2 Chron. 15:1‑16:14• 1And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
2And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while ye are with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him he will forsake you.
3Now for a long while Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;
4but in their trouble they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found of them.
5And in those times there was no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in, but great disturbances were amongst all the inhabitants of the countries.
6And nation was broken against nation, and city against city; for God disturbed them with all manner of distress.
7But as for you, be firm and let not your hands be weak; for there is a reward for your deeds.
8And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah.
9And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell away to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.
10And they assembled themselves at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11And they sacrificed to Jehovah in that day, of the spoil that they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
12And they entered into a covenant to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul,
13and that whoever would not seek Jehovah the God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14And they swore to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they took the oath with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them. And Jehovah gave them rest round about.
16And also Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burned it in the valley Kidron.
17But the high places were not removed from Israel; only, Asa's heart was perfect all his days.
18And he brought into the house of God the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
19And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
1In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
2And Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of Jehovah and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying,
3There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I send thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
4And Ben-hadad hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his forces against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon and Dan and Abelmaim, and all the store-magazines of the cities of Naphtali.
5And it came to pass when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease.
6And king Asa took all Judah; and they carried away the stones and the timber from Ramah, with which Baasha had been building, and he built with them Geba and Mizpah.
7And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on Jehovah thy God, therefore has the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand.
8Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army, with very many chariots and horsemen? but when thou didst rely on Jehovah, he delivered them into thy hand.
9For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
10And Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was enraged with him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
11And behold the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
12And Asa in the thirty-ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was extremely great; yet in his disease he did not seek Jehovah, but the physicians.
13And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one-and-fortieth year of his reign.
14And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had excavated for himself in the city of David, and laid him in a bed filled with spices, a mixture of divers kinds prepared by the perfumer's art; and they made a very great burning for him. (2 Chron. 15:1‑16:14)