Παραλειπομένων Βʹ 15
1 καὶ Αζαριας υἱὸς Ωδηδ ἐγένετο ἐπ’ αὐτὸν πνεῦμα κυρίου
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Obed.
2 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς ἀπάντησιν Ασα καὶ παντὶ Ιουδα καὶ Βενιαμιν καὶ εἶπεν ἀκούσατέ μου Ασα καὶ πᾶς Ιουδα καὶ Βενιαμιν κύριος μεθ’ ὑμῶν ἐν τῷ εἶναι ὑμᾶς μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐὰν ἐκζητήσητε αὐτόν εὑρεθήσεται ὑμῖν καὶ ἐὰν ἐγκαταλίπητε αὐτόν ἐγκαταλείψει ὑμᾶς
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 καὶ ἡμέραι πολλαὶ τῷ Ισραηλ ἐν οὐ θεῷ ἀληθινῷ καὶ οὐχ ἱερέως ὑποδεικνύοντος καὶ ἐν οὐ νόμῳ
For many years the Israeli people did not know the true God, and they did not have priests or God’s laws.
4 καὶ ἐπιστρέψει ἐπὶ κύριον θεὸν Ισραηλ καὶ εὑρεθήσεται αὐτοῖς
But when they experienced trouble, they turned to Yahweh our God, and requested him to help them. And he helped them.
5 καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη τῷ ἐκπορευομένῳ καὶ τῷ εἰσπορευομένῳ ὅτι ἔκστασις κυρίου ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὰς χώρας
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 καὶ πολεμήσει ἔθνος πρὸς ἔθνος καὶ πόλις πρὸς πόλιν ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐξέστησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει
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 καὶ ὑμεῖς ἰσχύσατε καὶ μὴ ἐκλυέσθωσαν αἱ χεῖρες ὑμῶν ὅτι ἔστιν μισθὸς τῇ ἐργασίᾳ ὑμῶν
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 καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι τοὺς λόγους τούτους καὶ τὴν προφητείαν Αδαδ τοῦ προφήτου καὶ κατίσχυσεν καὶ ἐξέβαλεν τὰ βδελύγματα ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς γῆς Ιουδα καὶ Βενιαμιν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων ὧν κατέσχεν ἐν ὄρει Εφραιμ καὶ ἐνεκαίνισεν τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου ὃ ἦν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ναοῦ κυρίου
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 καὶ ἐξεκκλησίασεν τὸν Ιουδαν καὶ Βενιαμιν καὶ τοὺς προσηλύτους τοὺς παροικοῦντας μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ Εφραιμ καὶ ἀπὸ Μανασση καὶ ἀπὸ Συμεων ὅτι προσετέθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν πολλοὶ τοῦ Ισραηλ ἐν τῷ ἰδεῖν αὐτοὺς ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ συνήχθησαν εἰς Ιερουσαλημ ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ τρίτῳ ἐν τῷ πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας Ασα
After Asa had been ruling for almost 15 years, in May of that year, those people gathered in Jerusalem.
11 καὶ ἔθυσεν τῷ κυρίῳ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἀπὸ τῶν σκύλων ὧν ἤνεγκαν μόσχους ἑπτακοσίους καὶ πρόβατα ἑπτακισχίλια
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 καὶ διῆλθεν ἐν διαθήκῃ ζητῆσαι κύριον θεὸν τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς
They solemnly made an agreement to very sincerely worship Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].
13 καὶ πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν μὴ ἐκζητήσῃ κύριον θεὸν Ισραηλ ἀποθανεῖται ἀπὸ νεωτέρου ἕως πρεσβυτέρου ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἕως γυναικός
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 καὶ ὤμοσαν ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ ἐν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἐν σάλπιγξιν καὶ ἐν κερατίναις
They shouted and blew trumpets and other horns while they solemnly promised to do that.
15 καὶ ηὐφράνθησαν πᾶς Ιουδα περὶ τοῦ ὅρκου ὅτι ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς ὤμοσαν καὶ ἐν πάσῃ θελήσει ἐζήτησαν αὐτόν καὶ εὑρέθη αὐτοῖς καὶ κατέπαυσεν αὐτοῖς κύριος κυκλόθεν
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 καὶ τὴν Μααχα τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ μετέστησεν τοῦ μὴ εἶναι τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ λειτουργοῦσαν καὶ κατέκοψεν τὸ εἴδωλον καὶ κατέκαυσεν ἐν χειμάρρῳ Κεδρων
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 πλὴν τὰ ὑψηλὰ οὐκ ἀπέστησαν ἔτι ὑπῆρχεν ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ ἀλλ’ ἢ καρδία Ασα ἐγένετο πλήρης πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ εἰσήνεγκεν τὰ ἅγια Δαυιδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἅγια οἴκου κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον καὶ σκεύη
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 καὶ πόλεμος οὐκ ἦν μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἕως τοῦ πέμπτου καὶ τριακοστοῦ ἔτους τῆς βασιλείας Ασα
There were no more wars [in Judah] until Asa had been ruling Judah almost 35 years.
