Old/New Testament

Prophets Encourage Further Reforms

15 The Ruach Elohim came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Listen to me Asa, all Judah and Benjamin. Adonai is with you as long as you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will spurn you. ³ For many days Israel was without the true God, without a teaching kohen and without Torah. ⁴ But in their distress they turned to Adonai, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them. ⁵ In those times there was no shalom for anyone coming or going, for there were many conflicts among all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, chazak! Do not let your hands be slack for there is reward for your labor.”

⁸ When Asa heard these words as well as the prophecy of the prophet Oded, he took courage and removed the abominations from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns that he had seized in the hill country of Ephraim. He also repaired Adonai’s altar that was in front of Adonai’s entryway. ⁹ He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those dwelling with them from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon—for many had defected to him from Israel when they saw that Adonai his God was with him. ¹⁰ So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹ On that day they sacrificed to Adonai 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought. ¹² They entered into a covenant to seek Adonai, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. ¹³ Whoever would not seek Adonai, God of Israel, would be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ They also made an oath to Adonai with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with shofarot. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their will and He was found by them. Then Adonai gave them rest all around. ¹⁶ He also deposed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her abominable image, crushed it and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷ Though the high places were not removed from Israel, still Asa’s heart was completely committed to Adonai all his days. ¹⁸ He brought into the House of God his father’s consecrated articles, as well as his consecrated articles of silver and gold, and utensils. ¹⁹ So there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa Backslides

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasa of Israel marched against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from leaving or coming to King Asa of Judah.

² In response, Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the House of Adonai and from the royal palace, and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram who lived in Damascus saying, ³ “Let there be a covenant between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with King Baasha of Israel so that he may withdraw from me.”

⁴ So Ben-hadad consented to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. They ravaged Ijon, Dan, Abelmaim and all the storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasa heard, he stopped building Ramah and stopped his work. ⁶ Then King Asa took up all of Judah to carry away the stones of Ramah and the timber with which Baasa had been building—with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you have depended on the king of Aram, and not depended on Adonai your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. ⁸ Were not the Cushites and the Libyans a mighty army with many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on Adonai, He delivered them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of Adonai range throughtout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are wholly His. You have acted foolishly in this matter. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.”

¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the prison for he was enraged at him for this. Also Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. ¹¹ Behold, the acts of Asa, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹² Now in the thirty-nineth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet. His illness was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek Adonai but physicians.

¹³ Finally Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ He was buried in his own tomb, which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David. They laid him in his resting place, which was filled with sweet spices and various blended perfumes and they made a very large fire for him.

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But it was for this reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name!”

Then a voice came out of heaven, “I have glorified it, and again I will glorify it!”

²⁹ Therefore the crowd that was standing there and heard it was saying that it had thundered. Others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰ Yeshua responded, “This voice hasn’t come for My sake, but for yours. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world! Now the prince of this world will be driven out! ³² And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death He was about to die.

³⁴ The crowd answered Him, “We’ve heard from Scripture^[a] that the Messiah remains forever. How can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

Choose Either the Light or the Darkness

³⁵ Therefore Yeshua said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.” Yeshua spoke these things, then left and hid Himself from them.

³⁷ But even though He had performed so many signs before them, they weren’t trusting in Him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said,

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

⁴² Nevertheless many, even among the leaders, put their trust in Him. But because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing Yeshua,^[d] so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue; ^{[e] 43} for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.

⁴⁴ Yeshua cried out, “Whoever puts trust in Me believes not in Me but in the One who sent Me! ⁴⁵ And whoever beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶ As light I have come into the world, so that everyone who trusts in Me should not remain in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears My words but doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I came to save the world, not to judge the world. ⁴⁸ The one who rejects Me and doesn’t receive My words has a judge; the word I spoke will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. Therefore what I say, I say just as the Father has told Me.”