¹And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ²And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while ye are with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him he will forsake you. ³Now for a long while Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law; ⁴but in their trouble they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found of them. ⁵And in those times there was no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in, but great disturbances were amongst all the inhabitants of the countries. ⁶And nation was broken against nation, and city against city; for God disturbed them with all manner of distress. ⁷But as for you, be firm and let not your hands be weak; for there is a reward for your deeds.

⁸And when 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 that he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah. ⁹And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell away to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.

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