2 Chronicles 15 - 16
The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah
15Now athe Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2and he went out 1to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: aYahweh is with you when you are with Him. And bif you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3“aNow for many days Israel was without the true God and without ba teaching priest and without law. 4“But ain their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them. 5“aNow in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands. 6“aAnd nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress. 7“But you, abe strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is breward for your work.”
Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols
8Now when Asa heard these words and the 1prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from athe cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. bHe then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh. 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon awho sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. 10So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11aAnd they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. 12aThey entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; 13and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ashould be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. 15All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So aYahweh gave them rest on every side.
16aHe also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image 1as ban Asherah; and cAsa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17But the high places were not 1removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days. 18And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils. 19And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Asa Wars Against Baasha
16In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign aBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3“Let there be a covenant between 1you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” 4So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all athe 1store cities of Naphtali. 5Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work. 6Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
Asa Imprisons a Seer
7Now at that time aHanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “bBecause you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. 8“Were not athe Ethiopians and the Lubim ba vast military force with an exceedingly vast number of chariots and horsemen? Yet cbecause you leaned on Yahweh, He gave them into your hand. 9“For athe eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those bwhose heart is wholly devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” 10Then Asa was vexed with the seer and put him in 1prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
11aNow behold, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12And Asa became diseased in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he adid not seek Yahweh, but the physicians. 13So Asa slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14And they buried him in his own tomb which he had 1cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled awith spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and bthey made a very great fire for him.