15 2 The exhortation of Azariah. 8 Asa purgeth his country of idolatry. 11 He sacrificeth with the people. 14 They swear together to serve the Lord. 16 He deposeth his mother for her idolatry.

Then the Spirit of God came upon [a]Azariah the son of Obed.

And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, O Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, hear ye me, 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.

Now for a long season Israel hath been without the [b]true God, and without Priest to teach, and without Law.

But whosoever returned in his affliction to the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he [c]was found of him.

And in that time there was no peace to him, that did go out and go in: but great troubles were to all the inhabitants of the earth.

For nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God troubled them with all adversity.

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your [d]work shall have a reward.

¶ And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Obed the Prophet, he was encouraged, and took away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken of mount 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 strangers with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for there fell many to him out of Israel, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 So they assembled to Jerusalem in the [e]third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

11 And they offered unto the Lord the same time of the [f]spoil which they had brought, even seven hundred bullocks, and seven thousand sheep.

12 And they made a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul.

13 And [g]whosoever will not seek the Lord God of Israel, shall be slain, whether he were small or great, man or woman.

14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn unto the Lord with all their heart, and sought him with a whole desire, and he was [h]found of them. And the Lord gave them rest round about.

16 ¶ And King Asa deposed (A)Maachah his [i]mother from her regency, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa brake down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

17 But the high places were not [j]taken away out of [k]Israel: yet the heart of Asa was [l]perfect all his days.

18 Also he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

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

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 15:1 Who was called Obed, as his father was, verse 8.
  2. 2 Chronicles 15:3 For the space of twelve years under Rehoboam, and three years under Abijah, religion was neglected, and idolatry planted.
  3. 2 Chronicles 15:4 He showeth, that notwithstanding the wickedness of tyrants and their rage, yet God hath his, whom he heareth in their tribulation, as he delivered his from Zerah king of the Ethiopians, 2 Chron. 14:9, 12, and out of all other dangers, when they called upon the Lord.
  4. 2 Chronicles 15:7 Your confidence and trust in God shall not be frustrated.
  5. 2 Chronicles 15:10 Called Sivan, containing part of May, and part of June.
  6. 2 Chronicles 15:11 Which they had taken of the Ethiopians.
  7. 2 Chronicles 15:13 These were the words of their covenant, which commanded all idolaters to be put to death, according to the Law of God, Deut. 13:5, 9, 15.
  8. 2 Chronicles 15:15 So long as they served him aright, so long did he preserve and prosper them.
  9. 2 Chronicles 15:16 Or grandmother: and herein he showed that he lacked zeal, for she ought to have died both by the covenant, as verse 13, and by the Law of God: but he gave place to foolish pity and would also seem after a sort to satisfy the Law.
  10. 2 Chronicles 15:17 Which partly came through lack of zeal in him, partly through the negligence of his officers, and partly by the superstition of the people, that all were not taken away.
  11. 2 Chronicles 15:17 Because that God was called the God of Israel, by reason of his promise to Jacob: therefore Israel is sometimes taken for Judah, because Judah was his chief people.
  12. 2 Chronicles 15:17 In respect of his predecessors.

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