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15 And the Ruach Elohim came upon Azaryahu ben Oded;

And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and kol Yehudah and Binyamin. Hashem is with you, while ye be with Him; if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Now for yamim rabbim Yisroel hath been without the Elohei Emes, and without a Kohen Moreh, and without Torah.

But when they in their tzoros did turn unto Hashem Elohei Yisroel, and sought Him, He was found by them.

And in those times there was no shalom to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but mehumot rabbot (great turmoil) was upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city, for Elohim did trouble them with every tzuris.

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for there is sachar (reward) for your pe’ulah (work).

And when Asa heard these words, and the nevu’ah of Oded HaNavi, he took courage, and put away the shikkutzim (abominable idols) from kol Eretz Yehudah and Binyamin, and from the cities which he had captured from Mt Ephrayim, and renewed the Mizbe’ach Hashem, that was in front of the Ulam Hashem.

And he gathered all Yehudah and Binyamin, and the gerim with them from Ephrayim and Menasheh, and from Shim’on, for they fell to him from Yisroel in abundance, when they saw that Hashem Elohav was with him.

10 So they gathered themselves together at Yerushalayim in the chodesh hashelishi, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

11 And they offered unto Hashem on that day, of the plunder which they had brought back, 700 bakar and 7000 tzon.

12 And they entered into the Brit to seek Hashem Elohei Avoteihem with all their lev and with all their nefesh;

13 That whosoever would not seek Hashem Elohei Yisroel should be put to death, whether katan or gadol, whether ish or isha.

14 And they swore unto Hashem with a kol gadol, and with teruah, and with trumpets, and with shoferot.

15 And all Yehudah rejoiced at the shevu’ah, for they had sworn with all their lev, and sought Him with their whole ratzon; and He was found by them; and Hashem gave them rest all around.

16 And also concerning Ma’achah em Asa HaMelech, he deposed her from being gevirah, because she had made to Asherah a mifletzet, and Asa cut down her mifletzet, and ground it up, and burned it at the Wadi Kidron.

17 But the high places were not removed from Yisroel; nevertheless the levav Asa was shalem all his days.

18 And he brought into the Beis HaElohim the things that Aviv had dedicated as kodesh, and that he himself had dedicated as kodesh, kesef, and zahav, and kelim.

19 And there was no more milchamah unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

Asa’s Reform(A)

15 The Spirit of God came on(B) Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you(C) when you are with him.(D) If you seek(E) him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.(F) For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach(G) and without the law.(H) But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him,(I) and he was found by them. In those days it was not safe to travel about,(J) for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another,(K) because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong(L) and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”(M)

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols(N) from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured(O) in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar(P) of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers(Q) had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month(R) of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder(S) they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant(T) to seek the Lord,(U) the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death,(V) whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God(W) eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest(X) on every side.

16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah(Y) from her position as queen mother,(Z) because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah.(AA) Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.(AB) 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.(AC)

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

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 15:8 Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 1); Hebrew does not have Azariah son of.