2 Chronicles 15:1–9

Asa’s Reform

15:16–19pp—1Ki 15:13–16

15The Spirit of God came on^c Azariah son of Oded. ²He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you^d when you are with him.^e If you seek^f him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.^{g 3}For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach^h and without the law.^{i 4}But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him,^j and he was found by them. ⁵In those days it was not safe to travel about,^k for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. ⁶One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another,^l because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. ⁷But as for you, be strong^m and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”ⁿ

⁸When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of^a Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols^o from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured^p in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar^q of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

⁹Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers^r had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.