Now athe Spirit of God
came
on Azariah
the son
of Oded
,
and he went out 1to meet
Asa
and said
to him, "Listen
to me, Asa
, and all
Judah
and Benjamin
: athe LORD
is with you when you are with Him. And bif
you seek
Him, He will let you find
Him; but if
you forsake
Him, He will forsake
you.
" aFor many days
Israel
was without
the true
God
and without
ba teaching
priest
and without
law
.
"But ain their distress they turned
to the LORD
God
of Israel
, and they sought
Him, and He let them find
Him.
" aIn those times
there
was no
peace
to him who went
out or to him who came
in, for many
disturbances
1afflicted
all
the inhabitants
of the lands
.
" aNation was crushed
by nation
, and city
by city
, for God
troubled
them with every
kind of distress
.
"But you, abe strong and do not 1lose
courage
, for there
is breward
for your work
."
Now when Asa heard
these
words
and the 1prophecy
which Azariah
the son of Oded
the prophet
spoke, he took
courage
and removed
the abominable
idols
from all
the land
of Judah
and Benjamin
and from athe cities
which
he had captured
in the hill
country
of Ephraim
. bHe then restored
the altar
of the LORD
which
was in front
of the porch
of the LORD
.
He gathered all
Judah
and Benjamin
and those from Ephraim
, Manasseh
and Simeon
awho resided
with them, for many
defected
to him from Israel
when they saw
that the LORD
his God
was with him.
So they assembled at Jerusalem
in the third
month
of the fifteenth
year
of Asa's
reign
.
aThey sacrificed to the LORD
that day
700
oxen
and 7,000
sheep
from the spoil
they had brought
.
aThey entered into the covenant
to seek
the LORD
God
of their fathers
with all
their heart
and soul
;
and whoever would not seek
the LORD
God
of Israel
ashould be put
to death
, whether
small
or
great
, man
or
woman
.
Moreover, they made an oath
to the LORD
with a loud
voice
, with shouting
, with trumpets
and with horns
.
All Judah
rejoiced
concerning
the oath
, for they had sworn
with their whole
heart
and had sought
Him 1earnestly
, and He let them find
Him. So athe LORD
gave
them rest
on every
side
.
aHe also removed
Maacah
, the mother
of King
Asa
, from the position of queen
mother
, because
she had made
a horrid
image
1as ban Asherah
, and cAsa
cut
down
her horrid
image
, crushed
it and burned
it at the brook
Kidron
.
But the high places
were not removed
from Israel
; nevertheless
Asa's
heart
was blameless
all
his days
.
He brought into the house
of God
the dedicated
things
of his father
and his own dedicated
things
: silver
and gold
and utensils
.
And there was no more war
until
the thirty-fifth
year
of Asa's
reign
.