2 Chronicles 15

1 And the spirit of God came on Azariah, the son of Oded;

And as for 'Azaryahu the son of 'Oded—on him came the spirit of God;

2 And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up.

And he went out to meet Assa, and said unto him, Hear me, O Assa, and all Judah and Benjamin, The Lord is with you, while ye remain with him; and if ye seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

3 Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without the law;

And many days [had elapsed] for Israel, [they being] without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

4 But when in their trouble they were turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, searching after him, he let their search be rewarded.

But they returned when they were in distress unto the Lord, the God of Israel, and they sought him, and he let himself be found by them.

5 In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, but great trouble was on all the people of the lands.

And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, and to him that came in; but there were great confusions among all the inhabitants of the countries.

6 And they were broken by divisions, nation against nation and town against town, because God sent all sorts of trouble on them.

And nation was dashed to pieces against nation, and city against city; for God did confound them with all kind of distress.

7 But be you strong and let not your hands be feeble, for your work will be rewarded.

But as for you, be ye strong, and let not your hands be weak; for there is a reward for your doing.

8 And Asa, hearing these words of Azariah, the son of Oded the prophet, took heart and put away all the disgusting things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the towns which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he made new again the altar of the Lord in front of the covered way of the Lord's house.

And when Assa heard these words, and the prophecy of 'Oded the prophet, he was strengthened, and he put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had captured from the mountain of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.

9 And he got together all Judah and Benjamin and those of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon who were living with them; for numbers of them came to him out of Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, and those that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Menasseh, and out of Simeon; for they had joined him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 So they came together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the rule of Asa.

And so they assembled themselves at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Assa.

11 And that day they made offerings to the Lord of the things they had taken in war, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

And they sacrificed unto the Lord on the same day, of the booty which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

12 And they made an agreement to be true to the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and all their soul;

And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

13 And that anyone, small or great, man or woman, who was not true to the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death.

So that whosoever would not seek the Lord the God of Israel should be put to death, from the small even up to the great, whether it be man or woman.

14 And they made an oath to the Lord, with a loud voice, sounding wind-instruments and horns.

And they swore unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with [joyful] shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

15 And all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave them rest on every side.

And all Judah rejoiced because of the oath; for with all their heart had they sworn, and with their whole desire did they seek him, and he let himself be found by them: and the Lord gave them rest on every side.

16 And Asa would not let Maacah, his mother, be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had her image cut down and broken up and burned by the stream Kidron.

And also concerning Ma'achah the mother of king Assa, he removed her from being queen, because she had made a scandalous image for the grove; and Assa cut down her scandalous image, and had it ground up, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.

But the high-places were not removed out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Assa was entire all his days.

18 He took into the house of God all the things which his father had made holy and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.

And be brought the things which his father had sanctified, and his own sanctified things, into the house of God, —silver, and gold, and vessels.

19 And there was no more war till the thirty-fifth year of the rule of Asa.

And there was no war until the five-and-thirtieth year of the reign of Assa.