2 Chronicles 15

1 And the Spirit of God has been on Azariah son of Oded,

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

2 and he goes out before Asa and says to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; YHWH [is] with you—in your being with Him, and if you seek Him, He is found by you, and if you forsake Him, He forsakes you;

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 and many days [are] to Israel without [the] true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law,

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

4 and it turns back in its distress to YHWH, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found by them,

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 and in those times there is no peace for him who is going out, and for him who is coming in, for many troubles [are] on all the inhabitants 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 have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God has troubled them with every adversity;

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

7 and you, be strong, and do not let your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work.”

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

8 And at Asa’s hearing these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he has strengthened himself, and causes the abominations to pass away out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he has captured from the hill-country of Ephraim, and renews the altar of YHWH that [is] before the porch of YHWH,

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 gathers all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon—for they have defected to him from Israel in abundance, in their seeing that his God YHWH [is] 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 And they are gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

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

11 and sacrifice to YHWH on that day from the spoil they have brought in—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 enter into a covenant to seek YHWH, God of their fathers, with all their heart and with 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 everyone who does not seek for YHWH, God of Israel, is put to death, from small to great, from man to woman.

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 swear to YHWH with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with 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 rejoices concerning the oath, for they have sworn with all their heart, and they have sought Him with all their goodwill, and He is found by them, and YHWH gives rest to them all around.

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 also Maachah, mother of Asa the king—he has removed her from [being] mistress, in that she has made for an Asherah a horrible thing, and Asa cuts down her horrible thing, and beats [it] small, and burns [it] by the Brook of 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 yet the high places have not been removed from Israel; only, the heart of Asa has been perfect all his days.

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

18 And he brings in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of God: 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 war has not been until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

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