2 Chronicles 15

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.