Asa Brings Reforms
2 Chronicles 15, verse 1. Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 2. And he went out to meet Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, and said, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and held to what is not the law. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 4. But when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought Him, He was found by them. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 5. In those times, there was no peace for the one who went out or the one who came in, but great terror of the Lord was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 6. So nation destroyed nation and city against city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 7. But be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for there is a reward for your work.” 2 Chronicles 15, verse 8. When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the abominations throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin, and the cities he took in the mountains of Ephraim. And he restored the altar of the Lord before the temple of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 9. Then he gathered all of Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 10. So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 11. And at that time, they offered to the Lord seven hundred calves and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 12. Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 13. Whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, small or great, man or woman. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 14. With a loud voice and trumpets and rams’ horns they took an oath before the Lord. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 15. And all of Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul. And He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 16. And he removed Maachah his mother from being queen mother because she served the Asherah; and he cut down the idol and burned it at the Brook Kidron. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 17. But the high places were not removed, and they still existed in Israel. But the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 18. He also brought the things his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated—silver and gold and utensils. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 19. And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.