndzimukadzi Ashera. 4 Ngono wakalaula kuti bathu be Juda bathame tjinoshakiwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babo ne kulondolodza milayo yabo. 5 Wakakolomola magalo wose akabe ethigamigwa midzimu ne zwibeso zwakabe zwipisigwa motsha mu mizi mikulu yose ye Juda, ngono kukabe ne kunyalala mu mbuso uwe. 6 Wakabaka matizhilo mu mizi mikulu ye Juda ngoti shango yakabe yabe ne kunyalala. Akuna wakagwa naye mu misi iyeyo ngoti Yahwe bakampa kunyalala. 7 Ngono wakati ku bathu be Juda, “Ngatibakeni mizi mikulu tiibakilile nge makuma ne thungamakole nge mikoba inozhaligwa nge butale. Tina simba le shango ngoti ndeyedu takathama kuda kwa Yahwe Ndzimu wedu. Bakatibakilila bakatipa kunyalala.” Ndizo bakabaka ngono bakabhudilila. 8 Asa wakabe ana babhayani be Bajuta bali mazana matatu e zwiwulu (300 000) bakabe bakashakatila mathumo ne zwivikisi ne babhayani banodwa ku Bhenjamini bali zwiwulu zwili mazana mabili ana zwili makumi ali zhanakadzi (280 000) bakabe bakazwilulwamisa zubuyanana nge zwivikisi ne matati bose ibaba bakabe bali balume bakasima be ngwa.
9 Kwakabe kuna nlume we Nkhushi wakabe edang'wa Zera, nlume iwoyo kanginilila Juda nge babhayani bali miliyoni (1 000 000) ne koloyi dze ngwa dzili mazana matatu (300) ngono kayenda kudzina kunoti ku Maresha. 10 Asa wakamilika kanobagwisa, ngono bakama zubuyanana bakalingisana bali ku nkuku we Zefatha pejo ne Maresha. 11 Ngono Asa kadana Yahwe Ndzimu uwe kati, “Yahwe akuna iye ungabhatsha pakati kwe bana matatabuko ne basina matatabuko kuzhe kwenyu. Mutibhatshe Yahwe Ndzimu wedu ngoti takabiga mu muli kakale nge zina lenyu tazha tiwolingisana ne babhayani ibaba banjinji. Yahwe imwi Ndzimu wedu akuna ungamukunda.”
12 Ndizo Yahwe bakakunda Baitopiya ha Asa ne Bajuda be banginilila ngono Baitopiya bakatizha. 13 Asa ne babhayani babe bakabatatamila kudzina benoti ku Gera. Bunji gwe Baitopiya bakabulawa kukasheta ne limbelimbe lasala litjila ngobe bakabe bakuligwa nge babhayani mbeli kwa Yahwe nenge babhayani babo, babhayani bakatapa thundu njinji. 14 Bakakolomola mizi mikulu yose yakapoteleka Gera ngoti bathu bakabe betja Yahwe. Babhayani bakatapa mizi mikulu ngobe kwakabe kuna thundu njinji muili. 15 Bakanokolomola mishasha ye bathuwi be ng'ombe ngono bakatapa pkhwizi dzabo njinji ne kamela dzabo. Kudwapo bakabgwilila ku Jerusalema.
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.