| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: | 1The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. |
| 2And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. | 2So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. |
| 3Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. | 3For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without instruction, |
| 4But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. | 4but when they turned to the LORD God of Israel in their distress and sought Him, He was found by them. |
| 5And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. | 5In those times there was no peace for those who went about their daily activities because the residents of the lands had many conflicts. |
| 6And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. | 6Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every possible distress. |
| 7Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded. | 7But as for you, be strong; don't be discouraged, for your work has a reward." |
| 8And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD. | 8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He renovated the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD's temple. |
| 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. | 9Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for they had defected to him from Israel in great numbers when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. |
| 10So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. | 10They were gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. |
| 11And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. | 11At that time they sacrificed to the LORD 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep from all the plunder they had brought. |
| 12And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; | 12Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their ancestors with all their mind and all their heart. |
| 13That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. | 13Whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel would be put to death, young or old, man or woman. |
| 14And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. | 14They took an oath to the LORD in a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with rams' horns. |
| 15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about. | 15All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their mind. They had sought Him with all their heart, and He was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. |
| 16And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. | 16King Asa also removed Maacah, his grandmother, from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa chopped down her obscene image, then crushed it and burned it in the Kidron Valley. |
| 17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. | 17The high places were not taken away from Israel; nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted his entire life. |
| 18And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. | 18He brought his father's consecrated gifts and his own consecrated gifts into God's temple: silver, gold, and utensils. |
| 19And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa. | 19There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign. |
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