Asa Reigns in Judah

14 ^{[a] (A)}Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. ^2 [b] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars ^(B)and the high places and broke down ^(C)the pillars and cut down the ^(D)Asherim ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah ^(E)the high places and the ^(F)incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built ^(G)fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^(H)for the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ^(I)walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^(J)and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of ^(K)300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Zerah ^(L)the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^(M)Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and ^(N)they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^(O)Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(P)cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^(Q)for we rely on you, ^(R)and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ^12 (S)So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(T)Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[c] carried away very much spoil.

Asa's Religious Reforms

15 ^(A)The Spirit of God came^[a] upon Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(B)The Lord is with you while you are with him. ^(C)If you seek him, he will be found by you, ^(D)but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ^3 (E)For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ^4 (F)but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. ⁵ In those times there was no peace ^(G)to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. ^7 (H)But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^(I)for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸ As soon as Asa heard these words, ^(J)the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^(K)the cities that he had taken in ^(L)the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^(M)that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.^[b]

^12 (A)And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,

¹⁵ And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, ^(A)and the Lord gave them rest all around.

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