2 Chronicles 15

1 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Obed.

And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded;

2 Azariah went to talk with Asa, and said to him, “Asa and all [you men of the tribes of] Judah and Benjamin, listen to me. Yahweh is with you whenever you are trusting in him. If you request him [to help you], he will help you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.

and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him: 'Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you, while 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 For many years the Israeli people did not know the true God, and they did not have priests or God’s laws.

Now for long seasons Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;

4 But when they experienced trouble, they turned to Yahweh our God, and requested him to help them. And he helped them.

but when in their distress they turned unto the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them.

5 At that time, people were not safe when they traveled, because all the people who lived in the nearby countries were experiencing many difficulties.

And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great discomfitures were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

6 The people of various nations were thoroughly defeated by [armies of] other nations, and people in some cities were crushed by [armies from] other cities, because God was allowing them to experience many difficulties.

And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God did discomfit them with all manner of adversity.

7 But you people, you must be strong and do not become discouraged, because [God] will reward you for what you do [to please him.”]

But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.'

8 When Asa heard what the prophet Azariah said, he was encouraged. He [commanded his workers to] remove all the detestable idols from everywhere in the land of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and from the towns that [his soldiers] had captured in the hills of the tribe of Ephraim. Asa’s workers repaired the altar [where people offered sacrifices] to Yahweh that was in front of the entrance to the temple [in Jerusalem].

And when Asa heard these words, even the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the detestable things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

9 Then he gathered all [the people of the tribes of] Judah and Benjamin and many people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them. [He was able to do that] because many people from [those tribes in] Israel had come to me to Judah when they realized that Yahweh, the God that Asa [worshiped], was helping him.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

10 After Asa had been ruling for almost 15 years, in May of that year, those people gathered in Jerusalem.

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

11 At that time they sacrificed to Yahweh 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats, from the animals that they had captured [when they defeated the army of Ethiopia/Sudan].

And they sacrificed unto the LORD in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

12 They solemnly made an agreement to very sincerely worship Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].

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 They promised to execute all those who would not worship Yahweh, including those who were important and those who were not important, both men and women.

and that whosoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

14 They shouted and blew trumpets and other horns while they solemnly promised to do that.

And they swore unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns.

15 All the people who were living in Judah were happy with the agreement because they had solemnly and very sincerely promised to keep it. They eagerly requested help from Yahweh, and he helped them. So he enabled them to have peace throughout their country.

And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found of them; and the LORD gave them rest round about.

16 King Asa’s grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting pole for [worshiping the goddess] Asherah. So Asa [commanded his workers to] cut down that pole and chop it into pieces and burn it in the Kidron Valley. He then did not allow Maacah to continue [to influence the people because of her] being the mother of the previous king.

And also Maacah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

17 Although Asa’s [workers] did not get rid of the shrines on the hilltops in Israel, he was very determined to [do what] pleased Yahweh all his life.

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was whole all his days.

18 He [ordered his workers to] bring into God’s temple all the silver and gold and other valuable items that he and his father had dedicated [to God].

And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had hallowed, and that he himself had hallowed, silver, and gold, and vessels.

19 There were no more wars [in Judah] until Asa had been ruling Judah almost 35 years.

And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.