2 Chronicles 15:1–9

Asa’s Religious Reforms

15^yThe Spirit of God came¹ upon Azariah the son of Oded, ²and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^zThe Lord is with you while you are with him. ^aIf you seek him, he will be found by you, ^bbut if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ^3cFor a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ^4dbut 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 ^eto him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. ^7fBut you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^gfor your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸As soon as Asa heard these words, ^hthe prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ⁱthe cities that he had taken in ^jthe hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^kthat was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.^{2 9}And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^land those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.