The Prophecy of Azariah
And the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded.
And he went out before Asa and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you — but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
And for many days Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without instruction.
But when in its distress it turned back to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
And in those times there was no peace for the one going out or the one coming in — for great turmoils were on all the inhabitants of the lands.
And nation was crushed by nation, and city by city — for God threw them into turmoil with every distress.
But you — be strong, and do not let your hands drop; for there is a reward for your work.”
Asa’s Reforms
And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded the prophet, he took strength, and made the detestable things pass out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities he had captured from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD that was before the porch of the LORD.
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the foreigners with them from Ephraim and Manasseh and from Simeon — for they had fallen to him from Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
And they gathered at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
And they sacrificed to the LORD on that day, from the plunder they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
And they entered into the covenant, to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul —
and whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death, from small to great, from man to woman.
And they swore to the LORD with a great voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets and with horns.
And all Judah rejoiced over the oath — for with all their heart they had sworn, and with all their desire they had sought him, and he was found by them. And the LORD gave them rest all around.
And also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king — he removed her from being queen mother, because she had made a monstrous thing for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her monstrous thing, and crushed it, and burned it at the ravine of the Kidron.
But the high places were not removed from Israel. Only, the heart of Asa was whole all his days.
And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things — silver, and gold, and vessels.
And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.