THE SECOND BOOK OF THE
CHRONICLES
2 Chronicles 15 ©
Azariah the prophet exhorts Asa and the people to go on in the reformation of religion already begun, v. 1, etc. Which exhortation they obey, 8. And renew the covenant with the Lord, 12. Asa deposes Maachah, his mother, from her regency, because of her idolatry, 16. He brings the hallowed things again into the temple, 18. The land has rest, 19.
AND1 the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of 2Oded:
And he went 3out to meet 4Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD 5is with you, while ye be 6with him; and ifa ye 7seek him, he will be found 8of you; butb if ye 9forsake him, he 10will forsake you.
11Nowc for a long season Israel hath been without the 12true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
Butd when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
And in those times there 13was no peace to him 14that went out, nor to him that came in, but great 15vexations were upon all the inhabitants 16of the countries.
17And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex 18them with all adversity.
19Be ye strong therefore, and let not 20your hands be weak: for your work shall be 21rewarded.
And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of 22Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the 23abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the 24cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the 25altar of the LORD, that was before the 26porch of the LORD.
And he gathered 27all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they 28fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the 29third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had 30brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
And 31they enterede into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers 32with all their heart and with all their soul;
That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel shouldf be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
And they sware unto the LORD with a 33loud voice, and with 34shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn 35with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and 36he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.
¶And also concerning Maachah the 37mother of Asa the king, 38he removed her from being queen,g because she had made an 39idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook 40Kidron.
41But the high places were not taken away out of 42Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was 43perfect all his days.
¶And he brought into the house of God 44the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
And there was 45no more war unto the five and thirtieth year 46of the reign of Asa.