2 Chronicles 15

1 And the spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Oded,

Now, as for Azariah son of Oded, there came upon him, the spirit of God.

2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: Hear ye me, Asa, and all Juda and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you shall find: but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

So he went forth to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear me, O Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, —Yahweh, is with you, so long as ye are with him, and, if ye seek him, he will be found of you, but, if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

3 And many days shall pass in Israel without the true God, and without a priest a teacher, and without the law.

Now, many days, had Israel been, —without the faithful God, and without a teaching priest, and without the law;

4 And when in their distress they shall return to the Lord the God of Israel, and shall seek him, they shall find him.

But they turned, in their distress, unto Yahweh God of Israel, —and sought him, and he was found of them.

5 At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the earth.

And, in those times, there had been no prosperity, to him that went out nor to him that came in, —for, great consternations, were upon all the inhabitants of the lands;

6 For nation shall fight against nation, and city against city, for the Lord will trouble them with all distress.

and they were beaten in pieces-nation against nation, and city against city, —for, God, discomfited them with all manner of distress.

7 Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands he weakened: for there shall be a reward for your work.

Ye, therefore, be strong, and let not your hands be slack, —for there is a reward for your work!

8 And when Asa had heard the words, and the prophecy of Azarias the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and took away the idols out of all the land of Juda, and out of Benjamin, and out of the cities of mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord.

And, when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he strengthened himself, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had captured out of the hill country of Ephraim, —and renewed the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh.

9 And he gathered together all Juda and Benjamin, and the strangers with them of Ephraim, and Manasses, and Simeon: for many were come over to him out of Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him.

And he gathered together all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them, out of Ephraim and out of Manasseh, and out of Simeon, —for they fell unto him out of Israel, in great numbers, because they saw that, Yahweh his God, was with him.

10 And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

So they gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem, in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

11 They sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the spoils, and of the prey, that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand rams.

And they sacrificed unto Yahweh, on that day, out of the spoil they had brought in, —oxen, seven hundred, and sheep, seven thousand.

12 And he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul.

And they entered into a covenant, to seek Yahweh, God of their fathers, —with all their heart, and with all their soul;

13 And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let him die, whether little or great, man or woman.

and, whosoever would not seek unto Yahweh God of Israel, should be put to death, —whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14 And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of comets,

So they bound themselves by oath unto Yahweh, with a loud voice, and with shouting, —and with trumpets and with horns.

15 All that mere in Juda with a curse: for with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought him, and they found him, and the Lord gave them rest round about.

And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for, with all their heart, had they sworn, and, with all their good will, had they sought him, and he was found of them, —and Yahweh gave them rest round about.

16 Moreover Maacha the mother of king Asa he deposed from the royal authority, because she had made in a grove an idol of Priapus: and he entirely destroyed it, and breaking it into pieces, burnt it at the torrent Cedron.

Moreover also, as touching Maacah mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made, unto the Sacred Stem, a monstrous thing, —so Asa cut down her monstrous thing, and reduced it to dust, and burnt it up, in the Kidron ravine.

17 But high places were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

But, the high places, were not taken away out of Israel, —only, the heart of Asa, was perfect, all his days.

18 And the things which his father had vowed, and he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and vessels of divers uses.

And he brought the hallowed things of his father and his own hallowed things, into the house of God, —silver and gold, and utensils.

19 And there was no war unto the five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Asa.

And, war, was there none, —until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.