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2 Chronicles 15
New English Translation

15 God’s Spirit came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2 He met[a] Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him.[b] If you seek him, he will respond to you,[c] but if you reject him, he will reject you. 3 For a long time[d] Israel had not sought the one true God, or a priest to instruct them, or the law. 4 Because of their distress, they turned back to the Lord God of Israel. They sought him and he responded to them.[e] 5 In those days[f] no one could travel safely,[g] for total chaos had overtaken all the people of the surrounding lands.[h] 6 One nation was crushed by another, and one city by another, for God caused them to be in great turmoil.[i] 7 But as for you, be strong and don’t get discouraged,[j] for your work will be rewarded.”[k]

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged.[l] He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the Lord in front of the porch of the Lord’s temple.[m]

9 He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers[n] from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live[o] when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time[p] they sacrificed to the Lord some of the plunder they had brought back, including 700 head of cattle and 7,000 sheep.[q] 12 They solemnly agreed[r] to seek the Lord God of their ancestors[s] with their whole heart and being. 13 Anyone who would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be executed, whether they were young or old,[t] male or female. 14 They swore their allegiance to the Lord, shouting their approval loudly and sounding trumpets and horns.[u] 15 All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them.[v] He made them secure on every side.[w]

16 King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother[x] from her position as queen mother[y] because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her loathsome pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 The high places were not eliminated from Israel, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime.[z] 18 He brought the holy items that his father and he had made into God’s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles.[aa]

Asa’s Failures

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

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 15:2 tn Heb “went out before.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 15:2 tn Heb “when you are with him.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 15:2 tn Heb “he will allow himself to be found by you.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 15:3 tn Heb “Many days.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 15:4 tn Heb “and he allowed himself to be found by them.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 15:5 tn Heb “times.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 15:5 tn Heb “there was no peace for the one going out or the one coming in.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 15:5 tn Heb “for great confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands.”
  9. 2 Chronicles 15:6 tn Heb “threw them into confusion with all distress.”
  10. 2 Chronicles 15:7 tn Heb “and let not your hands drop.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 15:7 tn Heb “for there is payment for your work.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 15:8 tn Heb “strengthened himself.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 15:8 tn Heb “the porch of the Lord.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 15:9 tn Or “foreign residents.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 15:9 tn Heb “had fallen upon him.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 15:11 tn Or “In that day.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 15:11 tn The Hebrew term צֹאן (tsoʾn) denotes smaller livestock in general; depending on context it can refer to sheep only or goats only, but their is nothing in the immediate context here to specify one or the other.
  18. 2 Chronicles 15:12 tn Heb “entered into a covenant.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 15:12 tn Heb “fathers.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 15:13 tn Heb “whether small or great.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 15:14 tn Heb “with a loud voice and with a shout of joy and with trumpets and with horns.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 15:15 tn Heb “and with all their desire they sought him and he allowed himself to be found by them.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 15:15 tn Heb “and the Lord gave them rest all around.”
  24. 2 Chronicles 15:16 tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses “father” and “mother” for grandparents and even more remote ancestors.
  25. 2 Chronicles 15:16 tn The Hebrew term גְּבִירָה (gevirah) can denote “queen” or “queen mother” depending on the context. Here the latter is indicated, since Maacah was the wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah.
  26. 2 Chronicles 15:17 tn Heb “yet the heart of Asa was complete all his days.”
  27. 2 Chronicles 15:18 tn Heb “and he brought the holy things of his father and his holy things [into] the house of God, silver, gold, and items.”
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2 Chronicles 15
International Standard Version

Azariah the Prophet Encourages Asa

15 After this, the Spirit of God came to rest on Oded’s son Azariah, 2 so he went out to meet Asa and rebuked him:

“Listen to me, Asa, Judah, and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will allow you to find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. 3 Israel lived for years without the true God, priests to teach them, and the Law, 4 but they turned to the Lord God of Israel in their distress. When they sought him, he let them become reacquainted with him.

5 “During those days, it wasn’t safe for anyone to come and go, because many civil[a] disturbances afflicted everyone who lived in the territories. 6 Nation battled nation, and city fought city, because God was afflicting them all with every kind of distress. 7 Now as for you,[b] be strong[c] and never be discouraged,[d] because there will be reward for your[e] work.”

Asa Institutes Reforms

8 Encouraged by what Oded’s son Azariah the prophet had said in his prophecy, Asa[f] removed the detestable idols from throughout the entire territories of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord’s altar that stood in front of the vestibule of the Lord’s Temple. 9 Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They all assembled in Jerusalem during the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought with them. 12 They also entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their heart and soul, 13 and they further agreed that[g] whoever would refuse to seek the Lord God of Israel was to be executed, whether important or unimportant, man or woman. 14 They also made a vow to the Lord with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns. 15 Everybody in Judah was very glad to make their oath, because they had made their vow with all their heart and had sought him with all of their might,[h] and they found him! The Lord also gave them rest in their surrounding lands.

16 King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah.[i] He cut down his mother’s idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook. 17 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed from Israel, even though Asa’s heart was blameless all of his life. 18 Asa brought into God’s Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service[j] implements. 19 Asa experienced no more war until the end of the[k] thirty-fifth year of his reign.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 15:5 The Heb. lacks civil
  2. 2 Chronicles 15:7 MT pronoun is pl.
  3. 2 Chronicles 15:7 MT verb is pl.
  4. 2 Chronicles 15:7 MT verb is pl.
  5. 2 Chronicles 15:7 MT pronoun is pl.
  6. 2 Chronicles 15:8 Lit. he
  7. 2 Chronicles 15:13 The Heb. lacks they further agreed that
  8. 2 Chronicles 15:15 Or desire
  9. 2 Chronicles 15:16 I.e. cultic pillars erected in worship to Canaanite deities
  10. 2 Chronicles 15:18 The Heb. lacks temple service
  11. 2 Chronicles 15:19 The Heb. lacks end of the
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