2 Chronicles 15

15 ¹ The Spirit of our Father came upon Azariah son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: our Father is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, you will find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you." ³ For a long time Israel was without our Father, without a teaching priest, and without law. ⁴ But when in their distress they turned to our Father, the God of Israel, and sought him, they found him. ⁵ In those times there was no safety for those who went out or came in, for great turmoil gripped all who lived in those lands. ⁶ Nation crushed nation and city crushed city, for our Father troubled them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, be strong; do not lose heart, for your work will be rewarded.

⁸ When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he restored the altar of our Father that stood in front of the entrance to his temple. ⁹ He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that our Father was with him. ¹⁰ They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. ¹¹ On that day they sacrificed to our Father from the spoil they had brought—seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. ¹² They entered into a covenant to seek our Father, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul. ¹³ Whoever would not seek our Father, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. ¹⁴ They swore to our Father with a loud voice, with shouting, and with trumpets and horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire, and they found him. And our Father gave them rest on every side.

¹⁶ King Asa even removed his mother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Though the high places were not removed from Israel, Asa's heart remained wholly devoted throughout his life. ^a a v17 High places were hilltop shrines where sacrifices were offered, often to pagan gods. ¹⁸ He brought into the house of our Father the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts—silver, gold, and utensils. ¹⁹ And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.