1The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, Oded's son.
2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa, and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you as long as you are with Him. If you look for Him, He will be found by you, but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.
3For a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without law.
4But in their distress, when they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and looked for Him, He was found by them.
5In those times, there was no peace for anyone, whether they were going out or coming in, because great troubles affected all the people living in the lands.
6They were shattered, nation fighting against nation, and city against city, because God troubled them with all sorts of hardships.
7But you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."
8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy from Oded the prophet, he was encouraged. He removed the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He also repaired Yahweh's altar that was in front of Yahweh's porch.
9He gathered all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and those who had come to live with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. Many people had come to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.
10So they all gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.
11On that day, they sacrificed to Yahweh from the plunder they had brought: seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep.
12They made a covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and all their soul.
13They also agreed that anyone who would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, whether small or great, man or woman, should be put to death.
14They swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with ram's horns.
15All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and earnestly desired Him. He was found by them. Then Yahweh gave them rest on every side.
16Asa also removed Maacah, his own mother, from her position as queen mother because she had made an abominable idol for Asherah. Asa cut down her idol, crushed it to dust, and burned it at the Kidron Valley.
17However, the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was fully devoted throughout his life.
18He brought into God's house the things that his father had dedicated and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and various articles.
19There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.