¹⁷ Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful throughout his life.

³ He removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. ⁴ He commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands. ⁵ Asa also removed the pagan shrines, as well as the incense altars from every one of Judah’s towns. So Asa’s kingdom enjoyed a period of peace.

⁴ Amaziah did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

³ Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

⁴³ Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the example of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. ^[a]During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

⁴ In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.

¹³ Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you like. ¹⁴ You may do so only at the place the Lord will choose within one of your tribal territories. There you must offer your burnt offerings and do everything I command you.

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^[a] and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers?^[b] 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.

² At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local places of worship, for a temple honoring the name of the Lord had not yet been built.

³ Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. ⁴ The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.