2 Chronicles 14:1–15:19

^*So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and ^aAsa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

^2*And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: ³For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and ^bthe high places, and brake down the ^†images, and ^ccut down the groves: ⁴And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. ⁵Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah ^bthe high places and the ^†images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. ⁶And he built ^dfenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in ^ethose years; because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them ^fwalls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and ^ghe hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. ⁸And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah ^hthree hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and ⁱdrew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

⁹And there came out against them Zerah ^jthe Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto ^kMareshah. ¹⁰Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of ^lZephathah at ^kMareshah. ¹¹And Asa ^mcried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is ⁿnothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we ^orest on thee, and ^pin thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not ^||man ^qprevail against thee. ¹²So the Lord ^rsmote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto ^sGerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not ^trecover themselves; for they were ^†destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴And they smote all the cities round about ^sGerar; for ^uthe fear of the Lord came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them. ¹⁵They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

15And ^athe Spirit of God came upon ^bAzariah the son of Oded: ²And he went out ^†to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and ^cif ye seek him, he will be found of you; but ^dif ye forsake him, he will forsake you. ³Now ^efor a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without ^fa teaching priest, and without law. ⁴But ^gwhen they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. ⁵And ^hin those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. ⁶And nation was ^†destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. ⁷Be ⁱye strong therefore, and let not ^kyour hands be weak: for ^lyour work shall be rewarded.

⁸And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of ^bOded the prophet, he took courage, and ^mput away the ^†abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities ⁿwhich he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was ^obefore the porch of the Lord. ⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and ^pthe strangers 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 ^qthird month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹And they offered unto the Lord ^†the same time, of ^rthe spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. ¹²And they ^sentered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; ¹³That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel ^tshould be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. ¹⁴And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with ^ucornets. ¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and ^csought him with their whole desire; and he was ^cfound of them: and the Lord ^vgave them rest round about.

^16wAnd also concerning Maachah the ^||mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an ^†idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and ^xstamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷But ^ythe high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. ¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.