2 Chronicles 15

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

2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Yahweh is with you as long as you are with him; if you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.”

3For many days Israel was without the God of truth, without a teaching priest, and without law.

4In their distress they turned back to Yahweh God of Israel, sought him, and he was found by them.

5In those times there was no peace for anyone going out or coming in, because great troubles afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.

6Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God dismayed them with all adversity.

7But you, be strong, and do not let your hands grow feeble, for there is reward for your deeds.

8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable things from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities he had captured from the hill country of Ephraim, and he renewed the altar of Yahweh that stood before the porch of Yahweh.

9He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those dwelling with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for many from Israel had joined him 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.

11They sacrificed to Yahweh that day from the spoil they had brought, seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep.

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

13that whoever does not seek Yahweh, God of Israel, shall be put to death, from small to great, from man to woman.

14They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with horns.

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

16Asa also deposed Maacah, mother of the king, as queen mother because she had made an idol for Asherah; he cut down her idol, ground it to dust, and burned it at the brook Kidron.

17But the high places were not removed from Israel; yet Asa's heart was perfect all his days.

18He brought into God's house his father's dedicated items and his own dedicated items—silver, gold, and vessels.

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