1And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, son of Oded. 2And he went out to meet Asa, and told 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 forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3For a long time, Israel has been without the true God, and without a priest to teach them, and without law. 4But in their trouble, they turned to and sought the LORD God of Israel, and He was found by them. 5And in those times it was not safe to travel. Great disturbances afflicted the inhabitants of every land. 6One nation was destroyed by another, and one city by another; for God brought adversity upon them all. 7But as for you, be strong, and courageous; for your work shall be rewarded.”

8And when Asa heard this message from the prophet Azariah, son of Oded, he was encouraged, and he removed all the abominable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD, that was in front of the porch of the Temple of the LORD. 9And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon; for many of them had come to him out of Israel, when they saw that the LORD, his God, was with Asa. 10So they gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11And they sacrificed to the LORD at that time, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep, of the plunder which they had gained. 12And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul, 13And that whoever - whether small or great, man or woman - would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death. 14And they took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting, with trumpets, and with cornets. 15And all Judah rejoiced about this covenant; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought the LORD with earnest desire; and He was found by them; and the LORD gave them rest all around.

16And King Asa also deposed Maachah, his grandmother, from her position as queen, because she had made an obscene idol in a grove; which Asa cut down, stamped, and burned it at the brook, Kidron. 17Although not all the high places were removed from Israel; nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18And he brought into the Temple of God articles of silver and gold that his father had dedicated, and also those that he, himself, had dedicated.

19And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.