And the
Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
02 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto
him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin;
The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and
if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if
ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
03 Now for a long season Israel hath been without
the true God, and without a teaching priest, and
without law.
04 But when they in their trouble did turn unto
the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was
found of them.
05 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
countries.
06 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city
of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
07 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands
be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
08 And when Asa heard these words, and the
prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage,
and put away the abominable idols out of all the
land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities
which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and
renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before
the porch of the Lord.
09 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and
the strangers 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
the Lord his God was with him.
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10 So they gathered themselves together at
Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth
year of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered unto the Lord the same time,
of the spoil which they had brought, seven
hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the
Lord God of their fathers with all their heart
and with all their soul;
13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of
Israel should be put to death, whether small or
great, whether man or woman.
14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud
voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and
with cornets.
15 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 the Lord gave them rest round about.
16 And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa
the king, he removed her from being queen,
because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa
cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it
at the brook Kidron.
17 But the high places were not taken away out of
Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect
all his days.
18 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 And there was no more war unto the five and
thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
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