“So Yahweh defeated the Ethiopians before King Asa and Judah. The Ethiopians fled. King Asa and the army with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Ethiopians fell until no one remained alive. For they were broken before Yahweh and his army. The people of Judah carried away a great quantity of booty. They defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Yahweh was on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. They also attacked the tents of those who had livestock. They carried away sheep and goats in abundance. Then they returned to Jerusalem.”
With the prayerful request in place, Yahweh responded by defeating the Ethiopian warriors. According to this account, one million, 1,000,000, Ethiopians were killed since none remained alive. Now that is one big defeat. After this great shocking massacre, the men of Judah went after their cities and booty as they plundered the towns in and around Gerar. They also took all the farm animals of the tent people. The city of Gerar was actually a Philistine stronghold rather than Ethiopian. Certainly the tent people were not from Ethiopia. Then all the warriors of Judah returned to Jerusalem. It is one thing to ask God for help when you are outnumbered 2-1. It is quite another thing to destroy everyone and everything, including their cities, towns, and tents, while taking their livestock animals. It is hard to justify the later. This story would have been better ending after the second sentence that the Ethiopians had fled, and leave it at that. As it is here, this is plain overkill.