II Chronicles 15

¹And the spirit of God came on Azariah, the son of Oded;

²And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up.

³Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without the law;

⁴But when in their trouble they were turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, searching after him, he let their search be rewarded.

⁵In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, but great trouble was on all the people of the lands.

⁶And they were broken by divisions, nation against nation and town against town, because God sent all sorts of trouble on them.

⁷But be you strong and let not your hands be feeble, for your work will be rewarded.

⁸And Asa, hearing these words of Azariah, the son of Oded the prophet, took heart and put away all the disgusting things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the towns which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he made new again the altar of the Lord in front of the covered way of the Lord's house.

⁹And he got together all Judah and Benjamin and those of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon who were living with them; for numbers of them came to him out of Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰So they came together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the rule of Asa.

¹¹And that day they made offerings to the Lord of the things they had taken in war, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

¹²And they made an agreement to be true to the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and all their soul;

¹³And that anyone, small or great, man or woman, who was not true to the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death.

¹⁴And they made an oath to the Lord, with a loud voice, sounding wind-instruments and horns.

¹⁵And all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave them rest on every side.

¹⁶And Asa would not let Maacah, his mother, be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had her image cut down and broken up and burned by the stream Kidron.

¹⁷But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.

¹⁸He took into the house of God all the things which his father had made holy and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.

¹⁹And there was no more war till the thirty-fifth year of the rule of Asa.

II Chronicles 15

¹The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded:

²and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

³Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

⁴But when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

⁵In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.

⁶They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.

⁷But you be strong, and do not let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded."

⁸When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.

⁹He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

¹¹They sacrificed to the Lord in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.

¹²They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

¹³and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

¹⁴They swore to the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

¹⁵All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest all around.

¹⁶Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

¹⁷But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

¹⁸He brought into God's house the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁹There was no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.