Asa’s Religious Reforms

15 Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, ² and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them. ⁴ But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him out, they found him.

⁵ “During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of every land. ⁶ Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem. ⁷ But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”

⁸ When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet,^[a] he took courage and removed all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, which stood in front of the entry room of the Lord’s Temple.

⁹ Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. For many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa’s reign when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring,^[b] during the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

¹¹ On that day they sacrificed to the Lord 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep and goats from the plunder they had taken in the battle. ¹² Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. ¹³ They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death—whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴ They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lord with trumpets blaring and rams’ horns sounding. ¹⁵ All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.

¹⁶ King Asa even deposed his grandmother^[c] Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful throughout his life. ¹⁸ He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

¹⁹ So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Final Years of Asa’s Reign

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.

² Asa responded by removing the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:

⁴ Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah,^[e] and all the store cities in Naphtali. ⁵ As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and stopped all work on it. ⁶ Then King Asa called out all the men of Judah to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the towns of Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. ⁸ Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians^[f] and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers?^[g] At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. ⁹ The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

¹⁰ Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison and put him in stocks. At that time Asa also began to oppress some of his people.

Summary of Asa’s Reign

¹¹ The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to his physicians. ¹³ So he died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and fragrant ointments, and the people built a huge funeral fire in his honor.