2 Chronicles 14

1 When Abijah died, he was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. His son Asa became the king. While Asa was ruling, there was peace in Judah for ten years.

Et Asa fit ce qui est bien et droit aux yeux de l'Éternel, son Dieu.

2 Asa did things that Yahweh his God considers to be right and good.

Et il fit disparaître les autels de l'étranger et les tertres et il brisa les colonnes et mit en pièces les Astartés

3 His workers got rid of the altars to worship foreign gods that were on the high hills. They smashed the sacred stone pillars and cut down the poles for worshiping [the goddess] Asherah.

et enjoignit à Juda de chercher l'Éternel, Dieu de ses pères, et de pratiquer la Loi et le Commandement.

4 Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship [only] Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, and to obey his laws and commands.

Et il fit disparaître de toutes les villes de Juda les tertres et les colonnes solaires, et le pays fut en paix devant lui.

5 His workers destroyed all the shrines on the hilltops and the altars for burning incense [to idols] in every town in Judah. As a result, there was peace while Asa ruled the kingdom [of Judah].

Et il bâtit des places fortes en Juda, car le pays était tranquille et durant ces années il n'eut pas de guerre à soutenir, parce que l'Éternel lui donna du repos.

6 His workers built cities and constructed walls around them. No army attacked Judah during that time, because Yahweh enabled them to have peace.

Et il dit à Juda: Bâtissons ces villes et les entourons de murs et de tours, de portes et de verrous; le pays est encore à notre discrétion, parce que nous avons cherché l'Éternel, notre Dieu, l'avons cherché, et Il nous a assuré le repos de la part de tous nos alentours. Ils bâtirent donc et réussirent.

7 Asa said to the people of Judah, “We should protect these towns by building walls around them, with watchtowers and gates that have bars. This country still belongs to us because we have requested Yahweh our God to help us. We requested him for his help, and he has given us peace in our entire country.” So they built buildings and prospered.

Et Asa avait une armée portant bouclier et lance, de Juda trois cent mille hommes, et de Benjamin deux cent quatre-vingt mille, portant la rondache et maniant l'arc, tous braves guerriers.

8 Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah. They all carried large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin [in his army]. They carried [smaller] shields, and bows [and arrows]. They were all brave soldiers.

Et contre eux s'avança Zérach, l'Ethiopien, avec une armée d'un million d'hommes et trois cents chars, et il pénétra jusqu'à Marésa.

9 Zerah, a man from Ethiopia/Sudan, marched with a huge army and 300 chariots to attack [the army of Judah and Benjamin]. They went as far as [the town of] Mareshah [about 25 miles/southwest of Jerusalem].

Et Asa sortit à sa rencontre, et ils se rangèrent en bataille dans la vallée de Tsephatha près de Marésa.

10 Asa went [with his army] to fight against them, and both armies took their positions in the Zephathah Valley.

Et Asa invoqua l'Éternel, son Dieu, et dit: Éternel, nul autre que toi ne peut intervenir comme aide entre un fort et un faible: sois notre aide, Éternel, notre Dieu! car c'est toi que nous prenons pour appui et c'est en ton Nom que nous affrontons cette multitude; Éternel, tu es notre Dieu; que le mortel ne l'emporte pas sur loi.

11 Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God, saying, “Yahweh, there is no one like you who can help those who have very little power to resist a mighty army. Yahweh our God, help us, because we are relying on you; and trusting in you we have come [to fight] against this huge army. Yahweh, you are our God; do not allow anyone to defeat you.”

Alors l'Éternel défit les Ethiopiens devant Asa et devant Juda, et les Ethiopiens prirent la fuite.

12 Then Yahweh enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the army from Ethiopia. They fled,

Et Asa avec la troupe qui était avec lui les poursuivit jusqu'à Gérar, et il tomba tant d'Éthiopiens que pas un n'eut la vie sauve; car ceux-ci furent taillés en pièces devant l'Éternel et son armée. Et ils remportèrent un très grand butin.

13 and Asa and his army pursued them [to the southwest] as far as Gerar. A huge number of the soldiers from Ethiopia were killed, with the result that those [who were not killed] were unable to fight any more. They were greatly defeated by Yahweh and his army, and the men of Judah carried away a great amount of their possessions.

Et ils firent main basse sur toutes les villes autour de Gérar, car elles étaient sous la terreur de l'Éternel, et ils pillèrent toutes les villes, car il s'y trouvait beaucoup de butin.

14 The men of Judah were able to destroy the people in villages near Gerar because Yahweh had caused the people there to become terrified [and unable to fight]. The army of Judah took away all the valuable things from those villages.

Et ils firent aussi main basse sur les tentes des troupeaux, et ils emmenèrent des brebis en quantité et des chameaux et regagnèrent Jérusalem.

15 They also attacked the places where the local people who took care of domestic animals had set up their tents, and they took away big herds of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

et tout Juda se réjouit du serment, car ils l'avaient prêté de tout leur cœur, et c'était de leur plein gré qu'ils le cherchaient, et Il se laissa trouver par eux, et l'Éternel leur donna paix de toutes parts.