2 Chronicles 15

1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Obed.

2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while ye are with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him he will forsake you.

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 Now for a long while Israel [was] without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;

For many years the Israeli people did not know the true God, and they did not have priests or God’s laws.

4 but in their trouble they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found of them.

But when they experienced trouble, they turned to Yahweh our God, and requested him to help them. And he helped them.

5 And in those times there [was] no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in, but great disturbances were amongst all the inhabitants of the countries.

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 And nation was broken against nation, and city against city; for God disturbed them with all manner of distress.

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 But as for you, be firm and let not your hands be weak; for there is a reward for your deeds.

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 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah.

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 And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell away to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.

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 And they assembled themselves at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

After Asa had been ruling for almost 15 years, in May of that year, those people gathered in Jerusalem.

11 And they sacrificed to Jehovah in that day, of the spoil that they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

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 And they entered into a covenant to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul,

They solemnly made an agreement to very sincerely worship Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].

13 and that whoever would not seek Jehovah the God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

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 And they swore to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

They shouted and blew trumpets and other horns while they solemnly promised to do that.

15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they took the oath with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them. And Jehovah gave them rest round about.

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 And also Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burned it in the valley Kidron.

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

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 And he brought into the house of God the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

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 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

There were no more wars [in Judah] until Asa had been ruling Judah almost 35 years.