2 Chronicles 15

1 Now, as for Azariah son of Oded, there came upon him, the spirit of God.

Now Azariah, the son of Oded, had the Spirit of God within him.

2 So he went forth to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear me, O Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, —Yahweh, is with you, so long as ye are with him, and, if ye seek him, he will be found of you, but, if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

And he went out to meet Asa, and he said to him: “Listen to me, Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.

3 Now, many days, had Israel been, —without the faithful God, and without a teaching priest, and without the law;

Then many days will pass in Israel, apart from the true God, and apart from a learned priest, and apart from the law.

4 But they turned, in their distress, unto Yahweh God of Israel, —and sought him, and he was found of them.

And when, in their anguish, they will have returned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and will have sought him, they shall find him.

5 And, in those times, there had been no prosperity, to him that went out nor to him that came in, —for, great consternations, were upon all the inhabitants of the lands;

In that time, there will be no peace for those who depart and those who enter. Instead, there will be terror on every side, among all the inhabitants of the lands.

6 and they were beaten in pieces-nation against nation, and city against city, —for, God, discomfited them with all manner of distress.

For nation will fight against nation, and city against city. For the Lord will disturb them with every anguish.

7 Ye, therefore, be strong, and let not your hands be slack, —for there is a reward for your work!

But as for you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened. For there will be a reward for your work.”

8 And, when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he strengthened himself, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had captured out of the hill country of Ephraim, —and renewed the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh.

And when Asa had heard these particular words, and the prophecy of the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, he was strengthened, and he took away the idols from the entire land of Judah, and from Benjamin, and from the cities that he had seized of mount Ephraim, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the portico of the Lord.

9 And he gathered together all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them, out of Ephraim and out of Manasseh, and out of Simeon, —for they fell unto him out of Israel, in great numbers, because they saw that, Yahweh his God, was with him.

And he gathered together all of Judah and Benjamin, and with them the new arrivals from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon. For many had fled to him from Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him.

10 So they gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem, in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

And when they had arrived in Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

11 And they sacrificed unto Yahweh, on that day, out of the spoil they had brought in, —oxen, seven hundred, and sheep, seven thousand.

they immolated to the Lord on that day, from the best of the spoils and from the plunder that they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand rams.

12 And they entered into a covenant, to seek Yahweh, God of their fathers, —with all their heart, and with all their soul;

And he entered, according to custom, in order to confirm the covenant, so that they would seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with their whole heart and with their whole soul.

13 and, whosoever would not seek unto Yahweh God of Israel, should be put to death, —whether small or great, whether man or woman.

“But if anyone,” he said, “will not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, let him die, from the least even to the greatest, from man even to woman.”

14 So they bound themselves by oath unto Yahweh, with a loud voice, and with shouting, —and with trumpets and with horns.

And they swore to the Lord, with a great voice, in jubilation, and with the blare of trumpets, and with the sound of horns,

15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for, with all their heart, had they sworn, and, with all their good will, had they sought him, and he was found of them, —and Yahweh gave them rest round about.

all who were in Judah swore with a curse. For with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought and found him. And the Lord granted rest on all sides to them.

16 Moreover also, as touching Maacah mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made, unto the Sacred Stem, a monstrous thing, —so Asa cut down her monstrous thing, and reduced it to dust, and burnt it up, in the Kidron ravine.

Then too, Maacah, the mother of king Asa, he deposed from the august authority, because she had made an idol of Priapus within a sacred grove. And he entirely crushed it, breaking it into pieces, and he burned it at the torrent Kidron.

17 But, the high places, were not taken away out of Israel, —only, the heart of Asa, was perfect, all his days.

But some high places were left in Israel. Even so, the heart of Asa was perfect during all his days.

18 And he brought the hallowed things of his father and his own hallowed things, into the house of God, —silver and gold, and utensils.

And whatever his father or he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord: silver and gold, and vessels for various uses.

19 And, war, was there none, —until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Truly, there was no war, until the thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Asa.