2 Chronicles 15

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

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

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.

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 For many years the Israeli people did not know the true God, and they did not have priests or God’s laws.

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

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

But they turned, in their distress, unto Yahweh God of Israel, —and sought him, and 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 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 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 beaten in pieces-nation against nation, and city against city, —for, God, discomfited them with all manner of distress.

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.”]

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

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

So they gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem, in the third month of 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 Yahweh, on that day, out of the spoil they had brought in, —oxen, seven hundred, and sheep, seven thousand.

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

And they entered into a covenant, to seek Yahweh, 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, whosoever would not seek unto Yahweh 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.

So they bound themselves by oath unto Yahweh, 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 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 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.

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 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, —only, the heart of Asa, was perfect, 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 the hallowed things of his father and his own hallowed things, into the house of God, —silver and gold, and utensils.

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

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