God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. A ^(B)Miktam^[a] of David.

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. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around ^(U)Gerar, ^(V)for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa's Religious Reforms

15 ^(W)The Spirit of God came^[d] 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: ^(X)The Lord is with you while you are with him. ^(Y)If you seek him, he will be found by you, ^(Z)but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ^3 (AA)For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ^4 (AB)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 ^(AC)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 (AD)But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^(AE)for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸ As soon as Asa heard these words, ^(AF)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 ^(AG)the cities that he had taken in ^(AH)the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^(AI)that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.^{[e] 9} And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^(AJ)and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹ They sacrificed to the Lord on that day ^(AK)from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. ^12 (AL)And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, ¹³ but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(AM)should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴ They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. 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, ^(AN)and the Lord gave them rest all around.

^16 (AO)Even Maacah, ^(AP)his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image ^(AQ)for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, ^(AR)crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ^17 (AS)But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ² For since ^(A)the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and ^(B)every transgression or disobedience received a just ^(C)retribution, ^3 (D)how shall we escape if we ^(E)neglect such a great salvation? It was ^(F)declared at first by the Lord, and it was ^(G)attested to us ^(H)by those who heard, ^4 (I)while God also bore witness ^(J)by signs and wonders and various miracles and by ^(K)gifts of the Holy Spirit ^(L)distributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

⁵ For it was not to angels that God subjected the world ^(M)to come, of which we are speaking. ⁶ It has been testified somewhere,

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, ^(O)we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ⁹ But we see him ^(P)who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, ^(Q)crowned with glory and honor ^(R)because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might ^(S)taste death ^(T)for everyone.

¹⁰ For it ^(U)was fitting that he, ^(V)for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons ^(W)to glory, should make the ^(X)founder of their salvation ^(Y)perfect through suffering. ¹¹ For ^(Z)he who sanctifies and ^(AA)those who are sanctified ^(AB)all have one source.^[b] That is why he is not ashamed to call them ^(AC)brothers,^{[c] 12} saying,

¹³ And again,

And again,

¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise ^(AI)partook of the same things, that ^(AJ)through death he might ^(AK)destroy ^(AL)the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who ^(AM)through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he ^(AN)helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he had ^(AO)to be made like his brothers in every respect, ^(AP)so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest ^(AQ)in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered ^(AR)when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.