Azariah the Prophet Warns Asa

1Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2and he went out [a]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. 3For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without the Law. 4But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. 5In those times there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because many disturbances [b]afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. 7But you, be strong and do not [c]lose courage, for there is a reward for your work.”

Asa’s Reforms

8Now when Asa heard these words and the [d]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11They sacrificed to the LORD on that day seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from the spoils they had brought. 12They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; 13and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and with horns. 15All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him [e]earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

16He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image [f]as an Asherah, and Asa cut down her abominable image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days. 18He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver, gold, and utensils. 19And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.