1 ¶ Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to 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.

3 Now for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without the law.

4 But when they in their trouble turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

5 And in those times there was no peace to him who went out, or to him who came in, but great vexations were on all the inhabitants of the countries.

6 And nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city: for God troubled them with all sorts of adversity.

7 Be strong therefore, and do not let your hands be weak: for your work will be rewarded.

8 ¶ And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim and Manasseh, and from Simeon, who were with them: for many from Israel came over to Asa, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

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

11 And on that day they offered to the LORD, from the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

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

13 That whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether young or old, whether man or woman.

14 And they swore to 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 with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found by them: and the LORD gave them peace all around.

16 And Asa the king also removed Maachah his mother 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.

17 But the high places were not removed from Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

18 And 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.

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