2 Chronicles 14–16

Chapter 14

Asa Succeeds Abijah in Judah

^11aSo Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place. The land was undisturbed for ten years during his days.

²¹Asa did good and right in the sight of the Lord his God,

³for he removed ^athe foreign altars and ^bhigh places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the ^1cAsherim,

⁴and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to observe the law and the commandment.

⁵He also removed the high places and the ^aincense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was undisturbed under him.

^6aHe built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and ¹there was no one at war with him during those years, ^bbecause the Lord had given him rest.

⁷For he said to Judah, “^aLet us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ¹ours because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸Now Asa had an army of ^a300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were valiant warriors.

⁹Now Zerah the Ethiopian ^acame out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and he came to ^bMareshah.

¹⁰So Asa went out ¹to meet him, and they drew up in battle formation in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹Then Asa ^acalled to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, ^bfor we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”

¹²So ^athe Lord ¹routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

¹³Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^aGerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that ¹they could not recover, for they were shattered before the Lord and before His army. And they carried away very much plunder.

¹⁴They ¹destroyed all the cities around Gerar, ^afor the dread of the Lord had fallen on them; and they despoiled all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

¹⁵They also struck down ¹those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Chapter 15

The Prophet Azariah Warns Asa

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: ^athe Lord is with you when you are with Him. And ^bif you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

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

⁴“But ^ain their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.

⁵“^aIn those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances ¹afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.

⁶“^aNation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.

⁷“But you, ^abe strong and do not ¹lose courage, for there is ^breward for your work.”

Asa’s Reforms

⁸Now when Asa heard these words and the ¹prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable 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 restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord.

⁹He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon ^awho resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

^11aThey sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought.

^12aThey entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul;

¹³and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel ^ashould be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.

¹⁴Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns.

¹⁵All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him ¹earnestly, and He let them find Him. So ^athe Lord gave them rest on every side.

^16aHe also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ¹as ^ban Asherah, and ^cAsa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron.

¹⁷But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days.

¹⁸He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁹And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Chapter 16

Asa Wars against Baasha

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign ^aBaasha king of Israel came up against Judah and ¹fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

²Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

³“Let there be a treaty between ¹you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

⁴So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they ¹conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim and all ^athe ²store cities of Naphtali.

⁵When Baasha heard of it, he ceased ¹fortifying Ramah and stopped his work.

⁶Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he ¹fortified Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons the Prophet

⁷At that time ^aHanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^bBecause you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand.

⁸“Were not ^athe Ethiopians and the Lubim ^ban immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^cbecause you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.

⁹“For ^athe eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those ^bwhose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”

¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in ¹prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

^11aNow, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he ^adid not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

¹³So Asa slept with his fathers, ¹having died in the forty-first year of his reign.

¹⁴They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled ^awith spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and ^bthey made a very great fire for him.