Asa Destroys the Idols in Judah

15 Some time later, God spoke to Azariah son of Oded. ² At once, Azariah went to Asa and said:

Listen to me, King Asa and you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord will be with you and help you, as long as you obey and worship him. But if you disobey him, he will desert you.

³ For a long time, the people of Israel did not worship the true God or listen to priests who could teach them about God. They refused to obey God's Law. ⁴ But whenever trouble came, Israel turned back to the Lord their God and worshiped him.

⁵ There was so much confusion in those days that it wasn't safe to go anywhere in Israel. ⁶ Nations were destroying each other, and cities were wiping out other cities, because God was causing trouble and unrest everywhere.

⁷ So you must be brave. Don't give up! God will honor you for obeying him.

⁸ As soon as Asa heard what Azariah the prophet said, he gave orders for all the idols in Judah and Benjamin to be destroyed, including those in the towns he had captured in the territory of Ephraim. He also repaired the Lord's altar that was in front of the temple porch.

⁹ Asa called together the people from Judah and Benjamin, as well as the people from the territories of Ephraim, West Manasseh, and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many of these people were now loyal to Asa, because they had seen that the Lord was with him.

¹⁰ In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's rule, they all met in Jerusalem. ¹¹ That same day, they took 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats from what they had brought back from Gerar and sacrificed them as offerings to the Lord. ¹² They made a solemn promise to faithfully worship the Lord God their ancestors had worshiped, ¹³ and to put to death anyone who refused to obey him. ¹⁴ The crowd solemnly agreed to keep their promise to the Lord, then they celebrated by shouting and blowing trumpets and horns. ¹⁵ Everyone was happy because they had made this solemn promise, and in return, the Lord blessed them with peace from all their enemies.

¹⁶ Asa's grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting idol of the goddess Asherah, so he cut it down, crushed it, and burned it in Kidron Valley. Then he removed Maacah from her position as queen mother.^{[a] 17} As long as Asa lived, he was faithful to the Lord, even though he did not destroy the local shrines^[b] in Israel. ¹⁸ He placed in the temple all the silver and gold objects that he and his father had dedicated to God.

¹⁹ There was peace in Judah until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's rule.

King Baasha of Israel Invades Judah

(1 Kings 15.16-22)

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's rule, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and captured the town of Ramah. He started making the town stronger, and he put troops there to stop people from going in and out of Judah.

² When Asa heard about this, he took the silver and gold from his palace and from the Lord's temple. Then he sent it to Damascus with this message for King Benhadad of Syria: ³ “I think we should sign a peace treaty, just as our fathers did. This silver and gold is a present for you. Would you please break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel and force him to leave my country?”

⁴ Benhadad did what Asa asked and sent the Syrian army into Israel. They captured the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-Maim,^[c] and all the towns in Naphtali where supplies were kept. ⁵ When Baasha heard about it, he stopped his work on the town of Ramah.

⁶ Asa ordered everyone in Judah to carry away the stones and wood Baasha had used to fortify Ramah. Then he fortified the towns of Geba and Mizpah with these same stones and wood.

Hanani the Prophet Condemns Asa

⁷ Soon after that happened, Hanani the prophet went to Asa and said:

You depended on the king of Syria instead of depending on the Lord your God. And so, you will never defeat the Syrian army. ⁸ Remember how powerful the Ethiopian^[d] and Libyan army was, with all their chariots and cavalry troops! You trusted the Lord to help you then, and you defeated them. ⁹ The Lord is constantly watching everyone, and he gives strength to those who faithfully obey him. But you have done a foolish thing, and your kingdom will never be at peace again.

¹⁰ When Asa heard this, he was so angry that he put Hanani in prison. Asa was also cruel to some of his people.^[e]

Asa Dies

(1 Kings 15.23,24)

¹¹ Everything Asa did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, he got a very bad foot disease, but he relied on doctors and refused to ask the Lord for help. ¹³ He died two years later.

¹⁴ Earlier, Asa had his own tomb cut out of a rock hill in Jerusalem. So he was buried there, and the tomb was filled with spices and sweet-smelling oils. Then the people built a bonfire in his honor.

²⁷ Now I am deeply troubled, and I don't know what to say. But I must not ask my Father to keep me from this time of suffering. In fact, I came into the world to suffer. ²⁸ So Father, bring glory to yourself.

A voice from heaven then said, “I have already brought glory to myself, and I will do it again!” ²⁹ When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder. Others thought an angel had spoken to Jesus.

³⁰ Then Jesus told the crowd, “That voice spoke to help you, not me. ³¹ This world's people are now being judged, and the ruler of this world^[a] is already being thrown out! ³² If I am lifted up above the earth, I will make everyone want to come to me.” ³³ Jesus was talking about the way he would be put to death.

^34 (A) The crowd said to Jesus, “The Scriptures teach that the Messiah will live forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Jesus answered, “The light will be with you for only a little longer. Walk in the light while you can. Then you won't be caught walking blindly in the dark. ³⁶ Have faith in the light while it is with you, and you will be children of the light.”

The People Refuse To Have Faith in Jesus

After Jesus had said these things, he left and went into hiding. ³⁷ He had worked a lot of miracles^[b] among the people, but they were still not willing to have faith in him. ^38 (B) This happened so that what the prophet Isaiah had said would come true,