2 Chronicles 15

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

The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded.

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;

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Yahweh is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you 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,

Now for a long period, Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without the 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 when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was 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,

In those times there was no peace for him who traveled away, nor for him who traveled to here; instead, great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.

6 and they have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God has troubled them with every adversity;

They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city, for God troubled them with all kinds of suffering.

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

But be strong, and do not let your hands be weak, for your work will be rewarded.”

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,

When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and drove away the disgusting things from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured from the hill country of Ephraim, and he rebuilt Yahweh's altar, which was in front of the portico of Yahweh's house.

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.

He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who stayed with them—people from of Ephraim and Manasseh, and from Simeon. For they came from Israel to him in great numbers, when they saw that Yahweh 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,

So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.

11 and sacrifice to YHWH on that day from the spoil they have brought in—seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep,

They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day some of the plunder that they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep and goats.

12 and they enter into a covenant to seek YHWH, God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,

They entered into a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, 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.

They agreed that whoever refused to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether the person was small or great, whether man or woman.

14 And they swear to YHWH with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns,

They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, and with trumpets and horns.

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.

All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and they sought God with their whole desire, and he was found by them. Yahweh gave them peace all around them.

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:

He also removed Maacah, his grandmother, from being queen, because she had made a disgusting figure out of an Asherah pole. Asa cut down the disgusting figure, ground it to dust and burned it at 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 taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was completely devoted 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.

He brought into the house of God the silver and gold and the utensils that he and his father had dedicated for that purpose.

19 And war has not been until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.