2 Chronicles 15

1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded.

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

2 He went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

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.

3 Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law.

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

4 But when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

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

5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.

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

6 They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.

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.

7 But you be strong! Don’t let your hands be slack, for your work will be rewarded.”

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

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations 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 LORD’s altar that was before the LORD’s porch.

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].

9 He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon; for they came to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

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.

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

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

11 They sacrificed to the LORD in that day, of the plunder which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.

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].

12 They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

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

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

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.

14 They swore to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with cornets.

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

15 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 by them. Then the LORD gave them rest all around.

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.

16 Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; so Asa cut down her image, ground it into dust, and burned it at the brook Kidron.

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.

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

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.

18 He brought the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated, silver, gold, and vessels into God’s house.

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].

19 There was no more war to the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

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