2 Chronicles 15–16

15 And athe Spirit of God came upon bAzariah the son of Oded: 2 And 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. 3 Now efor a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without fa teaching priest, and without law. 4 But gwhen they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5 And 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. 6 And nation was †destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 7 Be iye strong therefore, and let not kyour hands be weak: for lyour work shall be rewarded.

8 And 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. 9 And 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. 10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the qthird month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they offered unto the Lord †the same time, of rthe spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12 And they sentered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel tshould be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with ucornets. 15 And 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.

16 wAnd 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. 17 But ythe high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18 And 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. 19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

16 *In the asix and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa bBaasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at †Damascus, saying, 3 There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of †his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and cAbel-maim, and all dthe store cities of Naphtali. 5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. 6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

7 And at that time eHanani fthe seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, gBecause thou hast hrelied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8 Were not ijthe Ethiopians and jthe Lubims †a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, khe delivered them into thine hand. 9 For lthe eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, ||to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose mheart is perfect toward him. Herein nthou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth othou shalt have wars. 10 Then Asa was wroth with fthe seer, and put him in pa prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa †oppressed some of the people the same time.

11 And, behold, qthe acts of Asa, rfirst and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 *And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign qwas diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 13 sAnd Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. 14 And sthey buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had †made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled twith sweet odours and udivers kinds of spices prepared by xthe apothecaries’ art: and they made ya very great burning for him.