Old Testament
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
New Testament
2 Chronicles 15
Asa's Reformation
151The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2He went out to meet Asa and said this to him:
Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin.
The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he is there to be found. If you forsake him, he will forsake you.
3For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach, and without the law. 4Then in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel. They sought him, and he was found by them. 5During those times there was no peace for those who went out and came in, because there were great disturbances affecting all the inhabitants of the lands.
6It was nation against nation and city against city. They were broken in pieces because God troubled them with every kind of distress. 7But take courage and do not let your hands be slack, because there will be a reward for your work.
8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of[] Oded, the prophet, he took courage. He put away the disgusting idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in front of the porch of the Lord's house.
9He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those who had settled among them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, because people from Israel had gone over to Asa in great numbers since they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10They gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. 11On that day they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep from the plunder they had brought.
12They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul. 13Anyone who did not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether young or old,[] man or woman. 14They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, and with trumpets and ram's horns. 15All Judah rejoiced over the oath, because they had sworn with all their heart, and they very eagerly sought the Lord. He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest on every side.
16Asa even removed his grandmother Ma'akah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image and crushed it and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
17The high places, however, were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was completely committed throughout all his days. 18He brought silver and gold and vessels and utensils to the House of the Lord as dedicated offerings for himself and his father.
Asa's Treaty With Aram
19There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.