NAS - 2 Chronicles Chapter 15 to 17

15 The Prophet Azariah Warns Asa

¹Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, ²and he went out 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 forsake Him, He will forsake you. ³"For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. ⁴"But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. ⁵"In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶"Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. ⁷"But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work."

Asa's Reforms

⁸Now when Asa heard these words and the 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. ⁹He 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 that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil 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 should 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, with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him 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 a horrid image as an Asherah, and Asa cut down her horrid 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 and gold and utensils. ¹⁹And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

16 Asa Wars against Baasha

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ²Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the king's house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³"Let there be a treaty between you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me." ⁴So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. ⁵When Baasha heard of it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and stopped his work. ⁶Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons the Prophet

⁷At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. ⁸"Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. ⁹"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars." ¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

¹¹Now, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. ¹³So Asa slept with his fathers, having died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers' art; and they made a very great fire for him.

17 Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

¹Jehoshaphat his son then became king in his place, and made his position over Israel firm. ²He placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had captured.

His Good Reign

³The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father David's earlier days and did not seek the Baals, ⁴but sought the God of his father, followed His commandments, and did not act as Israel did. ⁵So the LORD established the kingdom in his control, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. ⁶He took great pride in the ways of the LORD and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.

⁷Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the LORD with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰Now the dread of the LORD was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹²So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah. ¹³He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant men, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴This was their muster according to their fathers' households: of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 valiant warriors; ¹⁵and next to him was Johanan the commander, and with him 280,000; ¹⁶and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who volunteered for the LORD, and with him 200,000 valiant warriors; ¹⁷and of Benjamin, Eliada a valiant warrior, and with him 200,000 armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸and next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 equipped for war. ¹⁹These are they who served the king, apart from those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.