² and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(A)The Lord is with you while you are with him. ^(B)If you seek him, he will be found by you, ^(C)but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

² and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(A)The Lord is with you while you are with him. ^(B)If you seek him, he will be found by you, ^(C)but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ^3 (D)For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ^4 (E)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 ^(F)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.