2 Chronicles 14–16

The Reign of Asa in Judah

14^a And Abijah slept with his ancestors,^b and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son became king in his place. In his days the land was at rest ten years. ²Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God. ³He removed the foreign altars and high places, broke down the stone pillars, and cut down the Asherahs. ⁴And he commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,^c and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵And he removed the high places and the incense stands from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom had rest under^d him. ⁶And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land was at rest. Under^e him there was no war in those years, for Yahweh had given rest to him. ⁷And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates, and bars while the land is before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought and he has given rest to us on every side.” So they built and had success. ⁸And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah, bearing shields and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin who carried shields and drew bows. All of these were mighty warriors of strength.

⁹Zerah the Cushite came out against them with an army of a thousand thousands and three hundred chariots. And he came to Mareshah. ¹⁰And Asa went out before him, and a battle was put in order in the valley of Zepah at Mareshah.

¹¹Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God. And he said, “O Yahweh, there is none with you to help between the great and the powerless. Help us, O Yahweh our God, for we rely upon you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, you are our God! Let no man prevail against you!”

¹²So Yahweh defeated the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled. ¹³Then Asa and the army^f with him pursued them to Gerar. And many from the Cushites fell, for they had no deliverance, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before his army. And they carried away much war booty. ¹⁴And they struck all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Yahweh was upon them. And they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵And they also struck the tents of the herdsmen and carried away many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa’s Religious Reforms

15Now Azariah the son of Oded—the Spirit of God came upon him. ²And he went out before Asa and said to him, “Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you. ³Now Israel has been without the true God many days, and without a teaching priest, and without law, ⁴but at its trouble he returned to Yahweh, the God of Israel. They sought him, and he was found by them. ⁵And in those times there was no peace for the one going out and the one coming in, for great tumults were upon all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶Nation was crushed by nation, and city was against city, for God threw them into confusion by all sorts of trouble. ⁷But as for you, be strong and let not your hands be weak, for there is reward for your labor.”

⁸And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the vile idols from all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was in front of the portico of Yahweh.

⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those sojourning with them, from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for many had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. ¹⁰And they were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹And they sacrificed to Yahweh on that day from the war booty they brought back: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. ¹²And they entered into a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,^a with all their heart and with all their inmost being,^{b 13}but all who will not seek Yahweh the God of Israel should be killed, from young to old, from men to women. ¹⁴And they took an oath to Yahweh with a great voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with horns. ¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they swore with all their heart. And they sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and Yahweh gave rest to them all around.

¹⁶And also Maacah, the mother of Asa, the king removed her from being queen, because she had made a repulsive image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her repulsive image, and he crushed and burned it at the Wadi^c Kidron. ¹⁷But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was fully devoted all his days. ¹⁸And he brought the holy objects of his father and his own holy objects into the house of God—silver and gold and vessels. ¹⁹And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

The End of Asa’s Reign

16In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha the king of Israel went up against Judah. And he built Ramah in order not to allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah. ²Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the storehouses of the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, and he sent them to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram,^a who lived in Damascus, saying, ³“There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he might withdraw from me.”

⁴And Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent commanders of his troops that were with him against the cities of Israel. And they struck Ijon, Dan, Abel-Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵And it happened that when Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. ⁶Then King Asa took all of Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

⁷And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “On account of your reliance upon the king of Aram,^b and since you did not rely on Yahweh your God, therefore the troops of the king of Aram^c escaped from your hand. ⁸Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with very abundant chariots and horsemen? And because of your reliance on Yahweh he gave them into your hand. ⁹For the eyes of Yahweh roam throughout all the earth to strengthen those whose heart is fully devoted to him. You have been foolish in this, for from now on you will have wars.”

¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the prison,^d for he was enraged with him concerning this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

¹¹Now behold, the words of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, he fell severely^e ill in his feet. But even in his illness he did not seek Yahweh, but only among the healers. ¹³And Asa slept with his ancestors.^f And he died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴And they buried him in his burial site, which had been cut out for him in the city of David. And they laid him on the bier which they had filled with all kinds of spices made by the perfumers as a fragrant ointment. And they made a great fire in his honor.