Asa Reigns over Judah

14 ^[a](A)So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was quiet for ten years during his days.

^2 [b]And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God, ³ for he removed ^(B)the foreign altars and ^(C)high places, shattered the sacred pillars, cut the ^[c](D)Asherim in pieces, ⁴ and said for Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also ^[d]removed the high places and the ^(E)incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him. ^6 (F)And he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was quiet, and ^[e]there was no one at war with him during those years, ^(G)because Yahweh had given him rest. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “^(H)Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ^[f]ours because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded. ⁸ Now Asa had a military force of ^(I)300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Then Zerah the Ethiopian ^(J)went out against them with a military force of one million men and 300 chariots, and he came to ^(K)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out ^[g]to meet him, and they arranged themselves for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ Then Asa ^(L)called to Yahweh his God and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, ^(M)for we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You.” ¹² So ^(N)Yahweh smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(O)Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that ^[h]they could not recover, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before His ^[i]army. And they carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they struck down all the cities around Gerar, ^(P)for the dread of Yahweh had fallen on them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also struck down ^[j]those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah

15 Now ^(Q)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out ^[k]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(R)Yahweh is with you when you are with Him. And ^(S)if you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ^3 (T)Now for many days Israel was without the true God and without ^(U)a teaching priest and without law. ⁴ But ^(V)in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them. ^5 (W)Now in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (X)And nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, ^(Y)be strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is ^(Z)reward for your work.”

Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols

⁸ Now when Asa heard these words and the ^[l]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^(AA)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^(AB)He then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh. ⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon ^(AC)who sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. ¹⁰ So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ^11 (AD)And they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. ^12 (AE)They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; ¹³ and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^(AF)should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵ All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So ^(AG)Yahweh gave them rest on every side.

^16 (AH)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ^[m]as ^(AI)an Asherah; and ^(AJ)Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But the high places were not ^[n]removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa Wars Against Baasha

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign ^(AK)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ² Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “Let there be a covenant between ^[o]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ⁴ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^(AL)the ^[p]store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons a Seer

⁷ Now at that time ^(AM)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^(AN)Because you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. ⁸ Were not ^(AO)the Ethiopians and the Lubim ^(AP)a vast military force with an exceedingly vast number of chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(AQ)because you leaned on Yahweh, He gave them into your hand. ⁹ For ^(AR)the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those ^(AS)whose heart is wholly devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was vexed with the seer and put him in ^[q]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

^11 (AT)Now behold, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² And Asa became diseased in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he ^(AU)did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians. ¹³ So Asa slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ And they buried him in his own tomb which he had ^[r]cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled ^(AV)with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and ^(AW)they made a very great fire for him.