Old/New Testament
15 The Spirit of the True God gave a prophecy to Azariah, the son of Oded, who relayed it to Asa and his people.
Azariah: 2 Asa and all of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, listen to me! God responds to you as you respond to Him: If you are with the Eternal, then He is with you. If you look for Him, then He will let you find Him. But if you abandon Him, then He will abandon you. So learn from the mistakes of your ancestors. 3 For a long time, the tribes of Israel were without the True God, His priests, and His laws. 4 But when they were distressed by wars and oppression, they returned to the Eternal One, the True God of Israel. They sought Him, and He let them find Him. 5 In those times before the monarchy, no one traveling had a peaceful life. Everyone in the lands had numerous difficulties; 6 nations and cities fought back and forth, destroying each other again and again. Because of their disobedience, the True God troubled them constantly. 7 But you, who are devoted to being with God and searching for God, be strong and do not lose courage because your actions will reap rewards.
8 Asa responded to the message of Azariah the son of Oded the prophet with that courage and strength. He removed the abominable idols from the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had conquered from the Northern Kingdom in the hill country of Ephraim. Then he repaired the Eternal’s altar in front of the porch of His temple. 9-10 During the Festival of Weeks in the 3rd month of the 15th year of his reign, Asa assembled in Jerusalem all of Judah and Benjamin and those from the Northern territories of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had moved to the Southern Kingdom when they realized the Eternal One, his True God, was with Asa. 11 That day, they sacrificed to the Eternal 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the wealth they gained during their war against Cush, 12 signifying their covenant agreeing to seek the Eternal One, True God of their ancestors, in everything they did. 13 They decided that anyone (man or woman, young or old, important or insignificant) who would not seek the Eternal One, the True God of Israel, should be executed in accordance with His command,[a] 14 and they promised this to the Eternal with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns. 15 All of the Southern Kingdom rejoiced at their decisions and their vow because they had acted on Azariah’s prophecy: they had promised to look for Him and only Him earnestly and entirely, and they knew He would let them find Him. In response to the promises, the Eternal gave peace in their lives and with their neighbors.
16 Asa continued his reforms even after this. He also removed his own mother, Maacah, from her position as queen mother because she had continued in her idol worship, making a carved image of Asherah. Asa cut down the cultic statue, crushed it, and burned it beside the brook Kidron. 17 In spite of his work against idol worship, he did not remove the high places in the Northern Kingdom. Asa followed His ways throughout his reign, 18 and he returned the silver, gold, and utensils which he and his father had dedicated to the house of the True God. 19 Until the 35th year of his reign, the Southern Kingdom did not fight any wars.
Even in the wake of military success, during a period when most kings would become conceited, Asa continues to focus on God. Eliminating the remnants of idol worship and practicing the festivals in the Southern Kingdom are not enough for him—he insures that all political leaders are role models of proper worship. Asa punishes his own mother and makes an example of her apostasy by stripping her title and destroying her cultic objects in front of the nation. This sends a strong message to the people that everyone is accountable for his actions.
But not even Asa is perfect. He neglects to destroy the high places in the areas he conquers in the Northern Kingdom, so his reign will not be completely peaceful.
There are two significant reasons why the Eternal is always opposed to the Northern and Southern Kingdoms forging alliances with other nations, even if for self-preservation. First, any political alliance is also a religious alliance. Each king and his group of diplomats bring their national deities to witness and support the treaty. The Eternal never stands for setting up other divine rivals, even to witness military agreements. Often treaty members recognize and worship their respective patron idols to show political and religious friendship between the countries.
Second, a political alliance is also a spiritual alliance. King Asa—and the majority of Israelite and Judean kings—demonstrates a lack of trust in the Eternal’s provision and protection when seeking out pragmatics (such as food and land) from the surrounding Gentile nations. It is a constant challenge to seek God for personal and national existence when all the other nations are bigger and stronger. The sad reality is that Judah is often a vassal people to the more wealthy and powerful Israel, and both nations are taken captive and deported by those in whom they will seek refuge: Assyria and Babylonia.
16 But in the 36th year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah, conquered Ramah, and fortified it as his outpost in the Southern Kingdom. By controlling Ramah, Baasha controlled access to Jerusalem and to Asa king of Judah.
Asa retaliates by hiring out Aram to fight Baasha.
2 Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Eternal’s temple and his own palace, and he sent them to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus.
Asa (in a letter to Ben-hadad): 3 Let’s renew the treaty which our fathers shared with each other. Please take this silver and gold which I have sent to you, and use it to attack Baasha, king of Israel. If you will break your treaty with him, then he will withdraw his troops from my country.
4 Ben-hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and sent the commanders of his armies to conquer cities in Israel and to add them to the nation of Aram: Ijon (a fortified city in Naphtali), Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities in the region of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard that Aram was attacking him, he stopped his work of strengthening Ramah and returned to the Northern Kingdom to fight. 6 Then King Asa and his people in Judah pillaged Ramah, removing Baasha’s stones and wood and using them to fortify Geba and Mizpah.
These cities are along the Israelite border, so they guard major trade routes between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
7 At that time, Hanani the seer shared his vision with Asa, king of Judah, interpreting the king’s mistakes and predicting Israel’s future.
Hanani: Because you trusted the king of Aram instead of the Eternal One, your True God, you missed your opportunity to conquer the Aramean army! 8 Do you remember that the Cushites[b] and the Libyans had immense armies with many chariots and horsemen? You could not have conquered them with your own army or your own cunning, but because you trusted the Eternal, He gave them to you so you could crush them. 9 The Eternal watches everything that happens on earth so that He may strongly support those who follow Him. By hiring mercenaries, you have acted foolishly and proven that you are not following Him. From now on, peace will elude you and you will surely fight wars.
10 Asa was enraged by the seer’s vision. He imprisoned Hanani and cruelly oppressed some of his people.
11 The actions of Asa, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the 39th year of his reign, Asa contracted a severe foot disease. Once again, he had the opportunity to look to the Eternal, but instead he relied on physicians.
What happens to Asa’s faith at the end of his life? As Hanani points out, Asa began his reign as a devoted follower of God who trusted Him in battles and worshiped Him in peace. But after neglecting to destroy the altars in the Northern Kingdom, Asa’s faith diminishes. He trusts foreign armies and human physicians over his own God, so he dies a painful death.
13 So Asa joined his ancestors in death three years later, in the 41st year of his reign. 14 The people buried him in his own tomb, which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, Jerusalem, and filled with spices prepared by a perfumer. Then the people built a large fire honoring him.
27 My spirit is low and unsettled. How can I ask the Father to save Me from this hour? This hour is the purpose for which I have come into the world. But what I can say is this: 28 “Father, glorify Your name!”
Suddenly a voice echoed from the heavens.
The Father: I have glorified My name. And again I will bring glory in this hour that will resound throughout time.
29 The crowd of people surrounding Jesus were confused.
Some in the Crowd: It sounded like thunder.
Others: A heavenly messenger spoke to Him.
Jesus: 30 The voice you hear has not spoken for My benefit, but for yours. 31 Now judgment comes upon this world, and everything will change. The tyrant of this world, Satan, will be thrown out. 32 When I am lifted up from the earth, then all of humanity will be drawn to Me.
33 These words foreshadowed the nature of His death.
Crowd: 34 The law teaches that the Anointed is the One who will remain without end. How can You say it is essential that the Son of Man be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man You are talking about?
Jesus: 35 Light is among you, but very soon it will flicker out. Walk as you have the light, and then the darkness will not surround you. Those who walk in darkness don’t know where they are going. 36 While the light is with you, believe in the light; and you will be reborn as sons and daughters of the light.
After speaking these words, Jesus left the people to go to a place of seclusion. 37 Despite all the signs He performed, they still did not believe in Him. 38 Isaiah spoke of this reality, saying,
Lord, who could accept what we’ve been told?
And who has seen the awesome power of the Lord revealed?[a]
39 This is the reason they are unable to believe. 40 Isaiah also said,
God has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts
So that their eyes cannot see properly
and their hearts cannot understand
and be persuaded
by the truth to turn to Me
and be reconciled by My healing hand.[b]
41 Isaiah could say this because he had seen the glory of the Lord with his own eyes and declared His beauty aloud. 42 Yet many leaders secretly believed in Him but would not declare their faith because the Pharisees continued their threats to expel all His followers from the synagogue; 43 here’s why: they loved to please men more than they desired to glorify God.
Jesus (crying out before the people): 44 Anyone who believes in Me is not placing his faith in Me, but in the One who sent Me here. 45 If one sees Me, he sees the One who sent Me. 46 I am here to bring light in this world, freeing everyone who believes in Me from the darkness that blinds him. 47 If anyone listening to My teachings chooses to ignore them, so be it: I have come to liberate the world, not to judge it. 48 However, those who reject Me and My teachings will be judged: in the last day, My words will be their judge 49 because I am not speaking of My own volition and from My own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. 50 I know His command is eternal life, so every word I utter originates in Him.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.