^15:8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged.¹² He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the Lord in front of the porch of the Lord’s temple.¹³

^15:9He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers¹⁴ from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live¹⁵ when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ^15:10They assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ^15:11At that time¹⁶ they sacrificed to the Lord some of the plunder they had brought back, including 700 head of cattle and 7,000 sheep.¹⁷^15:12They solemnly agreed¹⁸ to seek the Lord God of their ancestors¹⁹ with their whole heart and being. ^15:13Anyone who would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be executed, whether they were young or old,²⁰ male or female. ^15:14They swore their allegiance to the Lord, shouting their approval loudly and sounding trumpets and horns.²¹^15:15All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them.²² He made them secure on every side.²³

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Footnotes

12 Heb “strengthened himself.”
13 Heb “the porch of the Lord.”
14 Or “resident aliens.”
15 Heb “had fallen upon him.”
16 Or “In that day.”
17 The Hebrew term צֹאן (tso’n) denotes smaller livestock in general; depending on context it can refer to sheep only or goats only, but their is nothing in the immediate context here to specify one or the other.
18 Heb “entered into a covenant.”
19 Heb “fathers.”
20 Heb “whether small or great.”
21 Heb “with a loud voice and with a shout and with trumpets and with horns.”
22 Heb “and with all their desire they sought him and he allowed himself to be found by them.”
23 Heb “and the Lord gave them rest all around.”