2 Chronicles 15

1The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.

2He 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 let himself be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.

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

4But in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he let himself be found by them.

5In those times there was no peace for anyone who went out or came in, for great turmoil afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.

6Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.

7But as for you, be strong and do not lose courage, for your work will be rewarded.”

8When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was in front of the porch of Yahweh.

9He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, for many had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.

10They gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

11On that day they sacrificed to Yahweh seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep from the plunder they had brought.

12They entered into a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul.

13Anyone who would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.

14They took an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with rams’ horns.

15All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with all their desire, and he let himself be found by them. So Yahweh gave them rest on every side.

16King Asa also removed Maacah, his mother, from being queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

17But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was fully committed all his days.

18He brought into the house of God the things his father had dedicated and the things he himself had dedicated—silver, gold, and utensils.

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