9. Zerah from Ethiopia led an army of a million soldiers and three hundred 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 honour 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 learnt 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.