2 Chronicles 15:1–9

The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah

¹Now ^athe Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,

²and he went out ¹to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^aYahweh is with you when you are with Him. And ^bif you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

³“^aNow for many days Israel was without the true God and without ^ba teaching priest and without law.

⁴“But ^ain their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them.

⁵“^aNow in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

⁶“^aAnd nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress.

⁷“But you, ^abe strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is ^breward for your work.”

Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols

⁸Now when Asa heard these words and the ¹prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^athe cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^bHe then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh.

⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon ^awho sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.