^{1 Ref} And upon Azariah son of Oded hath been the Spirit of God,

^{2 Ref} 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 Ref} and many days `are' to Israel without a true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law,

^{4 Ref} and it turneth back in its distress unto Jehovah, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found of them,

^{5 Ref} 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 Ref} and they have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God hath troubled them with every adversity;

^{7 Ref} and ye, be ye strong, and let not your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work.'

^{8 Ref} 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 Ref} 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 Ref} And they are gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

^{11 Ref} and sacrifice to Jehovah on that day from the spoil they have brought in -- oxen seven hundred, and sheep seven thousand,

^{12 Ref} and they enter into a covenant to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul,

^{13 Ref} 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 Ref} And they swear to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets,

^{15 Ref} 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 Ref} 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 Ref} yet the high places have not turned aside from Israel; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect all his days.

^{18 Ref} 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 Ref} And war hath not been till the thirty and fifth year of the reign of Asa.

^{1 Ref} And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

^{2 Ref} and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto 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.

^{3 Ref} Now for a long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law:

^{4 Ref} But when in their distress they turned unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

^{5 Ref} And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in; but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

^{6 Ref} And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God did vex them with all adversity.

^{7 Ref} But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.

^{8 Ref} 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 which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah.

^{9 Ref} And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.

^{10 Ref} So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

^{11 Ref} And they sacrificed unto Jehovah in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

^{12 Ref} And they entered into the covenant to seek Jehovah, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

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

^{14 Ref} And they sware unto Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

^{15 Ref} And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and Jehovah gave them rest round about.

^{16 Ref} And also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

^{17 Ref} But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

^{18 Ref} And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

^{19 Ref} And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.