2 Chronicles 15

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

And upon Azariah son of Oded hath been the Spirit of God,

2 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.

and he goeth out before Asa, and saith to him, 'Hear, me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Jehovah [is] with you — in your being with Him, and if ye seek Him, He is found of you, and if ye forsake Him, He forsaketh you;

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

and many days [are] to Israel without a true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law,

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

and it turneth back in its distress unto Jehovah, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found of them,

5 At that time, people were not safe when they traveled, because all the people who lived in the nearby countries were experiencing many difficulties.

and in those times there is no peace to him who is going out, and to him who is coming in, for many troubles [are] on all the inhabitants of the lands,

6 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.

and they have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God hath troubled them with every adversity;

7 But you people, you must be strong and do not become discouraged, because [God] will reward you for what you do [to please him.”]

and ye, be ye strong, and let not your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work.'

8 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].

And at Asa's hearing these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he hath strengthened himself, and doth cause the abominations to pass away out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he hath captured from the hill-country of Ephraim, and reneweth the altar of Jehovah that [is] before the porch of Jehovah,

9 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.

and gathereth all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon — for they have fallen unto him from Israel in abundance, in their seeing that Jehovah his God [is] with him.

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

And they are gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

11 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].

and sacrifice to Jehovah on that day from the spoil they have brought in — oxen seven hundred, and sheep seven thousand,

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

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

13 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.

and every one who doth not seek for Jehovah, God of Israel, is put to death, from small unto great, from man unto woman.

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

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

15 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.

and rejoice do all Judah concerning the oath, for with all their heart they have sworn, and with all their good-will they have sought Him, and He is found of them, and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about.

16 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.

And also Maachah, mother of Asa the king — he hath removed her from [being] mistress, in that she hath made for a shrine a horrible thing, and Asa cutteth down her horrible thing, and beateth [it] small, and burneth [it] by the brook Kidron:

17 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.

yet the high places have not turned aside from Israel; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect all his days.

18 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].

And he bringeth in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of God, silver, and gold, and vessels.

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

And war hath not been till the thirty and fifth year of the reign of Asa.