1  And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded;

1  And Azarias the son of Oded—upon him came the Spirit of the Lord,

1  Now Azariah, the son of Oded, had the Spirit of God within him.

2  and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him: 'Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: YHWH is with you, while ye are with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.

3  Now for long seasons Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;

3  Then many days will pass in Israel, apart from the true God, and apart from a learned priest, and apart from the law.

3  Now for a long time Israel has not served their God in truth and has not accepted the teaching of their priests and would not obey their laws; therefore they were delivered into the hand of their enemies.

4  but when in their distress they turned unto YHWH, the God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them.

4  But he shall turn them to the Lord God of Israel, and he will be found of them.

4  And when, in their anguish, they will have returned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and will have sought him, they shall find him.

5  And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great discomfitures were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

5  In that time, there will be no peace for those who depart and those who enter. Instead, there will be terror on every side, among all the inhabitants of the lands.

6  And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God did discomfit them with all manner of adversity.

6  For nation will fight against nation, and city against city. For the Lord will disturb them with every anguish.

6  And we were scattered in every nation and people, and in towns and cities,

7  But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.'

7  But as for you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened. For there will be a reward for your work.”

7  Because we had forsaken our God and would not listen to the voice of his servants, the prophets; so he rewarded us according to our works.

8  And when Asa heard these words, even the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the detestable things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of YHWH, that was before the porch of the YHWH.

8  And when Asa had heard these particular words, and the prophecy of the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, he was strengthened, and he took away the idols from the entire land of Judah, and from Benjamin, and from the cities that he had seized of mount Ephraim, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the portico of the Lord.

9  And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned 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 YHWH his God was with him.

9  And he gathered together all of Judah and Benjamin, and with them the new arrivals from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon. For many had fled to him from Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him.

10  So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

10  And they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

10  And when they had arrived in Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

11  And they sacrificed unto YHWH in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

11  they immolated to the Lord on that day, from the best of the spoils and from the plunder that they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand rams.

11  And the same day they offered to the LORD of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and six thousand sheep.

12  And they entered into the covenant to seek YHWH, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

12  And he entered into a covenant that they should seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.

12  And he entered, according to custom, in order to confirm the covenant, so that they would seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with their whole heart and with their whole soul.

13  and that whosoever would not seek YHWH, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

13  And that whoever should not seek the Lord God of Israel, should die, whether young or old, whether man or woman.

13  “But if anyone,” he said, “will not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, let him die, from the least even to the greatest, from man even to woman.”

14  And they swore unto YHWH with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns.

14  And they swore to the Lord, with a great voice, in jubilation, and with the blare of trumpets, and with the sound of horns,

15  And 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 YHWH gave them rest round about.

15  all who were in Judah swore with a curse. For with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought and found him. And the Lord granted rest on all sides to them.

16  And also Maacah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

16  And he removed Maacha his mother from being priestess to Astarte; and he cut down the idol, and burnt it in the brook of Kedron.

16  Then too, Maacah, the mother of king Asa, he deposed from the august authority, because she had made an idol of Priapus within a sacred grove. And he entirely crushed it, breaking it into pieces, and he burned it at the torrent Kidron.

17  But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was whole all his days.

17  Nevertheless they removed not the high places: they still existed in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

17  But the altars on the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect in the worship of the LORD his God all the days of his life.

18  And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had hallowed, and that he himself had hallowed, silver, and gold, and vessels.

18  And whatever his father or he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord: silver and gold, and vessels for various uses.

19  And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

19  Truly, there was no war, until the thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Asa.