| 1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2 and
he went out to meet Asa, and said unto 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. 3 Now
for a long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching
priest, and without law: 4 But when in their distress they turned unto
Jehovah, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5 And in
those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in;
but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 And they
were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God
did vex them with all adversity. 7 But be ye strong, and let not your
hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded. 8 And 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 which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he
renewed the altar of Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah. 9 And
he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of
Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel
in abundance, when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him. 10 So they
gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they sacrificed unto Jehovah in
that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven
thousand sheep. 12 And they entered into the covenant to seek Jehovah, the
God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 and
that whosoever would not seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, should be put to
death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 And they sware
unto Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and
with cornets. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn
with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was
found of them: and Jehovah gave them rest round about. 16 And also Maacah,
the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made
an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust
of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not
taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his
days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father
had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and
vessels. 19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of
the reign of Asa.
Genesis - Public
Domain
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